Page 26 of Law

His tone hinted he was still teasing her. “Well, you have Viking hair. You have Viking tattoos. And you definitely act like a Viking.” She tapped her chin and pretended to give it thought. “Your only shortcoming is that I haven’t seen you slay any enemies with a spear or an axe, like they do in the movies.”

His gaze snapped to hers, and she giggled. He looked horrified. “What the hell kind of movie are you watching?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, it sounds too bloodthirsty for Little girls to be watching. Who let you watch something like that?”

She gasped. It was one thing to pretend he was a Daddy. But those words came straight out of a Daddy playbook.

Was he serious right now? They’d kind of settled into the “Viking, not Daddy” routine. She’d been disappointed, but she’d adjusted. Why rock the boat now?

Should she say something? She’d gotten a lot braver over the past few days. But this was way scarier than jumping down from a super tall fence.

What should she say? Should she be subtle or just come right out with it?

No, she should not just blurt something out. She wouldn’t say anything about being a Little, definitely.

“You think I’m Little?”

Or not. Smooth. Very smooth.

Now, all she could do was hold her breath and wait for his answer.

He shook his head, and her heart sank. At least she’d found out before she’d made a fool of herself. Well, almost.

“You are little, but that’s not what I meant. I meant a Little, someone who can be one age physically but sometimes feels like a different, younger person inside.”

He shrugged as if he hadn’t just said something life-altering. As if it were no big deal. Gah!

“I know you have many Little qualities, but I’ve learned not to make assumptions. So I’m asking. Are you a Little?”

Her tummy flipped. What did she say? A more pertinent question was, how did she want him to react to what she said? She wasn’t the same as the Littles in her books. She was taller and fluffier than most Littles. What if he laughed? Maybe she was fooling herself. Maybe she was too big to be a Little. And too old. She was twenty-seven. She’d never even read a story about a Little her age.

Okay, Lovie. It’s now or never. He’d said it was okay to be scared and brave at the same time. You have the scared part down. Are you brave?

Not meeting his eyes, she answered him. “I am. At least, I think I am.”

Taking a deep breath and preparing herself for what she might see, she glanced over at him. He was smiling at her again, and it sent those tingles straight from her tummy to her princess parts.

“I’m proud of you, babygirl. Do you know what age your Little is?”

Why was she feeling so shy now? The hard part was over. Maybe all the parts were hard at first.

“Not too young. It’s confusing. Usually, I feel like I’m around six, but then there are times I’m four or five. And other times, I feel eight or ten. I’ve never discussed it with anyone. I’m probably doing it wrong.”

He caught her hand and slid it up her thigh. Then he held it there and returned to stroking her thigh with his thumb. She stared at her hand in his, feeling cared for and Little.

“There’s no way to do it wrong, Lovelyn. You do what feels right in the moment. There are no hard-and-fast rules. Many people have more than one age when they’re Little. As long as being Little makes you feel good, you’re doing it right.”

Some of the tension lifted from her shoulders. Finally being able to talk to someone about this was freeing. She had so many questions.

Sure, there were online platforms where she could ask questions, but she never knew who she was really talking to. Could she trust them? Usually, she trolled the forums, reading other people’s questions and the answers. She’d never asked a question herself. What if someone saw it? That was too much of a risk.

She’d read a lot about it, but mostly in Daddy romance novels. How realistic were they? Those stories were meant to entertain,not be a how-to manual. Could she depend on the relationships portrayed there to be like real life? She had doubts.

Since he’d asked her something so personal, she returned the favor. She’d see how much he liked being put on the spot. “So, does that mean you’re a Daddy?”

With a wink and a wicked grin, he put a hand over his heart and pretended to gasp. “You couldn’t tell? I must be losing my edge.”

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