Page 56 of Just A Little Magic

“What the fuck are you talking about? It never went away. Never.”

Hearing Owen reveal a part of himself he’d always kepthidden hurt my heart. Intellectually, I understood his logic and reasoning, but it still hurt. Hell, I would give the same advice even if it hadn’t been us. But it was us, and it hurt like a bitch to hear him spell it out.

After such heavy revelations, we sat silently in the back of the half-finished beer garden. Owen was too far away, though, and I needed him closer. I stood, pulled him from his bench, took his spot, and placed him on my lap. I ignored his yelp of surprise and just snuggled him close.

“Bear, what you are doing?”

“Babe, what’s it look like I’m doing? I’m hugging you.” I squeezed him until he laughed and then squirmed. “And now I’m going to feed you.”

“Oh my God, you are not.” Owen tried to get off my lap. “You can’t do that. What if someone sees you?”

“Who is going to see? No one is back here, and we told Jasper we’d come inside if we needed anything.”

Having Owen so close settled something in my chest. This was how it was supposed to be with us. I knew it as much as I knew my name. Nothing about him needed to change. There were no unwanted parts of him. “Please let me. I like taking care of you.”

At my words, Owen abruptly stopped his protests. Instead, he settled back and dropped his hands to his lap. “Bear, that’s not fair. How am I supposed to say no when you put it like that?”

“I guess you can’t.”

I tried to hide my grin but failed. I wasn’t playing fair, but we were both winners, so meh. Forgivable. I carefully tucked his napkin across his lap and then brought the spoon to his mouth. He relaxed against me as we settled into a rhythm. He seemed to be floating into little space, but I’d figured out how vulnerable it made him feel, so I knewhe’d fight it.

And I hated that for him.

I loved being a Daddy because nothing brought more satisfaction than caring for my partner in every way I could. Over the years, I’d played with middles because it wasn’t fair to play with someone and actively imagine they were someone else. The first time it happened, I forced myself to take care of the little and chalked it up to Owen simply being on my mind. The second time, I was able to have another Daddy step in so I could take myself out of the scene. I didn’t allow a third time to happen.

After that, middles or strictly vanilla relationships were the only option for me. I didn’t find either particularly satisfying, but I tried to move on. It hadn’t worked, and I’d eventually just given up. I’d rather be alone than halfway out the door on someone else.

“Thank you, I can’t eat one more bite, Bear.”

I put the spoon back in the bowl and used Owen’s napkin to wipe his mouth. I lingered a bit at the turned-up corners. Owen’s gold eyes sparkled with laughter and something more. Lust? I angled down, and he met me halfway in a sweet kiss. It was chaste but packed the same wallop as the filthy ones we’d shared. It was beyond me how this man could have thought I didn’t want him. I’d never needed anyone the way I needed him.

Owen fiddled with the buttons on my shirt and my eyes returned to his lips. When I couldn’t stand it anymore, I softly tilted Owen’s head to kiss his lips again. It was sweet and innocent, and I wanted more. Unfortunately, we had some things that needed to be discussed first. I only had a month and needed every minute to convince Owen I could be his Da.

“I’m having dinner with my dad tonight, and I won’t subject you to that twice in a month, but are you available tomorrow?”

“Yes, I think so. I need to review some banquet upgrades with the manager at Quill, but we’ll be done in plenty of time.”

“Okay, when you’re finished, can you come to my house? Bring Elizabeth, and I’ll worry about dinner.”

“You want me to bring the cat?”

“Of course I want you to bring the cat. You two are a package deal. I’d really love it if you wanted to stay the night too.”

“Are we having a sleepover?”

“Only if I’m lucky.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

OWEN

Rory

Hey, you. Jakob and Anders are coming over tonight. Daddy and Uncle Reed are doing some sportsball thing with my parents. Do you want to come? We are going to order pizza.

Jakob

Not a playdate, only pizza.

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