Page 111 of All Tied Up

Daddy spoke first. “I still don’t feel like I have anything to offer him.”

Jamie pulled back. Daddy’s face was shadowed, his forehead and stubbled chin faintly highlighted by the glow of the monitor. He looked defeated.

But now that Jamie knew what the problem was, he was sure he could fix it. Probably not with a lot of finesse, but Daddy knew better than to expect it of him. He opened his mouth and let it all pour out. “That’s bullshit. I didn’t think I had anything to offer him. But do you know what he said? That cementing the stones along the trail was the best day he’d had in years.”

“The trail’s gone now.”

“Don’t change the subject. Neil liked spending time with us. I heard him tell you the same thing. He loved every minute of going over your stupid spreadsheets and he likes being with you. He wants a Daddy, and you’re the best Daddy in the world, and you should just call him and make him come back here! Then chain him to the bed and never let him leave except to go climbing with me and give you blowjobs under the desk.”

Daddy’s mouth dropped open, and then he burst out laughing. “Is that right?”

“Yes,” Jamie huffed. Inside he was glowing, though. This was the first time Daddy had truly smiled since Neil left, and it was glorious to see him happy again.

Daddy stroked his hair affectionately. “You’re not even trying to be a brat, are you?”

Jamie grinned up at him, but he wasn’t going to back down. “It’s a gift. And you can spank me for it once we have Neil back here where he belongs.”

“OK. I’ll call him once I know what the total cost of the damage is and whether we can…”

Jamie crossed his arms. “Nope. No, no, nope. We’re calling him now. Because we miss him and this weekend was shitty and we don’t need a financial excuse to call the guy we have a crush on. We’re not asking him to marry us. We’re just asking him to figure this whole thing out with us.”

“The lodge?”

“Our lives. Because you know what, Daddy? Even if we lose the lodge, as long as I still have you, and maybe some mountains somewhere, I have everything that I need.”

“And Neil?” Daddy smirked.

“And Neil,” Jamie agreed. This was going to work out. He could feel it. “Now call him.”

Daddy’s eyes flickered off to the side, no doubt checking something practical like the clock. “It’s after midnight.” He sounded like he wanted to be convinced, though. And Jamie was nothing if not convincing.

Jamie twisted around and picked up the cordless phone from its cradle on the desk. “Look up his number.”

“We’ll wake him up. Let’s call in the morning. Jamie, I… I don’t even know what we’re asking from him. I’m not sure I can do this.”

“What’s his number?” Jamie insisted. “We can figure it out when he’s here.” He didn’t often challenge Daddy like this. All of his pushing was for fun and their mutual enjoyment. But now that they’d both opened up about things, he wasn’t going to wait another minute.

Daddy’s voice came out in a warning grumble. “You’re not going to be able sit on that perky little ass with the punishment that’s coming your way.”

Jamie grinned, because that meant his Daddy was back. Finally. “Ohhh, I can’t wait. Now look him up in the system.”

Jamie could do it just as well, but he wanted Daddy to take some initiative in this, too. If Daddy really didn’t want to call Neil tonight, he would have gotten more serious, telling Jamie to let it go instead of threatening a spanking.

Still frowning, Daddy clicked around on the computer and then read the digits aloud. Jamie put the phone on speaker.

There were a few short rings and then Neil’s sleepy voice greeted them. “Hello? Sebastian? Jamie? Is everything OK?”

Just hearing Neil’s voice, throaty and sweet like syrup, made Jamie feel better. Like balance had been returned to the world. “Everything is soooo far from OK,” he laughed. “But maybe you can help us with that?”

“Uh… Yes? Jamie, are you drunk?”

“Nope! Daddy’s here, too. We wanted to invite you back out here to figure things out.”

“Oh, um, sure. I have some paperwork ready and I can be there in an hour and a half, I think.” It sounded like he was just as eager to see Jamie as Jamie was to see him. Jamie had no idea what the paperwork was, but it didn’t really matter.

“It’s too late to drive out here, boy,” Daddy growled. “You have work in the morning. We can schedule something when you’re not busy.”

“Oh.” All of Neil’s enthusiasm had dried up, and his voice was quiet and uncertain. “Uh… I guess I could email over the papers then?”