Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
And he said I was the dramatic one.
“Well, Daddy is very sweet, but he should know that I would come to him right away if I was upset.” Honestly, the weirder Dante got, the easier it was for me to be relaxed about it all. “As for Master, can I remind him that I kissed his cheek around other people and that I told a very nosy senior that I was dating you?”
I’d been wonderfully brave.
And the student in question had just demanded ten bucks from his friend because of a bet.
I still wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but it just reinforced the ridiculousness of me trying to keep my private life actually private. That just wasn’t going to happen no matter how much I wanted it to, but I was pretty sure they’d find something new to latch onto soon.
“And my boyfriend Dante needs to know that while I will never be the most open at talking about my little side with other people, I liked telling people that Dante was mine.” It still gave me butterflies and my list of worries was officially unreasonable, but I hadn’t dropped dead and people hadn’t been overly nosy.
Just slightly inquisitive, which was probably to be expected.
Dante’s lips were turning up at the edges but he was trying to look serious. “Your Daddy is worried that you’re pushing yourself because of something he said. Your Dom is worried because he thinks you’re going to panic any second, and your boyfriend thinks this is highly suspicious behavior and he’s considering checking if you’re a pod person.”
Oh, that sounded fun.
“Yes.” Nodding and trying not to smile, I looked toward the bed. “I think a full examination is in order.”
Dante pinched his lips together before a huff finally escaped. “Alright, let’s check your pod person status.”
He reached for my shirt confidently, like he already knew that was the first step, so I didn’t argue with him as he worked down the buttons. I decided I could use that time more wisely. “I can’t ask you to go to the Christmas party at work with me if I’m not out about dating you. Did you realize that?”
Dante’s barely hidden snort said he had realized that, but he wasn’t going to admit it. “Christmas parties are not something we need to worry about as far as dating goes because you’re going to be too distracted avoiding work and the spiked eggnog to remember who you’re dating.”
Someone clearly had tattled about last year’s party.
“I’ve gotten much better at that, and if you come with me, you can help me watch out for unexpectedly spiked drinks.” Eggnog was gross enough already without anyone adding alcohol to it. What had they been thinking?
As Dante pulled my shirt down my arms, I smiled at him. “And I want to have Christmas morning with you so we can open presents and then go play with Jacki and his Daddy and have lunch. I’m very selfish and want all of that, so I have to tell people about you. There’s no way around it.”
He was back to pinching his lips closed as he crouched down to take off my socks. “No way around it, huh?”
“Nope.” I shrugged as I used his shoulders to balance. “If I want you to be Daddy at Christmas, I’ve got to tell people we’re dating. Oh, and your roommates seem to be the buy the little a toy type of friends…and I like toys.”
Dante looked down toward the floor and I could see his shoulders jerking as he hid his laughter. “Do you think your switch friend would want to buy me paint?”
One of them had to be uneducated enough to buy me something with glitter in it. Then I could take it over and share it with Jacki. That would get around the no buying glitter rule.
Dante let out a slow breath before he finally straightened and stood up. “I think paint sounds like a lot of fun.”
“It is.” Giving him a quick kiss on the mouth to help me remind myself why I didn’t want to be little at the moment, I smiled at Dante. “And I can’t get jealous and scare off people if I can’t tell them you’re mine. At some point, the twins are going to realize you’re sexier than I am and it’s going to be nuts.”
They were persistent.
Lips barely turning up at the corners as he started working on my pants, Dante nodded. “That is a very reasonable point. I am sexy.”
I wasn’t the one worrying about laughter, so I didn’t bother hiding mine. “And confident. They’ll like that too.”
There really were a lot of very rational reasons that I needed to be able to claim Dante as mine.
“And next year when we start traveling together, I can’t go to someplace romantic like Venice and pretend to have gone by myself. That’s just…no…I have to be able to brag that my wonderful partner kissed me on that bridge.” I couldn’t remember the name of it, but I was pretty sure we were supposed to kiss on a bridge. “And what about if we went to Paris? I’m not sure why that counts as romantic but it’s supposed to.”