Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 60077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
The way Orlando jerked his knee sent shivers through me.
Who was Terrence’s friend and why was he dating such dickheads?
“Yes. At the very least that’s why we meet new people in public first and we don’t let them send us flowers and chocolate and toys until we know they’re safe.” My grumbling got a giggle from Orlando and there wasn’t a worry in sight.
I had plenty for us both, so I wasn’t going to let his lack of them be an issue.
“Terrence wants to bring his friend to meet the rest of the family. I think they’re kind of scary but Terrence is really smart.” Orlando clearly wanted to question his smart new friend’s logic about that one but he was too polite for that. “You’re nice but you’re going to be my helper. Terrence’s friend is going to have to find someone else.”
Could I laugh at how possessive he sounded?
Not sure, I took it seriously as I made sure he knew I was his helper. “We’ll find him someone else. You’ve got a big family.”
At least a handful were functional and single, so it might not be as hard as Orlando was imagining.
“Yes. He gets someone else.” As his gaze went back to the movie, he forgot his picture for the moment. “Terrence can pick out someone for him. That’s not my job. Nope. He’s not my friend. He’s Terrence’s friend. You’re my special person, though, so he can’t have you.”
Before I could agree with him, because I wasn’t going to tie myself that close to Terrence for any reason, Orlando managed to tear himself away from the car’s bad behavior to finally focus on me. “He can’t have you. You’re mine.”
He was going to be unreasonably stubborn about that…and make a scene if we weren’t careful…it was going to be like those Pokémon cards all over again.
Wait.
Oh.
“Yes. I’m yours.” Refusing to question exactly what I was promising, I tried not to make it too ridiculous. “I’m your special helper and I will not do any Daddy kind of things or special friend kind of things with Terrence’s friend.”
Was that too broad or just broad enough?
“I wouldn’t date him to save him from your mother or Enzo’s…that’s just you, Trippy.” The childish nickname slipped out, making him giggle. “You’re still a trip, but you’re my trip.”
After a stupid round of insane teasing from his family when he was younger, he’d asked me what his name meant. I was a bit of a teenage prick at the time, so I’d told him he was a trip…mostly because he was kind of annoying at that age and I’d just seen the reference in an old movie.
I’d quickly followed up by explaining that it was a place people went to go on vacation because it’d been the only reference I’d known, but Trippy had somehow stuck. I had to admit, though, he was still a trip but nothing about his current headspace made me think of him as an actual kid.
When had he grown up so much?
He wanted a Daddy?
He wanted to be spanked?
Pushing those thoughts out of my head, because the images they were creating were problematic, I glanced toward the movie again hoping it would distract him.
It didn’t.
“I’m the only one who gets kisses too.” Still frowning at me in a very un-Orlando-like way, he was taking the strange conversation very seriously. “Holding hands too.”
This fake dating situation was getting a bit out of hand.
“That’s right.”
At some point I was going to have to put some limits on it.
“I’m just there for you, Trippy.” I wasn’t sure he was going to let me distract him with anything else, so I did my best to steer the conversation in a slightly less intense direction. “When should we do our first date?”
Lord.
His family made me have the strangest conversations…I wasn’t sure I could complain, though, because they’d been doing it since I’d moved in next door to them as a teenager.
Thankfully, my distraction worked this time and his gruff frown disappeared as he looked down at his picture. “Two more pictures? Three? Oh. Do I get dessert?”
Was I going on a date with little Orlando or big Orlando?
“If you’re hungry for dessert after dinner then we can talk about it.” A treat wouldn’t hurt him, but his friend associated Daddies with healthy food, so I shrugged. “Maybe we can share one? That will look like a good date.”
And no matter where we ended up, his family would hear about it one way or another.
The only reasonable goal seemed to be to try to keep the date looking as vanilla as possible, so going out with a grown-up Orlando should probably be our aim.
“Oh.” Leaning over the table on his elbows, he wiggled his bottom as the coloring and movie were forgotten. “We can be like Lady and the Tramp.”