Page 82 of Their Forever Daddy

“What do you mean?”

Jesse took another drink, mostly to give herself a moment to think. It was difficult to explain their dynamic without explaining their dynamic, and she didn’t want to risk the already shaky reconciliation she had going with her sister by outing herself as a Little. “Grant and Edie are both… very tuned in to me. When I’m with them, all the focus tends to be on me, my feelings, things like that.”

“Starting to see why you’re so okay with this,” Courtney teased. “You always did enjoy being the center of attention.”

Because it was true, even if it stung, Jesse didn’t bother to argue. “I do enjoy it. But it also means they haven’t had much of a chance to get to know each other. And I want them to have a relationship that doesn’t center around me all the time. It’s a lot of pressure to feel like you’re the person holding a family together.”

“Now that I can certainly empathize with. Being the lynchpin is exhausting.”

“Exactly. And it doesn’t feel fair to them for me to be the focus all the time. I want to know that they’re getting what they need out of this relationship, too, you know?”

“That’s very mature of you.” Courtney’s smile was a little sad at the edges. “When did my baby sister get so grown up?”

“You don’t really have much of a choice in Hollywood. It’s a cutthroat business, and you have to grow up fast.” Which was part of why she’d clung so tightly to her Little side. When she was working, she had no choice but to be a shrewd, and sometimes ruthless businesswoman. But she’d refused to let the industry steal her soul, and escaping into her Little space on a regular basis let her keep that balance better than most.

“That makes sense. You’re good at it, though. It suits you.”

Jesse’s eyebrows flew up in surprise. “You’ve seen my movies?”

“Mmhmm. All of them. Twice, at least, and there’s a few I’ve seen so many times I can recite them from heart.”

Emotion caught in Jesse’s throat. “I had no idea. You never said…”

“Figured you had enough people out in California stroking your ego,” Courtney said with a grin. “And I know I’ve never said it, but I’m so freaking proud of you, Jess. You knew exactly what you wanted out of life, and you went for it. You did something most people only ever dream of, and you did it better than anyone else. That’s not nothing. Me, mom, dad, we’re all so proud of you we could just scream whenever someone starts talking about you.”

The tears she’d been trying to hold back all evening finally broke free. Setting her wine glass aside, Jesse threw herself into her big sister’s arms. And wept.

Chapter 30

Edie

* * *

Every single inch of her was so deliciously sore. Grant had more than kept his promise to show her who was in charge, and she had a feeling she’d have some lovely marks when she looked in the mirror.

If she could muster up the energy to drag herself out of his bed.

As she was lying there, watching the early morning sun dance across his back as he slept, she caught the sound of tires on gravel and smiled. Jesse must be home.

Worry started to creep in through the lovely morning-after glow. Even though Jesse had clearly been pushing them together, how was she going to react to actually finding them in bed, naked, having clearly enjoyed the fuck out of each other the night before? It seemed like a recipe for jealousy, so maybe if she just snuck over to her room…

But before she could do more than gather her clothes from where they’d been strewn around the room the night before, the front door slammed, followed by the sound of Jesse’s footsteps racing up the stairs.

She skidded to a stop in the doorway, a wide grin stretching across her face. “Well. Looks like you two enjoyed yourselves.”

“Ah…”

“Oh!” Mischief danced in her eyes as her gaze landed on the bed. “Is Daddy still sleeping?” she asked in a loud whisper.

“Yes. Probably shouldn’t wake him.”

“Right, right.” But there was a telltale glee in her expression as she crept closer. “Definitely don’t want to wake him up. He’ll be grouchy. And we definitely shouldn’t wake him up by tickling him. He hates that.”

It wasn’t often Edie found herself actively wanting to be a brat. Usually, it was just her instinctive reaction to the situation at hand. She rarely went out of her way to torment her Doms. But the desire was there, tugging at her, and she found herself torn between being the responsible adult in the room and following Jesse’s lead.

She was so going to regret this.

Dropping her clothes to the floor again, she climbed back into bed as Jesse crept around the opposite side. When Jesse was in place, they locked eyes over Grant’s prone form, and Jesse mouthed, Three… two…

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