Page 82 of Full Body Hit, Part 1

There was a slight pause. “Fuck, that sure sounds good out loud.”

Chase was so red he could probably fry an egg on his face. “It’s good to hear you too.”

“You sound shy, baby. Haven’t put you on the spot by calling you, have I?”

“Well, I can’t say I was expecting it, but I’m glad you did. Sorry about the dumb voice memo I left yesterday, I was kinda drunk.”

There was a low, syrupy laugh.

Chase seriously had to sit down on the couch. How did his daddy sound that fucking hot? It wasn’t fair. He wasn’t going to be able to function like a normal human being if he could just listen to Aunix’s rumbling voice all day.

“Yeah, I figured you’d had a few. And I liked it. I like it when you think about me. I really, really like you too.”

“Yeah?” Chase mumbled, a smile taking over his face.

“Mmhm. Now, what’s with this big box you have there?”

The smile turned into a grin. “I think some generous donor sent it to me.”

“That was nice of them.”

“So nice.”

“You wanna open it up?”

“Yes, please. Wait, though—you have yours?” Chase checked

“Yeah, mine got here yesterday. Want me to open it with you?”

“Yeah!”

They situated themselves with their phones on speaker, Chase practically bouncing as he sliced open the tape, pulling back the flaps to reveal a bounty of soft things.

“Oh my God, Daddy. Oh, my gosh. How is this so soft? Holy—what is this made of? It feels like a cloud. And this pillow?”

Aunix was laughing on the other side, the kind of sound that meant someone was happy instead of amused at someone’s expense. Chase described everything as he pulled things out—the thick, unimaginably velvety blanket made of some sort of mythical creature’s fur—cruelty-free, Aunix assured when Chase asked if it had been taken from that big dog thing in The Neverending Story.

There were pillows that were so perfect it was like they were made from a material Chase had never seen before. There were thinner sheets, and fluffy cushions, and cashmere sweaters.

Chase held up the piece of clothing, putting it to his chest. “Did you get one of these too? The sweater?”

“Nah, I got you a few things extra. Look in the bottom of the box.”

Chase dug through the remaining blankets and stopped at some oddly shaped thing.

He pulled it out. There, springing to life, was a big duck plushie. It was mostly round, with its little feet and wings and beak poking out.

He gaped at the stuffy for a full ten seconds. He hadn’t had a stuffed animal since…since he was like three. His mom thought they were silly.

Chase wasn’t going to get emotional about this. He pressed the duck to his chest. “I found the duck. Thank you, Daddy. I love him.”

“Yeah? Saw it on the website and, I don’t know…it made me think of you.”

Chase bit his lip, inspecting the stuffed animal, its big, black, felt eyes. “You like ducks?”

“Yeah. I dunno. I guess maybe that’s a little weird, but I think they’re…cute or whatever. I like their feet.”

Chase couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Wow, okay. I mean, if you want me to send you pics of my feet, you just had to ask.”