Page 27 of Screw Me Daddy

I spring up to my feet and make a charge for a nearby bush. It was only a rustle, but I’m sure someone was there.

‘I’m coming too!’ Xander shouts, jumping up onto his feet and running behind me.

But by the time we arrive at the undergrowth, there’s no one to be seen. All I can hear is the sound of a car pulling away into the distance.

‘Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,’ I shout, my mind spinning. ‘A million dollars says that was that paparazzo piece of crap Tony Ripper. This has to end, boy. Tony Ripper needs to be removed from my life once and for all.’

I kick the dirt track in frustration.

This had been a brilliant morning up until now.

Something has to give, and it has to give ASAP.

I’ve decided to meet up with Trent and see what the pair of us can come up with in order to stop Tony Ripper.

With Xander back at home and playing with one of his Little friends, I know I’ve got time to sit with Trent and come up with a plan.

‘Two triple-espressos,’ the barista says as he puts the coffees down on the table. ‘Have a good day, guys.’

‘Thank you,’ I say, quickly turning my attention from the barista to Trent. ‘Tony Ripper… he’s going to run a story on me and Xander, isn’t he?’

‘Bro, it certainly looks that way,’ Trent replies, taking a sip of his piping hot espresso. ‘We need an angle.’

Trent’s right.

The press laws don’t prohibit paparazzi photography, and neither do they stop gossip and celebrity news sites running wild with stories – no matter the impact they have on the people being reported on.

In order to take Tony Ripper down, I’m going to need to think of another way around this.

‘We know some pretty tough dudes,’ Trent said. ‘I’m not usually one for violence…’

‘No, that won’t end well for us,’ I say. ‘Even if I agreed with violence, we’re too high profile for that. And to be honest, I’drather put Tony in his place and make an example of him in another way. There’s a thousand Tony’s out there. I can’t kick all of their asses!’

‘We could try?’ Trent says, the pair of us laughing as we see the funny side of the whole situation.

‘No, it has to be something else,’ I say. ‘But what that something is… I just don’t know.’

What I do know is that the clock is well and truly ticking.

Tony Ripper could break a story in a month, a week, or even this evening.

I have to think and be ready to do what needs to be done.

And it’s even more important to protect my privacy now than ever before – this time it wouldn’t just be me getting dragged into it, it would be Xander too.

And there’s no way in hell that I’m letting a low down, piece of crap paparazzo like Tony Ripper cause pain for my beautiful baby boy.

Chapter 11

Xander

Reece and I might be early in our relationship, but I have to hand it to him, he knows how to be a Daddy. I’m all snuggly and safe in my favorite onesie and he’s simply chilling over on the comfortable couch in the corner of the room, minding his own business as I play.

A big part of being a Daddy is knowing when to let your boy play and be happy in his own company, and I can tell that Reece gets this too. With some nice and relaxing nursery rhymes playing on the portable speaker and the lights dimmed, I’m just living my best life with my collection of action figures and stuffies. It turns out that there has been a big disagreement over who owns the Majestic Marshmallow Mountain, and neither the stuffies nor the action figures want to back down!Arrgh!

‘Daddy, who do you think should be allowed to call Majestic Marshmallow Mountain their own?’ I say, looking over toward Reece.

‘Well… that’s not a question I’ve ever considered before today,’ Reece says, a smile on his face as he looks up from his iPad. ‘Here was me reading all about the Spanish soccer league andthinking that was a dramatic situation. It’s got nothing on the Marshmallow Mountain situation.’

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