Page 12 of Melt For Us, Daddy
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The 'docuseries’ as he’d learned it was called, was actually four different parts. He’d fallen asleep sometime during the second episode, and he woke the next morning to Zachary gently shaking his shoulder.
“Hey, man. Holden and the others will be here soon. Why don’t you go take a shower and I’ll make us some coffee?”
Bleary-eyed, Jacob nodded and stumbled to his feet to make his way back to the room he’d been shown to the day before. His bedroom, with its very own bathroom.
Such decadence. Surely this much indulgence has to be a sin.
But how could it be when the man who owned it obviously used his wealth to shelter those in need? Wasn’t that what the Bible demanded of those blessed with money?
He was far too exhausted to tackle such thorny theological questions, so he pushed them aside for later. When he could talk to… someone. Not his father or the deacons, but someone. Surely there was a man of God to be found somewhere in this city.
The shower was his more immediate concern. It was different than the one back home, the one he shared with his entire family. But surely it couldn’t be so different that he couldn’t figure out how to turn it on.
He was just reaching for the handle when a knock at his bedroom door drew his attention.
“Hey.” With his usual welcoming grin on his face, Zachary stepped into the room, holding up a pile of clothes. “Figured you wouldn’t want to wear the suit two days in a row. My stuff might be a little big on you but it should fit well enough. Did you figure out the shower?”
“Ah… not yet.”
“Yeah, that one’s a little tricky. Lemme show you.”
Without waiting for an invitation, Zachary led the way back into the bathroom and pointed to the large handle in the middle of the wall. “This is the main faucet control. You just kind of pull on it like this” —he demonstrated by pulling the silver handle toward him and water sprayed from the shower head—“then rotate it right for colder water and left for warmer. The little handle up here? That flips between the main showerhead and the rainfall shower. Left for main, right for rain. Like right as rain. Get it?”
“Yes, sir. I think so.”
Zachary rolled his eyes. “And stop calling me sir. Makes me feel like we’re at Holden’s club.”
“I don’t understand.” Club? Was that what they called the den of iniquity the church had been protesting?
“Right.” Blowing out a breath, Zachary ran a hand through his hair, and when he smiled again it looked more strained at the edges than before. “I’m not sure I’m the right person to explain since I’ve never been there. But it’s for people who like their sex a little rough.”
Sex. He knew what sex was, though he’d never engaged in the act himself. And what did Zachary mean by ‘rough’? How many different ways could there possibly be to make a child?
But before he could ask, Zachary shook his head. “Never mind. I’ll let Holden explain later. For now, just stop calling me ‘sir’ all the time, okay? We’re friends. No need to be so formal.”
“Yes, s—Zachary.”
“Zach. Just Zach is good.”
“Okay… Zach.”
This time when Zachary—Zach—smiled, it was a brilliant flash that made Jacob feel as though he’d just gotten the right answer on a particularly difficult test. It was a warmth in his stomach that spread to his chest and before he knew it, he was smiling back.
“All right, I’ll let you get your shower and stuff. Holden and Cordelia should be here in about twenty minutes. You definitely don’t want to keep Cordelia waiting.”
Cordelia. His grandfather’s wife who had stepped in like an avenging angel and stood up for him against men twice her size. The way she’d spoken to him, her voice firm but not mean, still played over and over in his head.
Carefully removing the shorts and t-shirt Zach had given him for bed the night before, he folded each piece and set them aside for later before stepping under the spray of the shower. It was a little too cold, so he turned the handle to the… was it the right or the left? He should have paid better attention while Zach was talking earlier.
Turning the handle to the right, he let out a squeak of surprise when the water turned icy and quickly turned it back to the left.
There. Perfect.
It was tempting to take his time, to soak in the indulgence of the beautifully tiled shower with its pretty blue and white walls and the warm water pounding against his back. At home, he was always in a rush, since he shared a bathroom with so many others. What an indulgence it would be, to simply stand under the spray until he had used up every ounce of hot water for himself.
But that would be a waste. And, as Zach had said, he didn’t want to keep Cordelia waiting.
