Page 33 of Coiled Tight
Yeah, Hell would freeze over before I answered that question. He got the gist of it. One second later, he was chuckling to himself while unbuckling his seat belt.
“Take a screenshot of it while I’m gone.”
“Fine.”
No, I had no idea why I was acquiescing, or why I was pulling the phone out of the pocket in my sweatpants, but I’d never been really good at thinking things through or considering my options once I’d started doing something.
There had to be a fancy name for it. I shrugged it off. I’d never much cared about fancy names.
twelve
saúl
Ihadn’t been certain that Cam would obey. Hell, I hadn’t been certain about anything that pertained to this trip, other than a vet coming with me to Saddle Up, which was a good idea, and Cam needed to see that he belonged with us and the animals at the sanctuary.
It was bad enough when he’d started talking about this friend of his, and their playdates, I wouldn’t have asked details of even if he hadn’t specified it, and when he started opening up in a way he hadn’t with anyone in all the time he’d been with us. I hadn’t wanted to tip the scales, but…Fuck. I didn’t think I’d succeeded.
His taunting about the kind of Daddy I was—and I wasnotgoing to think about what it meant that he’d pegged me so well—aside…
Even before we got in the car, I could feel myself behaving differently,treating himdifferently. More Daddy-like. It had taken everything in me not to go through his suitcase to make sure he’d packed up properly and everything was folded and weather-appropriate. And when he got in the car, I wanted to ask what kind of station he listened to, andoffer some of the CDs I had under the console that I kept hidden from everyone else because there was no easy way to explain why I kept soundtracks from cartoon movies in the truck.
And then he started talking, and rushing through his explanations with barely enough oxygen, and I couldn’t help it.
I splashed cold water over my face, staring at my reflection. I always felt that my skin looked too rugged, which made me look much older than my years. Cam hadn’t once teased me for it.
No, he just teased about my Daddy ways without knowing half of it.
Asking him to show me a private conversation?
I shook my head before drying my face with a bunch of paper towels. It would already push all boundaries if I’d been asking as his Daddy.
I was not his Daddy, for fuck’s sake.
I didn’t know when all these feelings had gotten into me, but they could fuck right off, pronto.
Hehadsent me the screenshot, though, so it would only make things ten times worse if I didn’t read through it now. Knowing him, he had to be chewing the skin around his fingernails raw, waiting for me to come back and say something. I betsomethinginvolved firing him or, at the very least, being the type of mean he’d accused me of.
I leaned against the flimsy sink as I read through the type of rambling I’d come to associate with him. I still had questions about what else had been going on with his life to make him abandon who he’d described as the purest cinnamon roll, but the texts didn’t answer that question. I’d already pushed too much for the day, too, and stalling would only make me give in to the urge to stop at another service area and make our trip that much longer.
My back was always a mess by the time we got to Saddle Up. Spending much more on the road wouldn’t help matters.
As predicted, Cam was biting on his thumbnail when I got back inside the truck. “The kind of Daddy I am is also very against what you’re doing.”
Cam yelped. I wasn’t used to joking about kink, but the positive that came from it is that he pulled his hand out of his mouth. He even clamped it beneath his thighs.
“Um. Right. So…”
“So, you didn’t make the smartest decisions when you hired a PI instead of letting her reach out to you if she wanted to.” I rubbed a hand down my face. Since there hadn’t been any new information on the text, I’d been more focused on the last paragraphs. And the date when he sent it—the day I’d caught him wearing a pair of diapers and he’d thrown me out after his attempt to leave was cut short. “And I’m sure you could’ve eased her into it some more before dumping anything on her, but I’m going to take a wild guess and say that’s not unusual for you.”
“Not fair.”
“You keep saying.” I snorted. Part of me wanted to address that I’d been the one responsible for it. Part of me reasoned it was safer for both of us if I didn’t. “But no, donottext her again if she doesn’t reply, Cam. Write in a journal or something instead.”
“I do have a journaling app.” The delight in his voice made it seem like he’d completely forgotten the fact until I put the idea in front of him. “I always forget about it.”
Figures.
“Did you want to buy something before we head back on the road?”
