Page 84 of Love Unlimited

Dustin found his book, but he realized he wasn’t as interested in reading it. He brought it over anyway, along with his tablet in case he wanted to skim through the news.

Since no one had moved to other seats, he reclaimed his spot on the couch. He didn’t need to see the board game, which already looked ridiculous, so he leaned his back against the arm of the couch and put his feet hopefully on Zhong’s lap.

Ah, perfect. Zhong massaged his arch with his thumb in between arranging his deck and popping the dice with the strange designs out of the fancy box. Yeesh. Dustin had forgotten that this game had a Catan-like map of movable hexagons and tokens and crystals and plastic figurines. Oh, and there were apparently different moves for night time and day time. Of course. Just watching Zhong talk through one turn to teach Landon the game was overwhelming.

What was much more fun was watching Landon and Ash interact.

Landon was perched in the chair, and Ash, as usual, was stretching and rolling around on the floor. Like a cat—or perhaps more accurately, a cuddly puppy. Ash kept coming back to Landon between bites of ice cream to rub against his legs. Each time they did, Landon would run his fingers through their hair or stroke along their arm.

It was sensuous but playful, exactly like Ash. One time, though, Landon grazed around their ear and they closed their eyes in ecstasy, a shiver running down their torso.

For a moment, all Dustin could think of was what it would take to see that expression on their face again. Could he touch them that way, just behind their ear? How would they respond if he touched them somewhere else? Kissed them?

It took some willpower for Dustin to remind himself that Ash was off-limits sexually. After building it up in his mind, it was hard to turn it off just because everyone agreed it was the right thing.

That didn’t seem as important any more, though. Honestly, one of his favorite things in life was becoming Ash hanging out on the floor in his office while he worked. They didn’t do anything usually, just laze around on a bean bag with their tablet or sketch pad. Sometimes they’d bring a garment they were sewing accents onto. They didn’t even talk, but having them there was like the sun coming out on a dismal day.

Even better, they’d gotten Landon to follow them in sometimes. Every time Dustin looked up from his computer and saw the two of them snuggled up in the corner, he couldn’t help but grin.

Ash always made it seem like their actions were spontaneous and free, but Dustin was beginning to think that they planned out a lot more of it than they let on. Either Ash was the most subconsciously intuitive person in the world, or they were coaching Landon on how to relax into his younger mindset and providing a kind of therapy for the whole group. Strangely, the idea of Ash doing it on purpose felt just as good as them doing it by their gut.

Whether Ash was seeking him out just for his presence or because they wanted to help him relax, both meant a lot to him.

Ash rested their head back on Landon’s knee and gave Dustin a languid smile. He returned it, hoping they knew how much he appreciated their sunny presence.

Dustin finally settled into his book, getting sucked in by the third chapter, though he was continuously aware of the people around him.

The game wasn’t even over when the trio decided to leave it set up on the table and call it a night. Well, Zhong called it a night. He saw Ash yawning, and declared that it was time for them to sleep.

Ash protested adorably. But Daddy! I’m not sleepy.

Zhong raised one eyebrow. Daddy’s rules. Anyway, I have your light-up toothbrush upstairs.

Landon burst in, appealing to Dustin. I’m not tired either, Daddy.

Since he hadn’t told him it was time to go to bed—and in fact would have encouraged him to stay up and read since tomorrow was Saturday—this was purely a brat tactic.

Yeah, we’re not sleepy! Ash announced. They stood up with their hands on their hips, looking for all the world like a four-year-old pretending to be Superman.

Zhong looked startled, like he truly couldn’t believe they were saying it.

Was Ash truly never disobedient? Perhaps Landon’s bad influence—if it could be called such a thing when Dustin loved it so much about him—was rubbing off on Ash.

Or maybe Ash, like so many subs and littles, was testing their boundaries with Zhong.

Landon went to stand behind Ash in a display of solidarity. It was adorable. A kind of kiddie version of Landon’s usual misconduct with softened edges. A pillowy-soft protest.

Dustin waited for Zhong to make a move, but it looked like he was struggling to process the situation. Landon was watching Ash, looking more amused than serious. He was testing things out too.

Ash’s eyes were darting between their Daddy and Dustin. Which was… interesting. Dustin shouldn’t have had anything to do with this. Had something changed if he was Daddy Dustin now?

Since Zhong appeared to be struggling, Dustin gave him a little prompting. It looks like we have a mutiny on our hands. He kept his facial expression light and amused.

Zhong grabbed it like a lifeline. We do. His expression said “Now what? Tell me what to do!”

Dustin took the lead again. If naughty children don’t go to bed on time, they get punished.

How? Landon demanded.