Page 16 of Daddy Next Door

Something flickered in his eyes—surprise at my honesty, perhaps. He took a step into the room, closing the door behind him with a soft click that seemed to echo in the silence.

"Curiosity can be dangerous," he said, moving closer. Not threatening, but deliberate. Each step measured. "Especially when it involves other people's private spaces."

I stood my ground, though every instinct screamed to back away, to apologize, to run. "I know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have looked."

He stopped a few feet away from me, close enough that I could smell his cologne. Up close, I could see the fatigue around his eyes, the slight shadow of stubble along his jaw. He must have come straight from the conference.

"What did you think?" he asked quietly. "Of what you saw?"

The question caught me off guard. I'd expected anger, embarrassment, perhaps an immediate demand for me to leave. Not this calm inquiry about my opinion.

"I—" I hesitated, unsure how honest to be. But his eyes held mine, patient and unwavering, demanding truth. "It was beautiful. Thoughtful. Every detail so carefully chosen."

Something in his posture relaxed slightly, though his gaze remained intense. "You weren't shocked? Disgusted?"

I shook my head, my throat suddenly tight with emotion. "No. Not at all."

He took another step closer. "Then what were you, Lily?"

The air between us seemed to thicken, charged with something electric and inevitable. My heart hammered against my ribs so hard I was sure he could hear it.

"Envious," I whispered, the truth pulling from me against my will. "Recognized."

His eyes widened slightly, the only indication that my answer had surprised him. "Recognized," he repeated, the word a caress.

"Yes." My voice was barely audible now. "Like someone had built a room out of the inside of my head. A place I'd imagined but never seen."

Ethan's expression softened, vulnerability flickering across his features before the controlled mask returned. "That's . . . interesting."

The hint was there—a question, an invitation to confess what else I might be hiding. My little side. My online identity. The things I'd shared with ProtectorE but kept hidden from everyone else in my life.

"Maybe I know a little more about that stuff than you might expect," I said, surprising myself with the boldness. "Maybe you saw that."

A slow smile spread across his face, genuine this time. "Maybe I did."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. With a few taps, he held it up for me to see. The Little Online forum. A private message thread. My username at the top: StarryLittle.

My breath caught. "You're—"

"ProtectorE," he confirmed, watching my reaction carefully. "I suspected about a week ago, after your new neighbor."

The pieces fell into place—the similar speech patterns, the careful way he asked questions, the feeling of being truly seen in our conversations.

"Why didn't you say anything?" I asked.

"I should have done. It’s why I stopped talking you as ProtectorE. It felt wrong. Now, why didn't you?" he countered gently. "We all have our reasons for keeping certain parts of ourselves private, don't we? I needed to be sure before approaching you about something so personal."

I swallowed hard, hyper-aware of my position—in his house, wearing his clothes, caught trespassing in his most private space. Yet somehow, I didn't feel afraid. Vulnerable, yes. Exposed, certainly. But not threatened.

"How long have you known? That I'm . . . that I like . . ." The words stuck in my throat.

"That you're a little?" he finished for me, his voice soft but matter-of-fact. "I had suspicions when we first met. Something in your eyes. The way you responded to certain tones or gestures. But I wasn't certain."

He stepped closer still, close enough now that I could feel the heat radiating from his body. "I've been very careful, Lily. In our neighborhood interactions. In our online chats. I didn't want to frighten you away."

His proximity made it hard to think straight. I was acutely aware of our height difference, how I had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes. How easily he could envelop me in his arms if he chose to.

"Is that why you asked me to water your plant?" I asked. "To see how I'd react to being in your space?"

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