Page 36 of Diva Pop

Jett didn’t answer right away. He was still lost in wonder that the head petting wasn’t bothering him. As a matter of fact, he was kind of enjoying it.

“It wasn’t bad. Was it good for you?”

Silas cough-snorted. “Wonderful for me. Is being carried a keeper?”

“As long as you don’t carry me into rehearsal. Then everyone will want you to do it for them and I’ll get super jealous.”

“You don’t have to answer every question with a joke.”

“True. But what’s the fun in that?”

Silas kept stroking his head and Jett didn’t call attention to it. Otherwise, Silas might stop.

“I think you’re fun all the time.”

“Even when I’m a bitch?”

Silas pressed his lips together and stopped petting him. Jett thought about kicking his own ass.

“It’s not acceptable to talk about yourself that way. I won’t have it. Understand?”

Jett swallowed hard. He’d kind of been joking then too. Kind of. “Real talk for a sec. You don’t ever think I’m the B word?”

“Not at all. Do you act out? Are you sometimes crying for attention? Lashing out through fear? Absolutely. But that’s not the same thing as being a bitch.”

Jett’s eyes burned, panic threatening as he tried to work out how to save the moment he was destroying with his big fucking mouth.

“Baby? Look at me.”

Jett sucked in a breath then lifted his eyes to meet Silas’. Instead of anger, he was met with a smile.

“There’s a lot for us to work through together, isn’t there? And I’ll make my own mistakes, too. Don’t think because I’ve taken on the role of your Papa that I’m always right. The main thing to remember is that we’re in this together for as long as you want us to be.”

Jett cleared his throat in an attempt to regain control of his emotions. “What about you and how long you want us to be together?”

Had he just asked Silas for a forever? He still wasn’t sure if that’s what he wanted, so it wasn’t fair to make Silas voice his intentions. But he couldn’t help it. He had to know whether he could take a chance on him.

Silas seemed to be pondering how he should respond. At last, he locked eyes with Jett again. “Don’t worry about me, sweetheart. I’m with you all the way, no matter what.”

---