Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Wait.
“Had we actually finalized the vote on the decision at that point?” The day had been long but I wasn’t losing my mind. It’d taken us an incredibly long time to get to that vote because people kept asking reasonable questions.
The fuckers had to finally find their brains and couldn’t wait to use them.
“No.” Merritt shrugged and looked like he wanted to hug me and tell me it was all right. “But I guess someone decided it’d be how the vote went? I don’t know. I’m just reporting the gossip.”
“You are a marvelous gossip reporter, but I always end up hoping that it made more sense to begin with.” Merritt thought that wish was so ridiculous it made him giggle. “Fine. I’ll do my best to be more logical too.”
“Or Boyd will come after you.” Chuckling, Merritt kissed my cheek before settling back in his seat. “I have to admit everyone in this town is like a fun character in a book. No one back home would’ve asked me if I needed coloring pages for the meeting.”
Everyone had known it was going to be painful.
They’d been right.
“They’re helpful?” Merritt liked having everyone’s acceptance, but I didn’t appreciate the constant assumptions that I couldn’t take care of him myself.
Having a little as a mate was not a group project.
Merritt managed not to laugh but it was a close call. “Yes. Helpful. That’s what we’ll call it.”
He was trying to take my side, which I appreciated, but I’d seen his face light up when he’d been offered coloring pages. “It’s okay to enjoy the attention and how open-minded everyone is.”
Shrugging, he couldn’t seem to decide if he was going to look sheepish or smile. “It’s so different, I’m enjoying the novelty. It’s like a vacation where you go away and everything feels perfect.”
With the little I knew of his home life, I could understand that.
Reaching over, I stroked my hand over his head. “Being accepted for who you are is nice but they’re…enthusiastic about it, which is going to make the feeling even stronger.”
Leaning into my touch, Merritt let out a slow breath and closed his eyes. “As long as our house feels private and we can have enough Daddy and little time together, I don’t care where we live.”
I could hear the sincerity in his voice, but I knew we couldn’t keep putting off the conversation about what would come next. “We’ve got a lot of options. Let’s figure some out while we have dinner. I feel like taking my mate out, so are we having nuggets at the pub or Italian? I asked the sheriff for some recommendations.”
He was easy to talk to when the locals weren’t driving him batshit crazy.
“Hmm, Italian? Does that work for you?” Merritt was still snuggled up into my hand as I leaned over and kissed his forehead. It got a smile from him. “Don’t overthink if you give me options to pick from?”
“Bingo. You’re so smart. It’s sexy.” I was teasing but there was enough honesty to it that he snickered. “Start listing off all the bones in the body and see what it does to me.”
Barely holding back what was going to be a belly laugh, Merritt held his breath for a moment before letting it out slowly. “That’s not a kink I want to encourage. It’ll make work uncomfortable.”
I was the one laughing that time. “Fine. You have a good point.”
“I have an excellent point.” Peeking his eyes open, he turned his head and kissed my palm. “And I was right about your subtle message?”
“Yes.” Giving him a quick peck, I made sure to be clear this time. “I will not give you options where I have a negative feeling about one of them. If we come to that issue at some point, I will be very clear so you can make an educated decision. In this case, there were enough options at the pub that I could eat there at least three more times this week and not get frustrated.”
“Thank you for explaining that.” It was his turn to kiss me before snuggling back into my touch. “I would still like Italian and I don’t mind cooking in the camper even if it’s tight quarters, but I liked the pub and I liked their chicken strips.”
Grinning, his little side peeked out. “They’ve got good sauces and dunking is fun.”
“I think you like being able to play with your food in public more than the actual chicken.” His quiet bark of laughter made it clear I was right about that. “I knew it.”
Still looking like he wanted to giggle, he sat up straight in his seat so I could move my hand back to the wheel. “You like being right. I’m wondering how that’s going to play out in our where do we live and what do we do next conversations.”