Page 36 of Stirring Up Trouble
"You know what I'm talking about Robin. That horse. Your outfit. The man who was waiting for you afterwards.”
His words shocked me. “What man? What are you talking about?"
The sound of his pacing stopped as Griffin sighed. "Look, I know that most of the guys aren't into the social media stuff, but I keep up with it for the sake of the clinic. And when I went to look up this rodeo just to see what they were all about, there were videos where it was tagged of you riding straight towards another man. A man who was looking at you like Atticus looks at Sean."
Panic swept through me. This was it. I was going to have to confess or lie. And I really fucking hated lying.
Griffin was my friend. My best friend really. Ever since my brother moved to the city and ironically ended up with Gerald, a man who used to work at the Coleman Ranch, I had felt a bit unmoored. Add in my previous libido issues, and I was practically losing it.
I knew I had to tell him the truth. "Can you hold on for a second, Griffin? I need to check something."
I didn't wait for him to respond as I muted the call, then I glanced around the room one last time to make sure no one else was lurking around. Then I said the word I knew would get Blaze’s attention.
"Daddy," I called.
His eyes whipped to me. "Yes, baby," he said, quickly moving around the counter.
I held up my hand to stop him before he could crowd too close. His hands moved to pin me in where I was sitting as he hovered, looking me up and down like he expected to find something wrong.
I giggled. “I'm not hurt, Daddy. I want to tell Griffin about us. Is that ok?”
He leaned down closer, his gaze locking on mine. "What part about us do you want to tell him?"
I swallowed thickly. “Just the together part. I know he would be fine with the Daddy stuff because he practices it with his partner, but…”
Blaze's eyes lit up. “But you want to keep the fact that you’re my boy between us for now, don't you?”
I mumbled, “Yes, Daddy.”
He leaned down kissing my lips soundly. “You can tell him whatever you wish. I wouldn't be bothered even if you did admit the Daddy aspect. We're still navigating things so just make sure he knows we're not sending out wedding invitations yet.”
He turned around and walked towards the stairs as I sat there slack-jawed from his choice of words. At the last minute, he turned to look over shoulder at me and said, "And don't be long. I'll be naked and waiting for you."
The sound of his laughter came to me as I scrabbled to unmute the phone. I needed to finish this conversation with Griffin as fast as possible.
"Hey Griffin, sorry about that. I just needed to check with Blaze that he was okay with me telling you that we were dating."
Griffin, who had been whistling to himself, stopped abruptly. "You're dating him?"
“Yeah that's what I just said."
"Okay how is that going to work?" Griffin asked. "You live here. He lives there. Are you gonna try long distance?"
"I don't really know. It's new. We just kind of made the decision today. Or maybe last night? It's all a blur."
Griffin hummed. “I mean, that makes sense. You haven't been there that long. Also is it crass of me to ask why you never told me you were bi?"
I snorted. "Could be because I didn't really know. I thought that I was having some ED issue type of stuff when really no one was doing it for me. One look at Blaze and suddenly I was a teenage boy all over again. He feels the same and we're trying it out.”
"Wait a minute,” Griffin said. “So, you're telling me you were both straight and realized you're bi together? Those are some incredible odds."
I nodded even though he couldn't see me. "Yeah, pretty much incredible odds, and it feels like we're up against everything to try and make this work, but I really want to, Griffin. I want to see where this goes. I've never felt this way."
"That's great, Robin! I'm happy for you. You know Harlan was that way for me. Even when I first met him when he wasbehind bars, it was like seeing a new part of him. Like seeing something I hadn't before. And while it took a while for our time to come, I don’t regret a bit of it.”
"Yes but the time was what you both needed," I reminded him.
"Yes and the timing will be what you need too. Though I would hate to lose you at the practice, I do think that you could do some good in that community as well. Who's to say you won't open your own place?"
