Page 30 of Wrecked for the Holidays

“Are you going to ask me to move out?” Jakob asked. The apprehension in his voice was palpable, and I fucking hated it.

“I would never. You’re the best roommate a guy could ask for.”

“Aren’t I the only roommate you’ve ever had?”

“Yes, because we aren’t counting college, and that would make you not being my favorite even sadder.”

That line managed to get the tiniest hint of a smile. Dad jokes for the win. The small hint of happiness was enough to interrupt his last few tears. I wiped the streaks off his cheeks while he studiously avoided any possibility of looking directly at me. “And I would never ask my boy to leave because he had a bad day. It happens. People make mistakes, but you don’t toss them aside because of it. I want you here.” That sent fresh tears rolling down his cheeks, but his eyes seemed less troubled. “May I ask my question now?”

Jakob nodded without comment.

“I know you’re a little, but have you ever had the chance tobefully little?”

Jakob shook his head. His hunched shoulders gave the impression that he wanted to curl into himself. Notwithstanding his behavior at lunch, Jakob was the sweetest boy I’d ever met. And even if he wasn’t, everyone should be able to turn off their brain and be allowed to exist. That was precisely what I wanted for my sweet, sensitive man. The ability to set aside his intimidating intellect and explore the child he was never permitted to be.

“Kinda.”

“Kinda doesn’t tell me much, love. Can you explain a little bit more, please?”

“Like IknowI am, but I couldn’t risk anything more than reading and wishing about it when I lived with my parents. When I got to the hotel, I wasn’t sure what to get, and I didn’t know anyone I could ask. Plus, I didn’t want housekeeping tosee the toys or whatnot. What if they asked me who they were for or what age my kid was, and I didn’t have a good answer?”

“Oh, that seems like a job for a Papa.”

“But I didn’t have a Papa to ask.”

“You do now. And maybe that’s why you were a little bit…well, more like a lotta bit…out of sorts at lunch? Sometimes, denying ourselves an outlet makes our needs bubble out of us at the most inconvenient times. It seemed to me you were becoming a little overwhelmed at the toy store. Then, at lunch, you had all that pent-upsomething, but you weren’t sure what to do with it, so you took it out on our server. Does any of this sound feasible to you?”

Jakob’s tears were momentarily forgotten as he digested my words. I glanced down at him. His thoughtful expression and rapidly darting eyes were unmistakable signs that he was trying to work out the logic of my words. I waited because this wasn’t something I could rush past him without allowing him all the time he needed to consider the angles and implications.

“Papa, I think you might be right.”

One of Jakob’s hands migrated down to trace a pattern on my arm, which rested across his lap. His absentminded caress was wrecking my carefully laid plans not to push him in any particular direction in his vulnerable state. Still, his gentle touches left a trail of sparks in their wake. The battle with my pervy thoughts might be a losing one, but I would give it my best shot. When he began to squirm in my lap, I attempted to swallow my groan but didn’t quite succeed.

“Papa, you ’kay?” Jakob’s tone had a tinge of something I couldn’t identify. Maybe lust? Likely my wishful thinking, given how he’d come downstairs.

“I’m fine, love. Let’s try this—tonight, you don’t have to hold on to anything. Let every grown-up thought in that galaxy brain of yours disappear. Tonight, you’ll be little Jakob, and it’ll be Papa’s job to take care of you. Do you want to try that?”

I held my breath while waiting for Jakob to decide whether he was all in for my experiment. If I was right, by the end of our evening, some of that anxiousness that had spilled out would be alleviated, and there wasn’t much I wouldn’t do if it meant making this man content.

“Wanna play with me, Papa?” Jakob asked shyly. He looked up at me through his absurdly long lashes as he spoke. No one in their right mind could resist an invitation like that.

“I would love to play with you, love.”

I gave up any sense of neutrality and kissed the top of his head. His curls still held the faintest whiff of his strawberries and cream shampoo. The smell reminded me of summer and it struck me that Jakob would love to visit my family’s home on Almstead Island during summer. There were a few independent places on cleared areas of the island with lavender farms, a few bulb flower farms, and a pick-your-own strawberry patch we went to every year. My mom kept a small herd of miniature goats who happily chowed down on the extras. I’d bet money Jakob had never eaten a strawberry straight off the vine or fed a goat. “Butfirst, we need a snack.”

“I…I…” His shoulders moved up somewhere near his ears while the tension vibrated off him. He cleared his throat and tried again. “I hungry.” When the words passed his lips, and I responded with another kiss, the tension in him evaporated into the air.

“Thank you for telling me. I like it when you use your words because then I know how to make you feel better. Your Papa knows how to do some stuff, but I haven’t quite figured out mind reading. Can you read my mind?”

Jakob’s answering grin went a long way toward reassuring me that we’d indeed struck the heart of the problem. He needed someone—and I damn sure wanted it to be me—to give him permission to let it all go. “I can, Papa!”

“Oh really? That’s so cool. What am I thinking right now?”

Jakob reached up and carded his fingers through my short hair. With his nails, he lightly scratched the base of my skull, which sent a cascade of need straight to my dick. Accident or not, he’d found the spot that made me lose my fucking mind. My strangled half-laugh, half-groan elicited a cheeky grin from Jakob.

“Wanna ’nack.”

“Pretty boy, you can read my mind. Let’s get something before we waste away and die of hunger.”

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