Page 24 of His Stepdad Wears Leather

Lex snapped. “That’swhat it is.” He paused and eyed Brody. “He’s a younger version ofyouin a pair of pretty panties.”

“Hardly.”

“Twenty years ago, you were that boy, lost and alone… searching for the right daddy.”

Brody scoffed. “Yeah, and I didn’t find the right one, did I? Just a string of wrong ones.” A coach or two. A professor. A dozen other older men. Yeah, he’d gone through his daddy phase, that was for sure… until the last bad breakup had forced him to reconsider the type of men he went after.

Only that had left him floundering. Lex was right. He’d been filling his nights with enthusiastic younger men. The antithesis of the daddies he’d always chased.

“Yeah, you had plenty of wrong ones… but you now know whatnotto do. You can be a better daddy.”

Lex’s words sank into him. After years of bad daddies, he had no desire tobesomeone’s daddy.

Did he?

When Chris had whispered that single word, it had lit him on fire. The kid wasn’t the first one to call him daddy—but hewasthe first one where it felt—right.

He caught Chris peeking over one shoulder and grinned. Chris returned it—somewhat—as much as he could with his mouth full. He went back to his sandwich. Brody turned back to Lex… who wore a critical expression.

“What?” Brody asked.

Lex didn’t reply. “He showed up alone. Said something about running from a bad breakup and he was on his way somewhere,” he paused, an eyebrow rising. “Wanted to celebrate his newfound freedom.”

At least the story matched.“He have ID?”

“YouknowI don’t let them in without one, but then, all these little, young, white boys all look the same to me. Oh, to be young again.”

Brody laughed, shoving a hand through the hair that was starting to show a few signs of gray. “I wish I could roll back the clock a little some days.”

“Oh, fuck you,” Lex said. “You’re slowly turning into a silver fox and will likely geteven moreass when you do. Unlike me, the aging, massive bottom who scares men away.”

“I thought the term waspower bottom. Ismassive bottoma new phrase I’m not familiar with?” Offering a grin, he laughed at Lex’s eye roll. He knew damn well the word had described Lex’s enormous size. It had made him a mean left tackle but scared the hell out of a lot of men. “I mean, I’m awareyou’ve put that hole to work over the years.”

“Jealous?” Lex asked, grinning. But the smile slowly vanished.

He felt bad for Lex. It had to be hard to be a black, gay man who was nearly seven feet tall and packed with muscle—andbe a bottom. Only the most confident of tops could handle all that man… but if anyone deserved a considerate, self-possessed top, it was Lex. “And if I was?”

“Liar,” Lex snapped before winking. “It’s not like you want in my pants. You love me for my witty repartee and nothing more, you bastard.”

They’d nearly crossed that line years before, but it hadn’t seemed right—for either of them. They were better friends than lovers. “Italmosthappened, though.”

Lex patted his cheeks. “When I was young and beautiful.”

“I thought black don’t crack?”

Lex narrowed his eyes and glared. He pointed at himself. “Ican say that. You…cannot.”

Brody put his hands up in mock surrender before glancing over his shoulder at Chris. He was drawn like a moth to a flame, unable to stop gawking. When he dragged his gaze away from Chris and met Lex’s amused one, he saw the twist of his best friend’s lips. It was enough to cause him to feel punchy. Lex saw through him and never kept his mouth shut. It was what he loved about the guy.

Usually.

Instead of responding to Lex’s knowing look, he spat, “I need to check on the bar.” He nodded and smiled to a few customers leaving. “Night, folks.”

“Don’t let your guy forget his bag when you take him upstairs tonight,” Lex chirped, grinning wider.

A blast of cold air hit him as the doors swung open and closed—causing him to shiver a moment. He never had overnighters.Never.“Who said anything about taking him home with me?”

“Remember that little nest we found as kids? The one with the baby bird with the broken wing?”

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