Page 2 of Need Him
“Yeah, sure.” Preston rolled his eyes. “Hungry?”
“Starving,” Gareth replied. He didn’t bother opening the menu because he knew the contents by heart. Having been coming to this pub since before he was of legal age, he knew everything there was to know about the place, even though it had changed hands three times since then. The menu changed occasionally, but it didn’t take him long to memorise the new contents.
“You ordering, or am I?”
“My turn, I think.” He stood. “What’re you having today?”
“Lasagne and chips, and can you grab me another beer?”
“Sure.”
He aimed for the bar and rested his arms on the counter while he waited for the bartender to finish with their current customer. The air conditioning blew across his shoulders, cooling the sweat on his skin as he checked his phone. Nothing. He didn’t know why he checked. There were only two people who would message or call him, and one of them sat across the room. The other was at work.
He placed his order and paid, carrying the beers back to the table after some small talk with the bartender.
“How did the meeting go?” Preston asked when Gareth returned to his seat.
“It was good. She showed me around the place, and I got to meet the manager.” Gareth frowned.
“Not a good guy?”
Gareth scrunched up his face. “I don’t know. He seemed…busy. Too busy.”
“Isn’t that what a manager usually is? They have plenty of work to keep them occupied.”
“Yeah, I know.” Gareth took a sip of his beer. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s nothing.”
Preston leaned forward. “As you always tell me, trust—”
“Your instincts. Yes, I know.” Gareth chuckled and shook his head.
They spoke about the usual crap friends talked about, continuing after their meals arrived. By the time they’d finished, it was time for Preston to return to work, and as Gareth drifted through the streets towards home, he, once again, wished he had someone other than his friends to socialise with. His father still worked all the hours of the day, as he had since Gareth’s mother died when he was nine years old. Gareth had expected his dad to slow down now that he wasn’t responsible for Gareth’s financial situation, but if anything, the man worked harder now. He didn’t know why.
But other than his father, Preston and Victor, his next-door neighbour, he had no one. The jobs he’d had were short, and he hadn’t taken any friends along with his departure from the businesses—except Preston, but he was like a little to his cuddly…not letting go anytime soon.
He loved his friends, but he wanted more from life. He wanted someone to go home to. Not that he expected them to stay home; it was more a figure of speech. He wanted to know someone lived in the same house as he did and was excited for Gareth to be there, too. Problem was, he couldn’t find someone for more than a few nights. His needs weren’t excessive, he didn’t think, but he knew he went full-on when he wanted something—or someone.
His Daddy nature wanted someone to look after, someone to cherish, someone toneedhim. Several past partners had told him he was too obsessive in his needs, too controlling. He’d tried not to be, but in the end, suppressing his nature had made things worse. Forhim. He’d gone completely the other way and had tried a non-kink relationship. He hadn’t chosen the man well. His partner had been cruel and violent, hiding his physical nature behind a dazzling smile and humour that had only come to light several weeks later. Gareth had known it wasn’t a good relationship after the first fist to his stomach, but he had wanted to change the man.
Gareth shook his head when he reached his house. There was no changing a man like that. After four months and too many bruises to count, Gareth had ended it, leaving the guy’s place with a bruised jaw to match his ribs.
He’d locked himself inside his house for two weeks, giving himself a reality check, before emerging a new man—or rather, his original self. The same way he couldn’t change that guy, he couldn’t change himself. He was who he was, and he was now resigned to that fate. Be it alone or with someone.
The door lock engaged, and he strode for the kitchen, throwing his white shirt into the washing basket as he passed. His house was cooler than outside, but his throat was a desert, so he aimed for the fridge. A cold glass of milk helped lower his body temperature, and he wandered to the room he used as an office. Not that he needed an office, but the house had three bedrooms, and he didn’t see the point in having them when there was only him. He knew why he’d bought a three-bedroom house, though. He was waiting for his boy.
Turning on his computer, he settled into his chair and brought up the information on the supermarket again. Since he’d been requested to return after the initial interview, he’d read through the company’s details many times, wanting to be prepared to answer any questions they might throw his way about the company itself. Many companies wanted to know how much knowledge someone had about what they did, and often, penalised applicants for not having done their research. He hadn’t needed to, but he found himself curious now that he’d met a couple of the staff. He clicked on the “Meet the Team” section and found photos of the major players of the company.
His gaze fell straight on the first picture.Ben Mycroft. Manager. Had been with the company for nineteen years.Gareth raised his eyebrows at that. Nineteen years? He must’ve started with the company straight out of school or college, depending on his age. Gareth had no idea what that felt like. He’d had far too many jobs between when he’d finished school and getting this latest one. He needed to find a job to stick with because soon, he’d have no more businesses to try if things didn’t work out.
The only thing he had going for him was that he didn’t leave the company in trouble with his departure. He always waited until they had a replacement for him and trained them where necessary. This helped persuade them to give him a better reference for new recruiters. This latest gap between jobs had been the longest he’d been without income, and he’d begun to worry he wouldn’t find anything. He had some money saved, but it wouldn’t have lasted more than a couple of months.
He stared at Ben’s picture, the grey strands in his hair not visible in the photo as they were in person. He was also not wearing his glasses, making his green eyes appear more vibrant. What was it about the guy that sent a frisson of something along Gareth’s skin? The man was good-looking, but his abrupt dismissal of him and Ruby had been unnecessary. If Ben had been his boy, he would’ve been spanked for that behaviour. No one should treat an employee like that, no matter what they did.
Shaking his head, Gareth exited out of the site and brought up his second love: his blog.Boys, Daddies, Snuggles & Morehad been running for several years, and each week, Gareth added a new post about the realities of being a Daddy, the expectation versus the truth, the emotional toll that being alone took on a Daddy. He didn’t expect his blog to raise the roof, but he had a good number of followers, and comments flowed in whenever he posted. Some comments were sometimes a confusing mess of“What the hell did I click on?”but, for the most part, they were positive.
He opened up his latest draft.
When Money Matters by Daddy G
