Page 22 of Step Daddy

Chapter Seven

What a fucking nightmare.

Gareth carried the box with their food into the kitchen and set it on the granite counter with a heavy sigh. He needed to assess the situation with Kit first, and he doubted Kit would be ready to sit back, eat, and watch a movie after the dramatic outburst from Colby. The whole episode made him angry on Kit’s behalf. The last thing the poor kid needed was more stress, more yelling and chaos.

“Hey, I left our dinner in the kitchen, but I can bring it out any time you’re ready.”

Kit glanced up from where he sat perched on the edge of the couch. “Cool. Thanks.”

Gareth’s gut clenched at the sight of Kit’s rigid posture, and that he’d gone back to twisting his fingers. His main goal for the rest of the evening was to somehow put Kit at ease. He hoped that doing so wouldn’t require Kit needing to get away from him, but he’d honor whatever decision Kit made. His chest tightened. He hoped like hell Kit wouldn’t run away.

Gareth took a seat next to Kit but made sure to keep the width of a cushion between them. He propped his elbows on his knees and folded his hands.

“I know you don’t want me to apologize, but I feel I have to for one main reason. I should’ve simply been honest with you from the start about how I live. It would’ve saved you from what I’m sure is a lot of inner turmoil trying to guess the mystery of who I am. That wasn’t fair.”

“That’s okay.” Kit cleared his throat. “I mean, apology accepted. And you know how you said I could ask you anything? I’d like it if you’d tell me everything there is to know about you. I already think you’re a good guy, so you won’t disappoint me. I can already tell you are from how you handled your ex. You didn’t have to offer him help even though he was treating you so badly, yet you did. Most people would’ve tossed him out on his ass.”

Gareth snorted. “Trust me. I wanted to.” He scratched his chin. “But the first thing you need to understand about my way of life is that I take the responsibility of caring for my boys very seriously. I don’t abandon, remember?”

Kit arched his eyebrows. “So, you have lots of boys?”

Great. Already he was doing a terrible job of explaining things to Kit. He’d just never been in this position before. He’d always met prospects through the club, so everyone was pretty much on the same page. Wait. Had he just been thinking of Kit as a prospect? He gave himself a mental shake.

Explaining only. That’s all.

“No, not at all. Let me rephrase so it’s clearer. Of the boys I’ve been involved with, I never have, nor would I ever, abandon one.” He rolled his eyes. “Even if they’re the one who did the abandoning.”

“Yeah. I kind of got that impression from the whole exchange.” Kit shook his head. “Do you think he only wanted to come back for money or something? Because you’re a sugar Daddy, right? I’ve just never heard of someone so young being one. You’re so handsome and nice, Gareth. You don’t need to do that.”

Gareth covered his mouth to hide his smile. It hadn’t occurred to him that Kit’s mind would’ve latched onto that aspect of being a Daddy.

“Actually, no. I’m not a sugar Daddy at all. Although in retrospect, you might be on to something there with Colby. Maybe that was his angle all along. The only thing I was focused on with him was taking care of his mental and emotional needs, not his financial ones, even if that did eventually come into play.”

Gareth rubbed the back of his neck. He was back to explaining things badly. He regarded a confused Kit again.

“Okay, let’s start here. You know about BDSM, right?”

Kit gave a small shrug. “Yeah. I mean, I’m no expert. But I get the gist. Guys in leather and chains, tying up and whipping a submissive, bootlicking and that kind of stuff. I sort of already guessed you’re a Master or something like that.”

He shouldn’t be trying not to laugh. It wasn’t funny. It’s just that it had been so long since he’d been around someone so damn vanilla.

“Some of what you said about BDSM is true. However, there are many, many different layers to the lifestyle, and what you described is only one small part of it. The most important thing to understand right off the bat is that kink exploration is different for everyone. Also, I’m not a Master, have never called or presented myself that way.”

Kit stared at him intently, and Gareth hoped like hell that he wasn’t confusing him even more than he already was.

“A Daddy is different because they come from the perspective of taking care of their boy, guiding and protecting him. Not that Masters can’t be like that too…” He sighed in frustration. “Again, different for everyone. Some Masters are strict and sadistic, some are gentle and playful, and most are somewhere in-between. A Daddy is a kink. For me, I get off on my boy relying on me to keep him safe, to take on his worries. Whereas many Doms and Masters come from the space of expecting their boy, or sub, to make sure their needs come first, to obey their orders, to show respect by submitting to their will—with a Daddy, it’s almost a completely opposite dynamic.” Gareth licked his lips. “Plus, I get off on it because it’s hot, but that’s not something that can really be explained.”

Kit blinked several times, as if he were having a hard time processing the rush of information. Gareth imagined he was getting overwhelmed.

“So…” Kit drew his eyebrows together. “It doesn’t matter what your age is, you’re only looking for a partner who needs to be the boy to your Daddy.”

“Exactly.”

“And because it’s different for everyone, maybe Colby was thinking more sugar Daddy when you were thinking more caring Daddy.”

“Yes.” Maybe he hadn’t fucked up his explanations too much after all.

“Okay.” Kit started chewing on his thumbnail and Gareth tried not to add the bad habit to a checklist beside the handwringing. “Then if the Doms want the boy to think of them first, that means the Daddies think of the boy first?”

---