Page 48 of Bear’s House

"Stop being annoying," I said, realizing I sounded like a baby but unable to help it. At The Hearth I felt completely free to just be myself, and sometimes I couldn't even pull myself out of little space when I needed to.

"I'm being serious. Go tell Daddy right now," Sawyer said.

I got up, sulking, and didn't say anything else. He was being an idiot. I got away from him before he could ruin my whole night. I wasn't going to say anything to Daddy for now — I'd ask Mikey what he thought. But Mikey also went really little whenever we came here, sometimes even nearly nonverbal, so I knew there was no point trying to ask him at that moment. I'd have to wait until he shifted back into his adult headspace, probably before heading to work or something like that. Bella had said she wasn't going to be able to make it that night anyway, so I decided to think it over later and figure out whether inviting her had actually been a good idea.

And on top of everything, right at that moment I forgot about all my problems because I saw Max, Esteban, and Rex — this time fully in his pup gear, crawling properly on all fours beside Esteban — walking in. I wondered how Rex managed that. My knees would hate it. We were too old to crawl around like that.

I bounced my way over to them. "You actually came!" I said.

Max laughed, already way more relaxed around me. "I told you I was coming," he said.

"It's just, people say things all the time that they don't mean, and then I end up believing them and getting hurt over it."

Max's expression softened a little, but he didn't call me out on how dramatic that sounded.

Max looked stunning, and it seemed like he'd made an extra effort to look even better than usual. He had on fishnets and tiny leather shorts, silver this time, and no shirt at all. It was funny, someone that shy having zero problem showing off his body — he was wearing only a neon pink harness across his chest. His body was more toned and defined than I'd expected. He was a snack, and I couldn't lie: if Daddy ever let it happen and Max wanted to, we could totally do a scene together sometime. I wouldn't say no.

Esteban was also decked out head to toe in leather, including a leather hat of his own.

"Why are you dressed like that, buddy?" Esteban had the nerve to ask me.

"It's pajama night," I said, worried Max would feel embarrassed for not being in pajamas on pajama night.

Max looked around the club and noticed that most of the members — at least most of the littles — were, in fact, wearing some variation of pajamas. I could see on his face that he wanted to panic, so I said quickly:

"It's totally fine. You can wear whatever you want, no problem."

He took a deep breath, like he was deciding to listen to me. "Okay. I'm not going to freak out," he said, sounding more confident.

"That's my boy," Esteban said, patting his back. "And besides, Rex isn't in pajamas either."

"Well, of course not, sir," I said to Esteban, using the honorific we usually used there unless someone asked us not to or a sub just didn't feel like it. "He's a dog. Dogs don't wear pajamas."

They both laughed loudly, which was exactly what I was going for.

I could see Max scanning the room too, and once again I felt that instinct to protect him — I didn't want him realizing Dominic wasn't there yet and immediately worrying about it. So I said quickly: "Let's go see where Daddy's sitting."

They nodded and didn't say anything about Dominic.

We went over to Daddy's table. He wasn't at his usual one, but at a smaller table where part of his regular crowd was sitting — Jeffrey, Elizabeth, and this time another Dom who just went by Lion. I wasn't sure of his real name. Some people preferred to keep their identities more private, not letting their real lives bleed too much into what they did on Saturday nights. Lion had long hair and always wore sunglasses — maybe still trying to preserve his anonymity, though I had no idea how he could stand wearing them inside a closed club.

Daddy stood up to greet them when he spotted us.

"Let's push the tables together," he said, and pulled the table beside them over with ease, even though it was heavy oak, joining it with theirs so everyone could sit together.

That was when Max finally worked up the nerve to ask about Dominic.

"Is he going to..." Max started quietly, his eyes sweeping the room again, too subtly for it to actually be subtle. "I mean, does he usually come on Saturday nights, or—"

The question died halfway through, like he'd lost his nerve partway through it, and he took too quick a sip of his soda, looking anywhere but at me.

I was about to answer when I felt someone put a hand on my shoulder. At the same time, a second hand landed on Max's shoulder, since he was sitting right beside me.

We both turned at the same time, almost in sync, to see who it was.

It was Dominic in the flesh, smiling — which wasn't like him at all.

"Were you two asking about me?" he said.