Page 39 of Hunting Little Hope
His lip trembled as he said it, and I almost wanted to look at Daddy Tyrell and beg him to take Perry back to their room and keep him safe from the big bad world out there. But if he could do this, if he could put his fears and anxieties aside, then I could do it too.
For him.
“Okay,” I said before leaning over and quickly giving him a kiss. “Let’s do this.”
Daddy Lee bent over and gently placed his lips against the sensitive skin in my neck before Daddy Tyrell placed a kiss on Perry’s head. “I’m proud of you two,” Daddy Tyrell murmured before taking a step back.
Daddy Lee quickly followed him and Perry again took my hand and together we walked into the cafeteria.
Perry didn’t slow once we were inside. He kept talking softly, pointing out obvious landmarks like we were crossing a battlefield instead of a cafeteria.
“See, there’s the juice table. And over there is where we can try and sneak some pudding cups without the Daddies noticing. And that’s Sadie.”
I followed his finger.
The bright, bubbly woman with long brown hair and a grin that could light up half of the state stood at a dining table, arms waving in the air as she entertained the occupants at the table. I recognized her from somewhere.
“You know her?” I asked, incredulously.
He shook his head. “Nuh-uh. I knowofher. Her Daddy owns thewholeRanch. She’s like... like... like... the queen! Well, you know what I mean,” he muttered as he shrugged.
Oh, wow. That’s where I knew her from. Our first night here she’d stood proudly next to her Daddy. How was I supposed to go sit there now?
Before I could tug on Perry’s hand again and pull him, and our Daddies out of the room, the girl in question looked our way. As she made eye contact—eye contact!—with me, her grin spread into a huge welcoming smile.
“Hi! Welcome.” She skipped over to us and stopped just short of our personal bubbles. “My name is Sadie. Who are you?”
We both kind of just stared at her, speechless.
Then I dug deep for the girl in me who made the connections easily. I could do this. For Perry.
“Hi,” I responded, my smile faint. “My name is Hope, and this here is Perry,” I kept hold of his hand but gave it a slight squeeze of encouragement.
“Hi,” he whispered.
I didn’t like this. I didn’t like how uncomfortable he looked, and that I was the reason he was in this situation. He only came here soIcould become more at one with my Little side.
Something came over me. Something I’ve never experienced before, but it was rumbling up so strong and ferocious I couldn’t keep hold of it. So I just let it out.
“I’m auditioning to be his little sister,” I told Sadie. “But I think we both know that I’m more of a big sister, and I’ll end up being the boss of him.” I winked as I said this before nudging Perry with an elbow. “Isn’t that right, little brother.”
An immense amount of pride filled my chest as Perry squinted at me, all his previous shyness forgotten. “Not a chance,” he told me, sticking out his bottom lip in a sexy pout. “I came first. That automatically makes me the older brother.”
Sadie giggled at our bickering. “Well, I can tell you both, you’re already fighting like brother and sister, so I think you make a fine pair.”
That had Perry grinning at her, and I felt my heart warm... and other parts of me react to how stunning he looked like that.
“You think?” he asked. “Because I really like her, and it would suck if at the end of all of this I didn’t go home with the bestlittlesister in the whole world.”
“Uh huh,” Sadie replied before gesturing to the table behind her. “So, you two wanna come join us for dinner? I’ll introduce you to some new friends, and maybe, if you’re really good, I’ll let you in on the prank we have planned for the Bigs.”
Perry’s eyes went wide. “There’s a prank?”
Sadie leaned in conspiratorially. “Oh yes. Operation Bomb the Bigs.”
His entire face lit up like Christmas.
I laughed before I could stop myself. The tension that had been coiled tight in my stomach since we reached the cafeteria loosened just a little.
