Page 7 of Milk Drunk

Then again, maybe he just wasn’t interested in me at all, and that’s why he left as soon as I was asleep. Being responsible for a drunk DJ wasn’t exactly the sexiest of activities. That was the more likely reason for his quick escape.

And given I was at Primal for work, not being able to finish my set made me look beyond unprofessional. Ugh.

I pressed my palms to my eyes and hoped the pressure would help ease my pounding headache. It didn’t. A few minutes later, my phone buzzed on my nightstand, so I reached for it and realized there was a glass of water and Advil right there. Did Jason put that there?

There was a text waiting from an unknown number. Morning, sleepyhead. It’s Jason. You feeling okay?

I hadn’t remembered giving him my number, but go past-drunk-me for being so smart. I immediately typed out a reply. Yeah, just a headache. Sorry about last night. I’m not usually so careless.

Careless was being generous. I was reckless and dangerous, and I knew better. Primal was generally safer than a rando bar, but people put things in drinks all the time. What happened was most likely an accident, but had I been more aware of my surroundings, that accident could have been avoided. And if Jason hadn’t been there… No, I refused to even entertain that idea.

The response bubbles popped up immediately. Accidents happen, sweetheart. I'm just glad you're okay. I left Advil on your bedside table. Do you need anything else?

I saw. Thank you, but I’m good. I’ll prolly just order in lunch. I'm starving. My thought was that letting him know I was well enough to eat and had made a plan to do so would help him not worry.

He took it a different way.

The response bubbles appeared and disappeared several times over a full minute until I finally got a text back. Want company? I’m hungry too and can bring over some lunch.

Was he really offering to come over and bring me food? It was hard not to get ahead of myself and assume he wanted it to be a date. He was a nice guy who probably just wanted to make sure I wasn’t lying and really felt fine. I’d love some company, but I’m sure you’re busy. You don't have to bring me anything else. You’ve already done too much.

I’m seeing that as an invitation. Am I reading it wrong?

I giggled to myself and decided to just go with it. Life was full of regrets. Lunch with a hot Daddy should never be one of them. Not wrong.

As memories had filtered back, I’d noticed a pattern of him asking permission along the way. It was nice to see that wasn’t exclusively reserved for when he was on drunk babysitting duty. Perfect. You in the mood for anything in particular?

I wasn’t sure my stomach would settle enough to eat anything at all. The mention of food was meant more to put him at ease than anything else. I wasn’t too picky, as a rule, and decided to leave it to him. Surprise me.

That was my way of not having to make the decision. But, the sexy Daddy saw it as me wanting help making the decision, and he came back with choices. They all sounded fine, and once again, I wanted to leave it to him to choose. I didn’t, though. I’d already been pretty high-maintenance for him. The last thing I wanted was for him to think I was more trouble than he signed up for.

In the end, I asked for a cheeseburger and fries. Grease and hangovers were besties, in my experience. He told me he’d be there in half an hour, so I jumped out of bed. A trip to the bathroom was the first order of business to make my mouth not taste like death. Next came a shower.

The hot water on my skin helped a lot more than I dared hope. By the time I got out of the shower and put on sweats and an Eras tour tee, I was feeling pretty good. I pushed down the embarrassment from the night before and tried to focus on proving last night was a fluke.

I could be a charming and polite boy for a Daddy willing to give me a chance, and I wanted him to give me that chance. Not just because yummy milk would be my prize at the end, but because he seemed like a good guy.

The doorbell rang almost exactly thirty minutes after our last text, just like he promised. I ran to the door and nearly fell as I tripped over the flat floor. Apparently, seeing Jason and embarrassing myself went hand in hand.

I opened the door, and he was standing in the hallway with a paper bag in one hand and a drink carrier with four drinks in the other. Were other people joining us for lunch? That didn’t make sense. I was about to ask who they were for when I noticed another small bag that looked suspiciously like it was from the candy store. “Oh, hi!” How had I missed that part?

"Hey, Casey.” He held everything up like it was his ticket to enter. "I come bearing gifts. Burgers, sodas, and milkshakes. I may have also grabbed some sweets on the way because I figured you earned it after the night you had."

What I earned was a class in self-preservation. I’d much rather have the candy. "Wow, thank you." I stepped out of his way. “Come on in.”

Jason went straight to the kitchen table and put everything down. "How's your head feeling?"

"Better after my shower. Only damage is to my pride.”

He busied himself pulling food from the bags. "Don’t be silly." Jason had three cheeseburgers lined up and two baskets of fries. “You did absolutely nothing wrong. And selfishly, I’m just happy you gave me an excuse to get to know you better.”

That was unexpected. Why did he even want to get to know me and since when? Had he noticed me before or was he a huge music lover? I didn’t doubt his words, though. He definitely treated me with interest. “Um, okay.” It wasn’t easy to look him in the eyes, not when my emotions were running so high. I sat down across from him and looked at all the food. "You must be really hungry.”

“I didn’t know what you wanted, so I got three cheeseburgers. You can pick first.” Jason grinned and picked up one of the burgers. “This one has pepper jack and jalapenos.”

I scrunched my nose. “Sounds spicy.”

“It is, but it’s one of their best sellers, so I thought it might be a good choice.” He set it down and picked up a second one. “This one has bacon and colby jack.”