Page 36 of Just A Little Fling

The soft sounds of the sucking competed with the movie. He closed his eyes and settled back against my leg. His blissful expression was all I needed to see. Encouraging Nico to lean into the little side emerging from him had been the right decision.

His thumb didn’t leave his mouth for the rest of the movie, while his other hand was wrapped around my calf. Nico hugged it like a toy. Unfortunately, like the nonexistent sippy cups, I didn’t have any stuffies in my house either. Obviously, that would need to be rectified immediately. Since this appeared to be new territory for both of us, I’d guess he didn’t have any at his house either.

In his current state of mind, there was no way I could talk with him about what this new aspect meant. But that conversation needed to happen sooner rather than later because there was no damn way in hell I was going to let Nico slip through my fingers.

CHAPTERNINE

NICO

Sunday morning, and I was back in Levi’s guest bedroom again.

When this weekend started, I hadn’t imagined spending it in Babbo’s house, eating pizza and watching cartoons. Truthfully, I wasn’t even sure who I was at this point. But I was okay with it. Yesterday, I’d felt freer and more relaxed and more…methan I’d ever felt in my entire life. On top of all that, I’d managed to connect with the one guy who just rolled with it. I hadn’t necessarily expected him to kick me out of the house or anything, but I’d thought he would be way more concerned about the sudden change. Nope. Babbo had just shrugged and got on with it.

Babbo had wiped my face and called me a good boy. And I’d wanted to be one for him after our lunch. He’d insisted I take a nap, tucked me into bed, and then apologized for not having a stuffie or a sippy cup. I vaguely remembered him asking if I had one at my place and being ridiculously sad that I didn’t. When he kissed my forehead and said not to worry about it, I swooned.Get me a fainting couch because I’m going down swooned.

After my nap, we’d spent the rest of the day playing video games as promised. Rather than play war games or complicated racing games, he’d put on silly ones where I could grow things, visit the zoo, or build things with blocks. I was surprised Babbo had the games on his account, given he’d mostly played with middles, and I knew he didn’t play those himself. The entire evening, he’d been right beside me. Every so often, he played a few rounds, and other times, he worked on his case files while I played. It’d been the exact kind of thing I’d always said wasn’t for me, but I’d never been happier or more content. If this was domestication, maybe it wasn’t as terrible as I had always thought. That was a ginormous maybe though.

I still needed to face him…unless he wasn’t here. Occasionally, he left early on Sundays, and…nope, there was a crash from somewhere. He was home.

I shoved the covers off and climbed out of bed as quietly as I could manage. Since I had some time, I jumped into the shower for a quick rinse. Once finished, I went down the hallway and the stairs, following the noise until I got to the kitchen doorway. Whatever Levi was cooking smelled wonderful, but he sat at the table with his glasses on. Oh. Em. Gee. That man was sexy in glasses. He looked like a proper Daddy in them, tapping away on his computer. Babbo stared so intently at his computer that he didn’t even notice me until I plopped down at the table beside him.

“Oh, I didn’t hear you come in,” Babbo said after a startled yelp. “Have you been down here for long?”

“Ha! I didn’t mean to scare you, and I just got here.”

I tried to project a lot more self-confidence than I had, but I’d had a ton of practice with it. If there was one thing I knew how to do, it was fake self-confidence. Out in the real world, absolutely no one ever knew I was scared shitless most of the time, and this morning was no exception. “Smells good in here. It’s what got me out of bed.”

“Then it worked,” Babbo said with a wink. “When I was a kid, my mom always made a big breakfast on Sunday morning, and it’s something I’ve carried over as an adult. No matter what, Sunday mornings are a big deal for me.”

“What are you cooking?”

“Bacon and coffee cake are in the oven. There’s chopped fruit already in the fridge, and when you got downstairs, I figured I’d scramble some eggs.”

“Impressive spread. My Sunday morning breakfast is usually cereal.”

“Even when you lived with your parents?”

“My mom is more of a dinner person. She doesn’t really do breakfast, and my dad doesn’t cook much at all.”

“I am more of an eat-all-day person. I’ll take food anytime I can get it.”

“Well, some of us are short and pudgy. We don’t have the luxury of eating all day.”

“And some of us think you’re sexy as hell and look fucking fantastic.”

Who was I to argue with that? If I pushed it, I doubted he’d let me win the argument. “Do lawyers work twenty-four-seven?”

“My managing partners wish I would, but I’ve been working on this case for a while, and I’m hoping it will be resolved sooner rather than later.”

“The rough day you still haven’t told me about?”

“Meh. There’s not much to tell. My boss’s bosses have thoughts about how I do my job. I disagree,” he answered with a shrug.

“Does that put your job in jeopardy?”

“I’m not sure yet, but it’s not right this second, so I don’t need to worry about it.” Levi moved his chair back from the table and checked the oven. I got up from the kitchen table and moved to a stool at the island to watch him.

“Want to help?” Babbo asked.

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