Page 31 of Tessa

Tessa pouted, for about a half a minute, before she rolled off the bed and did what she was told.

They took a car to the Venetian because the late afternoon heat was stifling and Beau didn’t want them to be all melty and stinky by the time they got there.

As soon as they walked up to the canal, Tessa went full Little. “Oh oh! Look!” She bounced, pointing to a gondola with a bride and groom in it, being serenaded as they steered down the canal.

Beau wrinkled his nose. “I’m looking. I can’t believe they’re wearing that stuff. They must be boiling.”

“Daddy!” Tessa rolled her eyes. “You’re so silly. It’s romantic.”

Beau grunted. “Which part? The wedding or the gondola ride?”

Tessa scratched her head. “Well, both ‘cuz what’s more romantic than a wedding, but I meant the boat.”

“Ah. Well, then. Let’s have a little romance of our own,” he said with a wink that had her visibly swooning.

“Do we want an indoor ride or an outdoor ride?” Beau was looking at ticket prices on his phone. The money didn’t matter to him, but the sweltering heat did.

“Outdoor! Outdoor!” Tessa chanted.

Beau groaned, but rolled his eyes and bought the tickets anyway. He’d barely finished the purchase by the time it was their turn.

They were greeted by a young woman in a striped shirt, with black pants and a red beret, the same outfit all the gondoliers were wearing, and led to a small gondola, already occupied by a tall skinny young man in the same outfit who greeted them with an exaggerated bow. “Good evening, my name is Vincenzo, and I will be your gondolier, this afternoon.”

Beau nodded as he helped Tessa and Dax into the boat, seating Dax on the outside and Tessa beside him before squeezing himself on her other side. “Good afternoon, Vincenzo.”

“And what are the gentlemen and lady celebrating today? You are brothers and sister, no? Is it someone’s birthday, or are we just out to have a good time?”

Beau sighed at the man’s well-intentioned guess. Dax looked annoyed, and Tessa blushed and stared down at the floor. Beau wasn’t having it. This was supposed to be a fun, romantic outing and it wouldn’t be if they were forced to put on a facade.

“Not siblings. A throuple,” he quickly corrected, and then, just so there was no confusion, he added, “boyfriends and girlfriend.” He didn’t use their titles because that was nobody’s business and this was awkward enough already.

Vincenzo’s eyebrows raised a hair, and as he looked at the three of them, his head tilted and his cheeks pinkened. “Understood, Sir. And are you locals or tourists?”

“Locals.”

“Ah I see. Don’t get a lot of locals this time of year.”

Tessa clung to Beau’s arm as the boat jerked into motion, and Vincenzo started to croon in Italian as the boat began its journey through the canal.

“What’s he singing, Daddy?”

“I don’t know, sweetheart. I don’t speak Italian. I’m sure it’s something lovely and romantic though.”

“Nah,” Dax said from the other side of them, “they just want you to think it’s romantic. They are probably singing about boogers and smelly cats and TV dinners and farts.”

Tessa squealed with laughter. Even Vincenzo managed a snort as he choked out the next line of the song, but he never stopped singing.

“I think he’s singing about unicorns and puppies and… giraffes!” Tessa whispered.

“I think it’s about pizza and noodles,” Beau teased, “and naughty Little girls laying over their Daddy’s knees.”

Tessa just shook her head and settled into the crook of his arm. Dax laid a hand on Beau’s knee, reaching across Tessa to do so, and the three of them stopped their silly song guesses to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Besides being almost hot enough to fry eggs on the sidewalk, it was a very lovely day, and Beau was glad he’d insisted on following through with their plans.

Looking over at Tessa and Dax, he was filled with a rightness in his heart. He knew what they had was good; he knew that despite his initial worries, Dax was killing it at balancing his two roles, and he knew that Tessa was the perfect Little girl for them.

He was ready to go all in, but he didn’t want to rush Dax or scare Tessa off. He’d have to play his cards right and keep them close to his chest for a while. Good thing he had a reputation for being the strong, silent type.