Page 42 of Roleplay at Randy's
That’s my line.But my voice doesn’t work enough to say it back.
“You’ve been my safe place, troublemaker. Let me be yours for a while.” His fingers play with the short strands of my hair, and I wish I could say I was enjoying it, but it takes everything in me just to focus on the sound of his voice.
“Princess,” I choke out, but that’s as far as I get before he’s shushing me.
“You said you wanted to hold me. So, hold me. We can figure everything else out tomorrow.”
I want to protest, but there’s no fight left in me. There’s no drive to do anything other than breathe in the mix of Matty’s skin and my t-shirt. Breathe and let the weariness seep into my bones. Let him hold me up. Hold me together.
Matty’s right. Iamtired.
It feels like I could fall asleep right here in his arms—and I have no doubt he’d let me—but a little pitter patter of feet sends a shock to my nervous system.
“Daddy shark.”
Matty’s hands slowly fall away as I straighten, but he swipes his fingers across my cheeks before I step back.
“Right here, buddy,” I say, turning to see Cal standing in the living room with his sea creature blanket wrapped around his shoulders.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot the cooling hot chocolate sitting on the stove top.
“Drink your hot chocolate, Princess,” I mumble with a small smile, though I can’t bring myself to look at him and read his reaction. “I’ll probably be with Cal the rest of the night.”
His choked chuckle makes my smile widen. “Go play hero,Daddy.”
I make a face, and this time his laugh is clear as day. “Goodnight, Matty.”
As soon as I fully turn away, his fingers brush up against mine. A quick touch. Here and then gone.
“Goodnight, Lee.”
I spend the rest of the night in and out of sleep, dozing when Cal nods off or gets real quiet, and each little shift of sleep is filled with the same three things:
Matty’s eyes filled with humor and promise.
Matty’s hands as they wrap around me: a warmth in the swirl of cold.
And Matty’s soft, oath-swearing voice saying my name.
“Lee.”
11
ELIAS
Matty is much betterat pretending than I am. It’s a good thing—a great thing—because if left unchecked, I’d lead us into dangerous territory. At least one of us has some degree of self preservation left.
Unfortunately, Matty’s ‘pretending’ looks an awful lot like avoiding me. It’s only been a couple of days, but every time I come home, he’s quick to ask if we can just go to bed, and the casual touches I’ve grown accustomed to are oddly absent. During the day, he’s been extra focused on Cal or the technical side of his work, so we hardly get more than surface level conversations.
I crossed a line. Maybe one I can’t peddle back from.
That’s why I’m going to pull it together and sit him down for a serious talk. I don’t want this uncomfortableness to linger between us. We can clear this up and move past it. I’m positive.
The only way to do that, though, is to risk interrupting his … um … personal time. While Cal is at therapy for the next two and a half hours, I have to convince Matty that I canabsolutely just be his friend—and keep my hands to myself. Easy peasy.
I sent him a text to let him know I’d be heading home for a bit with an extra apology if I get in the way of whatever sexy time he might be up to.
Matty
