Page 66 of Coiled Tight
He’d said them.
It was all I’d thought about all evening as we checked into the hotel, and I had to pretend not to be really fucking sad that we had two single beds this time. And all I thought about when we woke up the next morning and headed for breakfast and Daddy—Saúl, dammit!—went through the program for the day and his plan for the vendor table we had.
It was all I thought about now as I sat next to him and pretended not to be too distracted by the black box he had hidden under the table with the custom orders he’d crafted. He’d said the people who’d commissioned him would come to pick them up later in the evening when this was quieter and there wasn’t any danger of kids or people whodefinitely shouldn’t have their eyes on a nine o’ tails. It all made sense, but it also left me feeling quite useless.
He’d said I was his boy.The first rule of being my boyimplied Iwashis boy.
“Um, D—Saúl?”
“There’s no one around, darlin’.” He made a show of looking, too, in a very Daddy-like manner that made it hard to keep it together and not descend into shenanigans. “What is it?”
“Is there time to join the cooking contest you mentioned?” It wasn’t the first thing that had been on my mind, but if I was his boy, I wanted to make him proud. It sucked, but making him proud would have to include doing things I didn’t particularly like. “Not that I think I stand a chance, but it might be fun, maybe?”
“There’s time,” he promised.
He always stayed so calm. It bordered on annoying.
To be fair, it wasn’t that I wouldn’t enjoy participating. I liked cooking. Cooking chili was the maximum comfort activity. That wasn’t the issue. The issue was that I kind of wanted to just stick by his shadow and get through these two weeks without drawing attention that might get me in trouble.
I supposed I could just stick to the stove and avoid eye contact.
Or do what I was supposed to do, which apparently involved scrambling to comfort a guy with a badly-hidden-for-those-who-knew-where-to-look alpaca stuffie that we didn’t have any alpacas currently in the sanctuary, and not lose it because I recognized a guy with a bazillion followers on social media who created animal content. It was really hard not to beg him to come to the sanctuary and make content with the babies we had, but I remembered—at the very last minute—that should be Daddy’s—Saúl’s—decision. Because family business and all that.
Maybe next year.
Huh.
Fun fact: not drawing attention became particularly challenging when it turned out that the very biased panel picked me as a winner. No, I had no evidence to say that they were actually biased. Only one of them looked familiar because he had stopped by our table and asked Daddy about any new animals we’d saved. I mostly remembered because I’d been relieved as fuck that Daddy didn’t decide to throw me under the bus and make me answer. I more or less was aware of how long each animal had been in the sanctuary, but if I’d tried to garner when was the last time they’d seen each other, and then do the math?
It would’ve been messy.
And now he was coming to me with a ribbon that looked kind of cute, I guess? It had a drawing of a bubbling saucepan in the middle.
“Um.” I cleared my throat as I took in the ribbon. “Are you sure you weren’t bribed?”
Everyone within earshot laughed, including the man. I’d forgotten his name, but Daddy had said he’d be coming by later for a custom paddle he’d ordered. It was a good thing I’d told Daddy no playtime with anyone here. Obviously—as evidence by Damian’s basement—I didn’t care about being with or around others, but if I had to stare them in the face afterward while I was already anxious as fuck about all of this?
Yeah, that would be a recipe for disaster.
“Daddy?”
I deserved another ribbon—or a cookie, preferably—forwaiting until we were all the way to our hotel and there was no one in the elevator with us.
“Yes, darlin’?”
He really had mastered the look that was half exasperation, half amusement, all mixed in with so much fondness it was ridiculous for something that had only just started.
It had only just started, right?
“Um. Do I get a reward for winning?”
As predicted, Daddy raised an eyebrow before he cornered me in the elevator. One quick glance at the screen said we had five floors ahead.
“Sure.” He nipped my jawline, and I got all wobbly because my knees got weak as fuck every time he got this close. “Name your price.“
My breath hitched. “Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
