Page 6 of Soothed By Daddy
“Or you could let me do it.”
“No fair. I could pay you or knock something off your rent.”
“How about this time we call it a mutual favor because I need something from you?” It was hard to tell if Cyrus was nervous. He had that face that showed no emotion. It wasn’t like he looked mad. It was wholly unreadable. Maybe he was angry? Maybe he was ecstatic? Maybe he was about to murder me… Unlikely, but if he were, it wouldn’t show on his face.
“What do you need? I like to help.” Well, piddle. Talking about my little side and him being concerned about me brought it out at the most inconvenient times. If I wasn’t careful, in about two seconds, I’d beg Cyrus for a PB&J and some of his Daddy milk.
“My chest pump isn’t working, and by hand isn’t very efficient.” He let the words hang in the air, and I did my best to contain a happy dance—except my feet. They shuffled, lit up, and bounced around the room. Awkward. Cyrus, to his credit, scrubbed a hand over his face, which I strongly suspected hid his smile, but he was polite enough not to say anything.
“I could help you with that. It’s no trouble.” I managed to hide my giddiness behind a polite smile, but I ruined it when I accidentally licked my lips. I quickly made it go away and went back to looking friendly, not predatory, because that would be wrong.
“I knew you were a good boy.” Oh my god, he wasn’t helping. Was he doing it on purpose? Because that half-smile was back again. It almost, but not quite, felt like Cyrus was flirting with me. That seemed unlikely since he’d never done it before this very minute, but a boy could manifest. Either way, real or imagined, I was taking him up on the offer.
“Tomorrow, I’ll go to the store for the solvent and work on it this weekend. Would that be okay?”
I nodded eagerly and added, “If you want, I could help.”
“Yeah, that’s fine,” Cyrus said. “I’ll show you what to do.”
And then we stared at each other like neither of us knew what to say. I could only speak for myself, and I definitely was at a loss. Instead of talking, I shuffled my feet a few more times and light reflected around the foyer.
C’mon, Georgie, be cool.
Cyrus took the plunge first. “Have you had dinner yet?”
“No, not yet. I was going to make my sandwich after I worked in here some.”
“What are you making?”
“A PB&J. It’s my favoritest.”Ugh, stop being little, Georgie.“I mean favorite.”
“Grape or strawberry?”
“Grape is the bestest.”Georgie, behave. “But if it’s a PB&J, I’ll eat it.”
“Want to know my favorite kind?”
“Yes, please.”
“It’s raspberry with Nutella and peanut butter.”
“Oh. My. Gosh. That sounds yummy ’licious,” I said, but this time, I didn’t bother to hide my licked lips.
“I’m okay to wait a little bit. Why don’t you come over, and I’ll fix you a sandwich, then we can take care of the other?” Cyrus’s face remained expressionless, but his voice was kind. With nothing else to do, I obediently followed him into the small apartment attached to the other side of the house.
His place was the exact opposite of mine. Where I had messes and makeshift solutions until I could fix them, his was tidy and well-organized. There were blue corduroy-covered couches in the living room. If I ran my fingernails over the ridges, I’d bet they’d make funny sounds. His plants looked much healthierthan my brown ones, and his round dining room table had a small bouquet of flowers on it.
“You like flowers?” I asked when I went over to smell them. The peonies’ and sweet William’s scents tickled my nose.
“Yeah, my mom always keeps some on her table because she says that’s what makes it feel like home and I’ve kept up the tradition. Usually it’s a five-dollar bouquet from the grocery store, but I was near the farmers’ market the other day for some veggies, so I splurged on the fancy kind.”
“I like ’em.”
“Thanks.”
While Cyrus prepared dinner, I went into the living room. It was nice to have no messes anywhere. The only place in my house that was even close to clean was my small office, and that was mainly important for my computer.
“All right, dino boy, come get your dinner. No T-rexes were harmed in the making,” Cyrus said as he placed the plate in front of me.
