Page 14 of King Daddy

“It matters to me. Why aren’t you still on stage?”

Gah. His eyes were so gorgeous. He dug too deep. Kylo practically felt Beau burrowing beneath his skin. “I’m too old.”

Beau laughed.

Kylo didn’t.

Beau’s laughter died. “Wait. You’re serious.”

It hadn’t been a question, but Kylo treated it as one. “Very. Ballet is cutthroat. You have to be young, beautiful, and flawless in every way. There’s always someone younger and better, waiting to swoop in and push you out. I can’t complain, though. Overthe years, I’ve done some of the biggest productions in front of massive crowds. I got to have my Broadway moment. Most people will never say that. Now I just dance for the love of it, in whatever role I want.” He motioned toward his crowd of stuffed animals. “With a much smaller audience, of course.”

Beau’s expression always screamed he saw too much. “I’d love to watch you anytime.”

Kylo shoved food in his mouth to hide the hope building inside him. He was more than a little certain he had missed his chance at finding the one. Kylo needed to stop hoping to find his soulmate in every man he met. They had to move on. “Tell me something about you.”

Beau chewed and looked thoughtful for a minute. Finally, he shrugged. “You already know I have two sons. Otherwise, there’s nothing good about me.”

The red flag guy was back. “That’s an odd way to state things.”

Beau held his stare. “No. It’s honesty. You had that crown delivered to me. The only way you pulled that off is if you know who I am. The only good thing I’ve done in my life is my boys. I don’t know if that’ll ever change. Maybe I’m every bit as cursed as the crown you gave me.”

Kylo’s throat swelled. He heard Beau. Despite how things always looked, Kylo wasn’t stupid. He just honestly thought he saw something in certain people they didn’t see in themselves. Maybe it was real or maybe he only saw what he wanted to see.Either way, he couldn’t leave Beau to suffer, and he was. Kylo saw it every time he looked at Beau. It was like looking in a mirror.

Like any wild animal, he had to lure Beau in a little at a time. He acted unbothered by the speech and continued eating. “The night you saved me, you told me your son owns The PlayPen. All I had to do was Google the owner, and I had a last name. With a name, it was nothing to get an address.”

Beau still looked entirely too serious. “So you’re telling me you know nothing about me except my name and address?”

Kylo smiled. “I didn’t say that. That’s just how I found you.” He took another bite of eggs. “Once I had a name and an address, a ton of news articles were only a click away. Of course, anyone with half a brain cell knows to take most of that stuff with a grain of salt.”

Beau had stopped eating. His full focus was locked on Kylo. “You sound unbothered.”

Kylo shrugged.

“Why?”

At Beau’s pointed question, Kylo set his fork aside. He suddenly wasn’t as hungry any longer. “I used to spend a lot of time with Reggie.” Even the name hurt his throat. He couldn’t talk about this, but it was stupid to stop there. “He never hid anything from me.” And his dumb ass thought that made him special.

“Were you two a couple?”

“No.” That was definitely true. Kylo was just an idiot.

“He told me you didn’t need a criminal here, endangering your life.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong. Still... “That’s rich.”

Beau laughed. It was good to see him smile. “Yeah. That was my thought too.” He set his fork aside. “Now, do you want a cinnamon roll or do you want to show me your toys?”

Affection washed over Kylo. He was in so much trouble. “Can I do both?”

Beau’s dark gaze moved over his face. He turned serious. “I’m pretty sure I’d let you do anything you wanted.”

Yep. He didn’t stand a single fucking chance. Needy had always been his middle name. Beau looked like just the man to fill him.

Chapter Five

Banks:You good? You haven’t been to the club in a few days.

Beau:Yeah. I’ll be by later. Something came up.

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