Page 46 of Just A Little Magic

We shook our heads, but neither spoke until she was far enoughaway that we wouldn’t be overheard. I suspected she realized the cavernous room carried our voices farther than we wanted because she switched on music that played from hidden speakers. Once certain we wouldn’t be overheard, we returned to our conversation.

“We agreed it would only be the one time.” Owen fisted his hands on the table and his shoulders were tight. “Bear, please don’t make me say this.”

I sat in silence. Once and for all, I needed to know why he refused to let me close to this part of him.

“I am not the one you need.”

“Isn’t that something I get to decide?”

I took his hands where they lay on the table and covered them with my own.

“Owen, you confuse the hell out of me.” He stubbornly refused to look at me. “Why do you think I need something different?”

“Barrett,” he rasped, “don’t you remember what I was like at the lodge?”

His voice was shaky, and I fucking hated that. Of course I remembered. It was one of the best fucking memories of my life. When he called me Da, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that was the title I’d want from him forever. He was so sweet and kind to Elizabeth, and he allowed me to care for him in the ways I’d dreamed of doing. Clearly, there was some context I was missing.

“Yes, and I want more of it. I’ll take it every damn time you want to offer it to me.”

“Bear, stop. I’m not the type of little you want.”

What the hell was he talking about?

“How do you know what kind of little I like?”

“Are you serious right now? Like, are you for real?” His volume was raised, but damned if I would tell him to keep itdown. Yeah, he was close to yelling, but at least we were getting somewhere productive. “You only play with middles!”

“You seriously think I only play with middles because they’re the only type of little I’m interested in?”

Our plates of food were put in front of us before I could continue. We offered our thanks but didn’t speak again until we were alone.

“Why do you suppose that might be?” I tried to keep my voice as even keel as possible, but a picture had been created in my mind, and I didn’t like it one bit. “Can you not think of a single other reason?”

Owen being convinced I wasn’t interested in his type of little floored me. His well-being and comfort came first for me. Always. He refused to play in public or with anyone except the Daddies I never met because, apparently, the space-time continuum didn’t work the same in Canada. In ten-plus years, our schedules had somehow not synced up so I could meet any of them.

I’d never met a single guy he’d dated. Not. Even. Once. Playing with another little when I wanted Owen was too much, so I’d stuck to middles because it was easier on both of us.

“I have a proposal for you,” I blurted out before he answered my question. “I want a month.”

The words spilled from my mouth before I recognized what I was saying. But now they hung in the air between us. Owen’s confusion was evident, and if I was honest with myself, which I most certainly had no intention of being, I wasn’t sure what I meant either.

“What? What do you mean you want a month? What does that even mean?”

Since I had come this far, I might as well put everything on the table. The worst thing that could happen was that I would be in the exact same spot I was in now. Well, maybe that wasn’texactly correct. The worst thing would be losing his friendship forever.

“Yeah, I want you to give me a month. I’m going to prove to you we can do this thing. We can be colleagues, friends, and lovers, and I can be your Da.”

My tone was mulish, and I knew it. But dammit, now that I’d said it, I sure as fuck wanted it. If I could figure out why he kept himself hidden, it could be fixed. Owen deserved to have everything he wanted, and if I read him right, then he hadn’t had that except for that stolen night courtesy of a bear.

“But why?”

Owen looked panicked, which I never wanted to see from him. Baring my soul in the middle of a diner hadn’t been on my Bingo card for today, but here I was anyway.

“Why? Babe, you’re my best friend. But I want more. I have for a long time.”

There. It was done and out in the open.

I hadn’t expected stunned silence. Not a word. Not a muscle twitch. Not a facial expression. It was a solid minute before he said anything.

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