Page 46 of Not the Punk

Everyone cheered and called out. Don reached around Kay to pat my back, and Kay squeezed my arm. Marci was sitting on the other side of me, and she leaned in and kissed my cheek. “See. It’s all working out now.”

Everyone was hopeful, and it was contagious, but there was still a tiny nudge in the back of my mind that Trent would get out of it. He always did. I didn’t voice my opinions on that with everyone being so positive. Even Pierce was nice about it. Sort of. “Dude. I don’t get you in about a million ways, but no one deserves to be harassed like that. Fuck that douche.”

That was an answer I’d gladly take from him. “Uh, thanks.”

He gave me a rare fist bump from across the table and went back to his food.

I, of course, wanted to call Colten. I looked at the time. He’d still be on the airplane. It was one more time that I wanted my Daddy, but he wasn’t here. It’s not like I didn’t understand, but I still wanted what I wanted. I’d had a hard time getting to this point with him, and now that I was there, I was all in. But now I was worried about whether Daddy Colten was as well. Sure, he was on his way now, but what about next time?

Chapter twenty-two

Colten Shows Up

Time slowed to a crawl getting off the airplane and getting to the rental car lot. I should have had Don provide a ride for me. Instead, I ended up at the rental counter for far too long. Joe was waiting for me, and I wasn’t there. Again. This had to stop, but I wasn’t sure how to make that happen. It would start with a long talk with my Little-rocker to see what he wanted. Then decisions needed to be made.

Finally, I got a car. If you could call it that. It was a tiny compact but seriously should have been labeled as smaller than that, but on such short notice, I took what was left. I tossed my luggage into the tiny trunk, surprised that it fit, and climbed in, feeling like a giant getting into a clown car. I plugged the event address into my phone's GPS. They were playing at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, about twenty minutes from the airport. By this time, they would already be there. Thankfully, Don sent me all the credentials I needed to park in the private area near the buses and go in through the back, which would be a lot faster than trying to get in with all the fans.

It took me a few minutes to find the dressing rooms, but once I was in the right area, it was easy to spot Brax in front of his door. “Hey man.” I gave him a high-five, and he opened the door.

“Joe?”

“Daddy!” He popped up from the couch and ran across the room. In two seconds flat, I had my arms full of Joe. He wrapped his legs around my waist and pecked kisses all over my face. “You didn’t even shave. You’re all scruffy.”

“Didn’t want to take the time. I’ve missed you.”

“Me too.” He kissed me again; this time it was long and full of passion. “I love you so much.”

“Love you, too.” I held him tighter, but when his feet were back on the floor, I got to the point. It was best to get the Trent conversation over with. “How was the meeting?”

“It was good, but did you hear what happened with Trent?”

“Yeah. I’ve been working with authorities to help put the pieces together.”

“Oh. Damn. You’re like my hero four times over.”

“Nah…just a Daddy who wants to protect you.” I wanted to say more but was still afraid of scaring Joe off.

“You can call me your Boy if you want.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. The more time I spend with Kay and Don, the more I think I’m, uh, I don’t know, something. And whatever that is, it means I want you for a Daddy.”

“My Little-rocker.” I’d called him that a time or two, but he’d let it go over his head. This time I stressed it.

“Okay. That’s cool.”

“Well, just don’t get too excited about Trent.” I didn’t want him to hope it was over and then have him getting thrown back into it if they let him go again. “There’s still going to be a trial and all that. He might take a plea bargain. We don’t really know.”

“At least he has charges against him. That’s a start.”

“Right.”

“More importantly, when am I going to see you again? I don’t like this back-and-forth stuff.”

“I don’t know. I mean…”

“Come with me. There’s only one more show after tonight. Then you can move in with me in Miami. Let’s make our fantasy happen together.”