Page 26 of Matteo's Mettle
Josh has the grace to appear both apologetic and understanding. He gentles his tone and reaches out to squeeze Ash’s shoulder. “I know, I’m sorry.”
Ash waves the apology off. “It’s fine. But I need to knoweverythingabout this ‘hot young Daddy’.” He waggles his brows and pulls out his phone. “What’s his last name? I’m gonna Facebook stalk him.”
“Don’t be stupid,” I tug my own phone from my pocket. There’s a text from London waiting on the screen and I swipe it away before I open my photos app and turn the screen to face my friends. “Here.”
Ash grabs for it, closely inspecting the selfie I took on my last date with London. “Wow,” he says after a moment, “you weren’t exaggerating. Look at that jawline.”
“Like Charlie’s isn’t just as pretty,” I tease, and Josh scoffs.
“I’m prettier.”
Josh and Charlie look so similar that I honestly can’t agree with him or deny it. Thankfully, Ash just shoves Josh and tells him to fuck off. He hands my phone back to me and probes for more information. “Okay, so his name is London and he’s hot. I feel like there’s more to him than that?”
It’s not hard for me to take the bait, and I spend a few more minutes telling them about how we met (Ash hits Josh again when I describe the creep London rescued me from, blaming him for having left me alone) and giving a brief summary of our relationship to date. We’ve gone out a few times, but generally spend time here at my place.
I’ve been over to his apartment twice, but it’s spartan and doesn’t really lend itself to my little time, so we’ve mostly hung out here at home. I get the feeling he likes it better here anyway. And it turns out that he shares my love of gaming, too, so when I’m not little -and we’re not otherwise indisposed- we’re going on campaigns throughWoWor shooting up zombies together. We share an easy camaraderie which makes it feel like we’ve been together for longer than just a month.
When my phone rings, I belatedly remember the message I ignored in preference of calming the guys down. I cringe a little and answer London’s call, much to Ash and Josh’s combined amusement. “Hi, Daddy,” I say sweetly. I’m not above a little emotional manipulation to save myself from getting in trouble.
He’s onto me, though. Sounding amused, he replies, “Hi, sweetheart.” He pauses for a moment, and I ignore the guys leaning closer, trying to listen in. They’re worse than a pair of sixteen-year-old girls, literally hanging onto the edge of their seats for gossip material. “Did you get my message?”
It sounds a little like he’s driving, the echo of the call telling me that he’s got me on speaker through the Bluetooth connection to his stereo, and I check my watch, knowing that he’s been working late at the office recently. “I saw it, but Ash and Josh are here so I haven’t had a chance to read it.”
“Ah, that makes sense then.” I can’t quite read his tone. Then he sighs. “I got off early today, so I texted to see if you minded me coming over, but-”
“No! No buts, I mean.” I interrupt, wanting to facepalm when I realize that he might think I’m telling him not to come. “Please come over.” Across from me, my friends sit up straighter, grinning and nodding. “The guys wanna meet you anyway, and…” I feel my cheeks heat, “I miss you.”
Which is ridiculous. I saw him this morning because he stayed the night last night. However, I’m still in that honeymoon phase of our relationship where I want all the time with him I can get. Even if it means subjecting him to the Spanish Inquisition by way of two of my closest friends.
“I miss you too, sweetheart,” he says, his tone warm and relaxed again. “I’m about ten minutes away. I’ll see you soon.”
Ash and Josh race to the door like the overgrown toddlers they are as soon as London knocks. He knows it’s unlocked and that he can let himself in, but he never does. I loiter in the hallway and clear my throat, waiting for them to move aside so he can come in. They have the grace to appear sheepish, but it doesn’t prevent them from eyeing my boyfriend with open curiosity.
London takes it in stride, chuckling and greeting them with an outstretched hand. “You must be Ash,” he turns to my best friend, shaking his hand first, then to Josh. His smile doesn’t seem as warm as he steps towards the cop, even though his tone hasn’t changed as they shake hands, “And the infamous Josh.”
“Fair warning,” I inform him as I accept my greeting kiss, “Ash got on the group chat and now the whole gang’s on their way. So, you know, brace yourself for the interrogation.”
“Charlie’s just getting out of a meeting with some city planners and the guys who own The Grove, though, so he’ll be a bit late.” Ash laments as he tucks his phone back into his hip pocket.
“City planners?” London asks as we make our way back into the main living area. He takes my favorite armchair and pulls me onto his lap, which probably looks silly considering we’re both big, bulky men. Still, I relax against him, and he rests his chin on my shoulder.
Ash is busy explaining Charlie’s desire to build some community spaces and resources specifically for people in the BDSM lifestyle who need help. Ash was one of those people once upon a time, and if I hadn’t had my dad to come home to after my breakup, I would have been, too.
With the arm wrapped around my waist, London gives me a knowing squeeze. “That’s such a commendable project,” he tells Ash. “The company I work for provides large-scale landscaping solutions for businesses and stuff. Maybe I can talk to them about whether we can help out?”
“I’m sure Charlie would appreciate that,” Ash grins.
Josh derails the conversation, barreling in without any tact. Classic Josh. “So, London, how come we’ve never seen you at The Grove before? You new to town? Or do you usually go to one of the lesser clubs?”
“Actually, I’m new to the lifestyle,” London answers easily. “My friends are in a Mommy/little girl relationship, but until I stepped in for Cherie as a favor, I never considered how good a fit it would be for me.”
“Wait, hold up,” Josh is gaping at us now, his eyes darting from mine to London’s and back, before fixing on London’s firmly. His expression becomes hard. Protective. “Is this experimentation for you?”
“For fuck’s sake,” I huff at the same time as London calmly answers, “Absolutely not.”
Then he quietly admonishes me for cussing.
His arm squeezes me tightly again, and I can feel him tensing. Before I can tell Josh to back off, though, my boyfriend’s tone turns saccharine sweet. “I should probably thank you, though. If you hadn’t abandoned Matt, I probably wouldn’t have met him or realized how much I enjoy being a Daddy. His Daddy, actually.”
