Page 38 of Tommy

“It’s a coloring page. I’m just coloring,” I said.

“I was coming to ask if you wanted whipped cream again. I know you spilled it all over yourself last time.”

“Yes, of course.” I wouldn’t make the same mistake. A lie, I definitely had done in the past, but I was committing myself not to make it now. “And the marshmallows too.”

“They’re still on this tray out here,” he said. “I’ll bring them back in once it’s warmed up.”

Earlier had taken me by surprise, but now we’d done it, there was no awkward,I want him to screw my brains out.He’d already done that. I could now tick,cowboyoff my list of men to have sex with, even if I had assumed cowboys were fictional before meeting him.

I didn’t think we would enjoy each other’s company as much as we did.

Together in the tent, drinking cocoa and listening to the winds pick up outside, we were actually bonding. I colored in pictures and he was reading my books, without commentary, I’d told him I didn’t want to hear anything, good or bad. I was nervous to know his thoughts, so I just flat out refused any of them.

“Since I’m probably gonna be staying here,” I started. “I think you need to get a Christmas tree.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. A Christmas tree would bring so much life and fun to the house.”

“As well as pine needles and whatever insects are living on the tree,” he said. “I’m not against it, well, not completely. But I don’t do Christmas.”

I locked eyes with him, my brows hurting to furrow so deep on my forehead. “That doesn’t sound like a nice way to live.”

“I’ve never done Christmas, I like to live the way I’ve been living,” he said, closing the comic book. He clearly knew I was about to get into this topic with a lot of passion.

“And I’m not telling you to change, I’m just asking you to accommodate.”

Compared to the face I’d seen when I arrived, Hardin was completely softened now. “I’m willing to get a tree, but you’ll have to decorate it. I’ll supervise, of course. And I’m not sure if there will be any of those twinkling lights. So, it’ll just have to be old tinsel from the storage.”

“Or, I ask June to come up, once the storm has cleared and she can bring some.”

“Maybe there are some lights,” he said. “I don’t want June to have to go out of her way to come up here. Not when we’re cohabitating. I don’t want to overwhelm or confuse her.”

“You need to let loose a little, June is lovely.”

“She is, but I don’t need her or the town knowing every detail of my life,” he said. “I’m happy to keep them all at arm’s length. I tried that with you as well, but I guess I got a little carried away with—” He blinked wildly for a moment, staring into my eyes.

“With what?” I asked, popping my lips together.

“With a side of myself I’d not paid much attention to.”

“The Daddy side?”

“You can call it that. Yes.”

“As someone in desperate need of a Daddy, I think the ideal one for me is someone who has a Christmas tree, real or fake, I don’t mind. And someone who makes good hot chocolate, which you do, socheck. And my ideal Daddy would also have to be someone—”

Hardin tucked a thumb under my chin, pushing my head up slightly. “Am I your usual type?”

My type was very ill-defined. “I don’t have a type, that’s my type, not having a type.”

“You’re my type,” he said, rubbing his thumb under my chin until it curved to my cheek. “You’re creative, you’re shorter than me, you find fun in anything you do., and you take orders well.”

“I do?”

“You might not notice it, but you always do everything I’d asked.”

I hadn’t noticed, but I was obedient. I’d say that makes me agood boy. “Are you gonna say anything else?”

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