Page 8 of Milk Drunk

“I like bacon.” Like… love… they were synonyms, right?

Jason unwrapped it and held it out to me. It was a classic Daddy move. We hadn’t talked about that side of things, although I’d been Little last night, jams included. And no one could see Jason and not know he was a Daddy. Before I could come up with a response, Jason held up his hand.

He must’ve seen the struggle on my face because he continued on with his food descriptions as if we hadn’t just shared that awkward moment. “Or this one. It’s plain cheddar with nothing else.”

“Oh. I love plain.” I didn’t mind regular burgers, but I was pretty sure my tummy would prefer something simple, and when given the choice, it tended to be my default. “Please...” I stopped short of saying Daddy.

“Great!” Jason unwrapped the plain burger and put it in front of me. “And fries?”

“Always.” Who turned down fries?

I waited for him to pour the fries onto the open wrapper beside the burger. As soon as he did, I couldn’t help looking over at the drinks. “Are those milkshakes?”

“They are.” Jason pulled the two shakes from the holder. “Chocolate or vanilla?”

“Choco, please.” He wasn’t my Daddy and we weren’t doing a scene, but still… my regression came naturally with him.

“One chocolate shake, coming up.” He unwrapped a straw and pushed it through the lid. “And I got Sprite too, in case your tummy is still upset.”

“Thank you.” Tears began to well in my eyes, and I didn’t understand why. I was happy, not sad. Jason was being so nice. That wasn’t a reason to cry.

“Hey, now, little one.” Jason came around the table and squatted beside me. “What’s wrong?”

I shrugged and wiped my eyes. “I don’t know. I mean, nothing’s wrong. Everything’s good.”

“These are good tears?” Jason cupped my cheek and used his thumb to brush away a tear. “Tell me what’s good?”

Ohmigod, was he gonna make me say it out loud? I wasn’t sure I could. But then I looked into his eyes, and I couldn’t not answer. “You’re just so nice and… this is so special and… I’m happy.”

"I’m happy too, Casey." He grabbed a napkin and dabbed my cheeks. “I’m happy to be here with you, and I’m happy you’re happy.” He leaned back and looked at me for a moment. “What do you say we eat?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I need to eat.”

We ate quietly at first, soaking in the moment, but then Jason asked me about DJing and what I did when I wasn’t spinning tracks. It was the right question because the second I started talking about my passion, everything else was forgotten.

Even though we’d just met, the few hours we’d spent together were intense. That made him more than just someone I’d met the night before. That made him…special.

Once I started talking, I didn’t stop until I was too full to take another bite and Jason was clearing the table. He looked at me with some trash in his hands. “What should we do now?”

Oh, good. He didn’t want to leave yet. I stood up and rubbed my belly. “I feel like I should go for a walk, but I can’t move yet.”

“Maybe we could watch a movie for a bit to let our food settle and then go for a walk.” Jason looked up at me from the trash can after dumping our wrappers. “I saw the goats out along the reservoir on my way here. We could go see them.”

“Goats!” I loved goats. “Yes, please. Let’s go see them.” A big burp surprised me, and I felt my cheeks burning in shame. “Excuse me. Sorry.”

“You’re excused, Casey. Let’s take a break for a while, and then we’ll see goats.”

5

JASON

Watching Casey get so excited about spending time with me was invigorating. It was adorable how he kept talking about the goats and how much he wanted to see them, and I did too. But he was leaning back with his hand rubbing his belly and yawning. The goats would need to wait. Nap? Movie? Coloring? Sure.

But that was about all he could handle until his food settled a bit.

That had always been my plan. Knowing Casey was sporting a hangover, I didn’t expect him to be up for a big adventure. But every time he mentioned the goats made my resolve to keep him at home a little weaker. I was tempted to give in, but what kind of Daddy would I be if I let the well-being of the boy in my charge come second to their desire to play, or in this case, go see some goats.

Still…it was hard to say no to him, and he wasn’t even trying to influence me. I had a feeling I’d cave instantly if he intentionally attempted to sway me. So adorable.