Page 9 of Not Open Yet
"I'm in the room. Last door on the left."
The bedroom at the end of the hall wasn’t as dark as the rest of the place because he had a light on beside the bed. Ethan was tucked in with the covers pulled up to his chin and a stuffed bear peeking out from under one arm. He looked exhausted and like he might have been crying.
I pressed the back of my hand to his forehead and was relieved he didn’t have a fever. "What's going on?"
He shrugged one shoulder under the blanket and kept his eyes averted. "Don’t feel good."
That shouldn’t have made my belly tense up, but it did. "I brought soup."
He glanced at the bag in my hand. "You didn't have to do that."
"I know, but I wanted to." I ran my fingers through his hair to push it away from his face and attempt to nonchalantly see if he had a temperature. "I'll heat it up. Do you like sourdough?"
He nodded.
“I’ll be right back.” I went back to the kitchen and found a pot and poured the soup in to warm it up. While it heated, I opened a few cabinets, looking for bowls. The first one had spices and dry goods. The second one had glasses and mugs. But the third one stopped me cold.
There were baby bottles. Four of them were clean and stacked beside a few sets of small plates and bowls with cartooncharacters on them. There were a few sippy cups tucked in the back.
Wrong cabinet.
Or was it?
I opened the last one and found the porcelain bowls and plates. I grabbed a bowl and put it on the counter. When I reached in the drawer right below it for a spoon, I also found a pacifier. An adult-sized pacifier in a small case. From the looks of it, a custom one.
Holy shit.
My mind was racing as I stood at the stove and stirred the soup.
Ethan was a Little. Or at least, he had been at some point. The bottles, the plates, the pacifier in its case, the stuffed bear in his arms. That was not a collection someone assembled by accident.
This new information changed things. At least, for me it did. If he was truly a Little who had been navigating the world all alone for almost a year, he needed me more than I realized. But the question weighing on my mind was whether he wanted thatmorefrom me.
He’d given me no indication that he was dating or the slightest bit interested in finding a new partner. Technically, I hadn’t given him any hints about my growing attraction either, but that flame of attraction was quickly becoming a raging inferno that I needed to address before my mind exploded.
I ladled the soup into the bowl and put the bread on a plate then loaded it onto a small tray I found leaning against the backsplash. With my features as calm as I could make them, Ibrought everything to the bedroom and carefully put the tray on the bed beside Ethan. “Lunch time, sweet boy.”
The term of endearment slipped out, and his eyes instantly locked with mine as he pushed himself up against the headboard and reached for the bread first. “Thank you.”
"Can I get you something to drink?" I slipped my hands into my pockets to keep from reaching over and feeding him myself. "Water…or maybe some milk?"
His eyes drooped and his lower lip popped out. "I got no milkies." He gasped as a flush crept up his neck, and he cleared his throat. "I mean. I'm outta milk. Water's fine."
I swallowed hard and tried to keep my tone light. "I actually have some with me. Fresh from this morning, if you’d like it."
“You have milk?” He was hesitant, probably working through all the reasons that might be. “Why?”
I didn’t want to lie, but I wasn’t sure now was the right time for this conversation. But since he asked, I had to answer. “One of my customers forgot to cancel his order, so I have a few jars left over.”
His mouth slowly opened and his jaw hung for a second. “Customers…like on the Milkman app?"
I wasn’t sure how he knew about the app, but his instant recognition of what I meant made things so much easier. "Exactly." I held his gaze and tried to be cool about it. “If you’re comfortable with that.”
He nodded immediately. "I am. I, uh, used to get milk from them sometimes. Usually on special occasions."
Thank fuck. That kind of revelation could go sideways quick, so the fact that he not only understood why I was on the Milkman app but had apparently ordered from it before was a huge relief.
I took a few steps back, still watching his face to make sure he was okay with the direction of our conversation. "Would you like it in a cup or a bottle?"
