Page 7 of Tessa

Tessa giggled at his question. “Gus only eats grass.”

“Hmmm. Well, I don’t think grass is on the menu this morning. We’ll have to find Gus some food later. But what about you? Are you hungry? Do you like pancakes?”

“Is it pancake day?” Tessa squealed, jumping in place. “With fruit? Or chocolate chips? Or just syrup?”

“I think it’s a pancake bar,” Dax answered, before Beau could. “Chef Graham went all out this morning. He must have known it was a very special day!”

Tessa didn’t understand Dax’s teasing and stopped bouncing, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. “It is? What day is it? Did I forget someone’s birthday?” She looked genuinely concerned, and Beau rushed to reassure her.

“No, sweetie, don’t worry. You didn’t miss anyone’s birthday. Dax was just being silly. He meant that today was special because it’s the first day we get to know each other. I think that’s pretty special.”

“Oh!” Tessa smiled and her brows unfurled. “I think that’s special too. At least I hope it is,” she added under her breath.

Not sure the last bit was meant for them to hear, and not wanting to embarrass her, Beau slid a hand first into Dax’s and his other hand into hers. “The line is going down. Shall we go get our breakfast now?”

Neither of them answered with words, but they both followed Beau’s lead. When they reached the buffet, Beau fixed his own plate and Dax’s, and Dax fixed Tessa’s, putting the balance of power right in front of her in case she was paying attention.

As soon as they sat at the table, she cut straight to the chase.

“Soo… can I ask a question?”

“Of course. It’s why we’re here. To get to know each other.” Dax smiled easily, reached over the table, opened her milk carton, and popped a straw into it.

“We thought… my friends and I, I mean… we thought you guys were just friends and business partners. But, that’s not all you are, is it?”

“We were, for a long time, friends and business partners who occasionally shared women,” Beau answered carefully. He loved Dax, and their newish relationship, but he still struggled with talking about it out loud.

Luckily for him, Dax had no such qualms and took over. “We got busy with this project and being in a new city, and we stopped sharing women. And when we did that, a relationship just naturally developed between us.” Dax smirked. “Probably because Beau got to see what a mess I truly was. He had to start bossing me around or he’d have lost his mind.”

Beau rolled his eyes. “That’s not true.”

“Oh come on. It’s a little bit true.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Beau shrugged. “I have always cared about Dax. And I’m a naturally dominant person. It just happened, and we both liked it. So we’ve taken some time to let things work out between us and now we’d like to find a Little girl to share.”

“But not… not the same way you’ve shared in the past?” Tess didn’t seem put off, just curious and intrigued.

Beau leaned back in his chair and laid his cards on the table. “If you were our Little girl, we would both be your Daddies and you would answer to both of us, but I would be the Alpha Daddy. There would be a chain of command, so to speak. I would be Dax’s Daddy and yours. Dax would submit to me, but he would be in charge over you. I know it seems like it would be a difficult balance, but I know many throuples who live that way and love it.”

Tessa just nodded and turned her attention to Dax. “Are you a Little?”

“Not normally no, but I’ve been known to have some Little tendencies, and I’m told I can be a bit of a brat.” Dax snickered, and the corners of his eyes wrinkled.

Beau patted Dax’s thigh and turned his attention to Tessa. “Have you ever thought about having two Daddies?”

“Only since you guys came here,” she muttered, a blush rising up her cheeks.

The admission hung between them for a moment before she continued, “You are both really freaking hot. And I love the idea of having the two of you as my Daddies. But… Mister Daddy warned me to make sure I’m not being treated like a consolation prize.”

Beau winced at the harsh summation that brought to mind the reality that last night they’d been ready to make Jilly their Little girl. Well, Dax had been. Beau had just gone along for the ride. But he didn’t want to admit that and risk it getting back to Jilly somehow. He adored her. He’d just known it wasn’t a good fit.

Not sure what to say, or how to reassure her, he glanced at Dax. His bratty boy just sent him a cocky, self-assured grin that seemed to say “don’t worry, I got this”.

So, Beau leaned back in his chair and waited, not sure what to expect. Sometimes Dax said the perfect thing, and sometimes he… didn’t.

Dax leaned forward and placed his hand over Tessa’s. “I get that. And I’m glad Baze is watching out for you, but can I tell you a secret?”

Tessa nodded.