Page 118 of Pretty ’n Peak

Austin turned Mateo by his shoulders, so they were facing each other. The hallway was dim so he couldn’t see a damn thing, but he tried to stare right into Mateo’s eyes anyway. “Good,” he said firmly. “I’m glad you’re getting to know yourself. It’s exciting watching you come alive and explore who you are. And I want you to know that I find you appealing no matter what you wear or how you present yourself.”

“Yeah?” Mateo asked, voice full of hope.

“Yeah. Do you want to try she and her pronouns?”

“I don’t know. Maybe? I’m not, I mean… I’m not a woman. If that makes sense. So he and him is fine?”

“It makes complete sense. We can use alternating pronouns. Or we can use he/him pronouns with the feminine pet names. Listen, why don’t you go put those flowers somewhere, and then we’ll find somewhere to talk.”

Mateo huffed. “This probably wasn’t the sexy evening you were looking forward to.”

Austin shrugged. “I didn’t have any expectations except seeing you. But do you think we could turn on a few lights?”

“Oh, yeah.” There was a flurry of movement, and some element of color and vision returned to the room. “This is the living room. Couch on the left, chair straight in front of you. Shelf with a TV against the right wall. It’s cozy, but I picked up anything on the floor you could trip on.”

“Thank you.” That small act was huge for Austin.

“The kitchen’s to the right, with a table and two chairs, and past that is what’s supposed to be a second bedroom, but it just has all my painting stuff. Definitely don’t try to walk in there without me, because I couldn’t even begin to clean up the floor. On the left, the first door is a closet, second one is the bathroom, and the last one is my bedroom. Um, if you want to sleep with me in there, I’ve got a queen-sized bed?”

Ah, the adorable awkwardness of a second hook-up. “That sounds good to me.” Austin certainly wasn’t sleeping on the couch now that he was here. He deposited his bag by the door. “How did your parents end up in a house with an apartment on top?”

“Oh! That’s a good question.” Mateo’s voice traveled as he walked around the room, then headed toward the kitchen. “We lived in the same tiny house all through my childhood. Six kids in two bedrooms, plus one for my parents. It was all we could afford at the time. When my parents finally had the money for a house big enough for all of us, we were grown. Two of my brothers had already bought cheap houses and renovated them, so my parents gave our childhood home to my older sister and bought this place for my dad to fix up. My baby sister had the attic apartment, since she wanted some independence, but all of us have switched around a few times. I think they’re going to move in a year or two, but they’ll probably just get something else on this block.” There was a pause and the sound of paper rustling. “There’s a vase in here?”

“Yep. Let me know if you like it.” Austin found his way to the kitchen and leaned against the wall.

There was more rustling and then a gasp. “Austin, this is beautiful.”

“Yeah?”

“This has to be handmade, isn’t it? It’s art.”

Austin’s lips split in a grin. “That’s what they told me. Handcrafted by a local artist and all that. I didn’t get a look at it, though. Will you tell me about it?”

“Yeah. It’s this luminous blue that sparkles like the sea. The bottom is round like the drop of water, but the top opens up into these ragged petal shapes with splashes of color. Like orchids or peacock feathers.” He sighed. “And I thought the flowers were expensive.”

“I thought it would make you happy. And you deserve pretty things.”

“It makes me so happy. I would object, but this is one of those Daddy things, isn’t it? Even if you’re not really my Daddy?”

Austin’s mouth was open, but no words came out. Was it part of the kink? He’d been asking himself the same questions earlier.

He’d never told Mateo that he didn’t identify as a Daddy Dom. He’d gotten the expensive gifts because, well, because he wanted to spoil the boy. To have his first forays into being gay and kinky and feminine be magical.

To let him know how special he was, precisely because he hadn’t asked for any of it but deserved it anyway.

And maybe, just a little bit, because buying him that first gift had been fulfilling in all sorts of unexpected ways. He felt proud and protective, lit up inside from the joy he was bringing his sub.

Which sure sounded a lot like some Daddy relationships he’d heard of.

And then there was the way the words sounded on Mateo’s lips.

Like the lingerie, it didn’t do anything for him on its own. But when Mateo called him Daddy… suddenly it had his cock pulsing.

There was also something to the mentoring relationship they had. Where Mateo was strong and capable in so much of his life, but looked up to him as a Dom with that breathy adoration. The way he felt protective and horny and proud about every little thing Mateo did.

“Maybe it is a Daddy thing,” he responded, testing out the idea himself. “And maybe pretty boys deserve pretty things. Or pretty girls,” he corrected himself. “Pretty people.”

“I feel like I’m the pampered princess you mentioned before.” There was a thump as he settled the vase on the kitchen table. Austin could just make out the haze of colors.