Page 4 of Saul

And he didn’t stop there. Once in the lounge, he settled me comfortably, then asked me what I wanted to drink. “A-alcohol,” I stammered, and he sent me an amused look and left to go to the bar.

I was trying to steady my breathing—actually no, I was giving a good impression of being a Lamaze instructor—when a pair of brown leather loafers stopped right in front of me. Ones I recognized because I’d bought the outrageously expensive pair for Steven last Christmas, four days before he dumped me. It was a good thing he’d packed everything before I’d gotten home from work, or I would have taken a knife to them. Come to think of it, that was probably why his things were already in his trunk.

“Calvin? How’ve you been?”

I let my eyes travel up the body I’d once worshipped and funnily enough, after just becoming intimately acquainted with the honed military upgrade, Mr. Insurance Salesman of the Year just didn’t cut it. “I’m great,” I enthused. “I can’t wait to get there. Ricky’s been telling me all the outrageous things they have planned.”

Steven narrowed his eyes. “Planned?”

I heard a chuckle and Dream Daddy put down a drink that looked like it had exploded with sugar and juice and umbrellas and fancy straws. “I got you a Piña Colada, baby-boy,” Daddy said in his bestest ever deep Daddy voice that I felt right to my toes, and it didn’t skip other places on the way either. He pushed right past Steven and sat really, really close with his arm around me and muttered loud enough for Steven to hear. “Thought we’d try the Screaming Orgasm when we get to the hotel.”

I managed to hold it in until Steven and his boyfriend or whatever had turned and left in apparent disgust, then I snorted and spluttered into my hand until Daddy passed me an ironedwhite handkerchief. I stared at it in utter wonder. “I can’t use this,” I said and used the paper one from under my drink.

“Why? That’s what it’s for.”

“Because,” I waved my hand. I was going to mentally saydramaticallybut opted fortheatricallythis time. It sounded better. More professional. Grown-up.

“But isn’t that the point?”

I glanced at Daddy, knowing I was past fucked when I was calling him Daddy in my head without even thinking about it now. “What is?”

“That you aren’t grown-up in this scenario? Unless you’re not comfortable to let your Little peek out when you’re in a public place.”

And Idied. Right there. I didn’t even care that my internal voice had clearly malfunctioned, but he’d saidlittleand used the wordspeek out. I grabbed my drink and took a very healthy sip, but he took it from me when it looked like I was about to drain it. “I’d like you awake on the plane,” Daddy said dryly. “We need to get to know each other.”

“Ask me anything,” I gasped, my head swimming a little, but I doubted it was because of the alcohol.

“Okay, what’s your favorite stuffy, and what’s his name?”

Yep,dead.

“You have to wake up now, Calvin.” I could hear the voice, but didn’t really think it applied to me. “We both have to fasten our seatbelts.”

My eyes shot open, and I sat up, then flushed crimson when I realized I’d been lying on Daddy’s lap on the airplane. “I’m sorry.” And Daddy chuckled.

“No problem. I just need to remember you’re a lightweight when it comes to alcohol.”

I really was and because the seatbelt light hadn’t come on yet, I scrambled up and rushed to pee. The light came on as I returned, but Daddy had already stood in the aisle to let me get back in. I remembered him asking me if I wanted to sit next to the window and I might have squealed a little too loudly. Maybe that had been his first clue about the alcohol. Or maybe it was just me. I’d only ever flown once in my life when Ricky sent me the airfare as a Christmas present and that hadn’t been nearly as good.

When we arrived, I wilted a little in the heat when we got into the car that seemed to magically appear, complete with uniformed driver at St. Pete/Clearwater Airport. Not that Christopher hadn’t sent his brother a car as well, but they had another couple in theirs, and we got one all to ourselves.

I had a random urge to poke my tongue out at him as I climbed in but caught the look Daddy sent me, which made me behave. I’d seen Steven keep shooting me puzzled glances when his boyfriend wasn’t looking, and I could imagine Steven was completely stunned to see me with someone. He told me that if I didn’t “grow-up” no one would ever be interested in dating me. I sat and obediently chugged the bottle of water Daddy, noSaul, had gotten me and instructed me very firmly to finish. I was in danger of buying into the whole Dream Daddy thing if I was already calling him Daddy in my head.

I looked out the window as the car drove over the causeway and at the sparkling water at each side and dreamed this was my life. It wasn’t, though, and I forced myself to remember my leaky apartment. “So, this is like an audition for you?” I said, thinking about why he was here.

“For the post of your Daddy?” he teased.

But it had the opposite effect on me. “You can stop pretending, Saul, when it’s just us. But you were really convincing in the airport. Thank you for that,” I added quietly, in case he thought I was ungrateful.

He was silent for a moment and even though I was deliberately looking out the window, I could feel his eyes on me. “All part of the job,” he said lightly. “But I’d stay in character if I were you and at least call me Daddy.”

I turned, trying to decide if he was mocking me, but there was an expression on his face I couldn’t decipher, which was strange for me. Growing up as I had, I was pretty good at reading people and if I was honest, Steven hadn’t been a surprise. Every time he’d asked me to tone down my little behavior, I’d just buried my head in the sand. When we’d met he’d been really possessive and attentive, and it fit in with all my Daddy fantasies, but then his possessiveness just turned into him being more of a dictator. I suppose it was desperation that made me stay. I was so desperate for someone to keep me that I’d tried to squeeze myself into a box that didn’t fit to make that happen. I just had to remember this was a one weekend only deal.

The car took us right to the marina and I gazed in confusion at the boat we drove up to. There seemed to be two boats and as we pulled up, the bigger of the two men on one of them turned to the other man he was talking to and pulled him in for an almost indecent kiss that had my jaw hanging open. “Why are we going on a boat?”

Daddy shot me a puzzled glance. “Rainbow Key’s only accessible by boat.” And I groaned. Ricky had told me all about the island just off the coast, but somehow, I hadn’t put two and two together and come up with transportation. Poop and double poop with bells on.

“The one with all the tats is Matt,” Daddy murmured. “He’s in charge of all transportation on the island, as cars aren’t allowed, and that’s his boyfriend Ryder. He runs the other boat, and apparently they both do a lot of the yard work as well. It’s a family-run operation.”

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