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“Deal.” A pause. “Also, if I’m ninety and you’re a hundred and four, I’m going to be the one driving. Because your eyesight’s going to be terrible by then and I’m going to be, like, peak elderly hotness.”

“You’re already peak hotness.”

“Peak elderly hotness is different. It’s a whole category. I’ll have been preparing my whole life.”

I kissed the top of his head.

“You’re ridiculous,” I said.

“I know. But you love it.”

“I love it,” I confirmed. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Daddy.”

He settled back against my chest. We laced our fingers together, and he held on like that, our joined hands resting on my stomach, and for a while neither of us said anything.

Chapter 16. JJ

Daddy had just hung up the phone. I'd been watching him the whole time he talked, wanting to bounce in place. I held it together — it was hard. He finished the call.

"Yes, let's do that. Yes, deal. See you then."

And he looked at me, smiling.

"Did it work?" I asked, my whole body buzzing. He nodded, laughing, probably finding it funny how I was acting.

"They said they can meet us there in an hour. Go get ready." I jumped in place, throwing a little fist pump into the air.

I'd asked Daddy to call Esteban, the Dom from the open house, and ask if he could bring Max and Rex to meet up with me. I really wanted to be friends with Max, but he hadn't come back to The Hearth since. I figured that if we met up, maybe I could convince him to come back.

It was Saturday, but my brothers were both out — Sawyer was away at the regional teacher conference, which was unusual for us because we rarely traveled anywhere without Daddy. I honestly couldn't imagine having to go somewhere on a trip without him — talking to strangers, keeping track of schedules, all of it sounded like a nightmare, and I knew that even though Sawyer was tough, he probably felt a little lost when he had to do that kind of thing too. Mikey had to cover a shift for a coworker, which I knew he hated — he was always getting stuck doing unfair favors, and I hated his job because of it. It always left my brother exhausted and unable to have any fun.

But the upside was that now I got this little bit of time alone with Daddy. We were going out with my new friends. This was amazing.

I went to my room and put on a black Ramones shirt — a punk band I liked — and light-wash jeans that made my butt look really good and were ripped at the knee, which I thought was pretty stylish. I put on my red Chuck Taylors. I checked myself out in the mirror, brushing back the fringe that always fell annoyingly into my eyes. I looked hot, exactly the way I wanted to look going out with Daddy and friends. I also put on my collar, black leather with a ring at the front. We didn't wear permanent collars because of our jobs, but I liked wearing mine when I could, even though it wasn't required. I liked showing that I belonged to Daddy.

When I found him in the living room, he was already ready too. He'd put on a black button-down and trimmed his beard a little to keep it neat. He looked delicious as always, and if we kept standing there looking at each other like that, we were going to miss meeting our friends entirely and end up right back in the bedroom, repeating what we'd already done earlier. That thought amused me and I laughed.

He came over and kissed me.

"You look gorgeous, baby," he said.

He always treated me like that, like I was something precious, and it sometimes brought tears to my eyes, because no matter how badly behaved I'd been, I knew he'd punish me but then hold me in his arms right after. And after the conversation we'd had earlier, I was feeling more loved than ever.

"Ready, sweetheart?" he asked.

I nodded, excited.

"I can't wait to see Max again. And Rex too — even though we didn't talk much, I bet we will this time. He seems really nice."

Daddy laughed. He always laughed at how much I talked.

"I'm sure, baby," he said. If I'd had a tail, it would have been wagging. I wasn't a hundred percent pup, but I got it in moments like that.

He held out his hand and I took it, and we headed to the car — a Jeep Wrangler he'd bought not too long ago. I felt so lucky to have him in my life, because he took care of us in every way — made my little kinky dreams come true, took care of us financially too if we wanted him to.

The café Daddy had picked was pretty upscale, and we'd been there a few times before. The vibe was casual but really lovely, with amber lighting that gave everything a warm, golden glow, decorated couches and armchairs, and wooden furniture that looked expensive.