I’d be devastated by the first and equally by the second when he learned I couldn’t allow myself to be with a sub that way again. Not until I made that appointment with Heath and worked my issues out.
Until I could trust myself with a sub, I’d laid down my whips.
The image went through to Charles faster than I’d expected it to load. The check marks indicated he’d seen it, but he didn’t respond. Was he upset, or did he like it? I wanted to believe he’d appreciate it. After all, he was always horny for me to try something new with him. But maybe this was crossing a line?
Oh god, I hoped not. The one time I tried something out of my comfort zone, and it probably went south. If the situation wasn’t so awkward, I would’ve called Oscar to find out how to recover from a dick pic gone bad.
“Auggie!”
I startled at the sound of Dad’s voice coming from downstairs. I’d completely forgotten he’d said he would stop by to help with repairs today.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I tossed my phone onto the bed and streaked across the room for my clothes. The utility belt got stuck in my fumbling fingers. This was not what I’d been looking forward to today at all. Charles later being in my bed, yes. Being discovered naked in my playroom, sending a dick pic, hell no.
“Auggie, are you upstairs?”
Good, he sounded like he hadn’t mounted the stairs yet. I grabbed my pair of faded jeans, forgoing my underwear. Who needed underwear anyway?
“Auggie?”
My jeans were halfway up, and I called back.
“I’ll be right down, Dad.”
“Oh, good, you’re here! I wasn’t sure.”
Footsteps thudded on the stairs. Ugh, I felt like I was back in high school, keeping watch so Oscar could lose his virginity to some jock he’d been fantasizing about. I’d been on the lookout so many times to ensure Dad didn’t come home and catch him. Not because Dad wasn’t cool and would get mad but because he would want to sit down and discuss it, and that was what health class was for.
“I brought over some of my tools.” His voice seemed closer. “That way we can work faster.”
“Um, that’s good.”
My head disappeared through the hole of my shirt, followed swiftly by my arms. There, fully clothed.
“I didn’t realize how much work needed to be done to this place.”
He was so close. Damn, my boxers were still lying on the couch. I dove for them, wadded them in my hands, and stuffed them between the cushions.
“Woah, a playroom?” Dad walked in and took in everything I’d done to the room so far.
Before he’d met Declan and started exploring kink, he might’ve been disgusted, but now he looked impressed. Having something sexually in common with my dad was a bit weird, but at least I didn’t have to hide this side of me from him. My secret had come out when we all ended up at Heath’s dungeon on the same night a couple of months ago.
“Yeah, I’m just installing a display shelf.”
He laughed, the sound a little nervous, and the color in his face rose. “When did you do all this?”
“I started while you were on your honeymoon.” Maybe I’d work on something else today and get to the display shelf when I was alone. It would be awkward as hell to have my father build me a shelf where I’d keep my assortment of toys.
I already knew way too much about the kind of relationship he had with Declan. We were close, but I didn’t want us to be this close.
“It looks—” He seemed to struggle to find the word to say.
I chuckled and grabbed the utility belt I’d dropped. “Come on, Dad. We need to fix the plumbing in the kitchen. We’ll do that first, then move to the screen door at the back.”
“Yeah, I think that’s better.” He glanced away from me. “Obviously, you know I support you and your lifestyle, but I don’t necessarily need to know that much about it.”
Dad made his way downstairs while I locked up the room. I dropped off the key back in my bedroom and was dismounting the stairs when my phone rang. Charles, calling about the dick pick and turning down my dinner date to a restaurant. Dammit, he refused to eat out with me in public. I had to remind myself it was just him being cautious about us being seen together.
Dad must’ve heard me on the call as he shouted if it was Oscar. I replied in the negative and quickly wrapped up the call with Charles, then joined Dad in the kitchen. He had already opened the cabinet doors under the sink.
“I’m a bit embarrassed I let the house go this much,” he said. “You sure you don’t want to stay with us while we get this place back in shape?”
“It’s small stuff that can be fixed over time, and it keeps me busy.”
“All right, if you insist.”
Together we found a rhythm that worked for us, Dad telling me about his stay in Greece while we tackled the issues we found in the plumbing of the kitchen. It turned out to be more than I’d expected, but thankfully, Dad hadn’t been joking that he’d brought tools to help.
“I think that should do the trick.” Dad wiped his shirt sleeve across his forehead. “You got anything to drink?”
“Yeah, in the fridge.”
I tested out the faucet that it was working. Perfect—steady pressure, no clogs, no leaks.
“Woah, where’s all the beer?”
Dad was inspecting a half-empty bottle of expensive wine Charles had brought over a couple of nights ago. He disliked cheap beer and unhealthy food.
Oh, shit.
“What’s with all this?” He inspected the rest of the fridge, and I stifled a groan. He took out a bag of the seed-rich sesame bagel I’d picked up for Charles. The contents of my fridge resembled a health nut’s dream.
Charles’s dream. When I went grocery shopping, I’d found myself picking out the pricier much healthier options because of him. He didn’t want to go out to eat, so it was either cook for him—since he didn’t know how—or order in.
“You changing up your diet?” he asked me, peering into my freezer. “No steaks or sausages either. What have you done to my son?”
I chuckled nervously. “Geez, it’s called eating healthier, Dad. You’d think it would make you happy you’ll have me around much longer.”
He groaned, returned the bagel in the fridge, and came up with a bottle of Gatorade. A less nosy father would’ve taken that out from the get-go and ignored everything else, but not my dad. Was he seriously going to comment on all the contents in my fridge?
“Having one Charles in the family is already enough. He thinks Declan and I have bad eating habits, but at least we exercise.”
“You do have bad eating habits.”
He patted his stomach and managed to look hurt. “Declan likes me the way I am.”
“True, and that’s fine, but the unhealthier we are, the more prone we are to noncommunicable diseases. We want you around for a long time.”
“Now you’re even beginning to sound like Charles.” He shook his head at me. “All right, maybe from now on, I’ll think more about what I put in our cart when I go shopping.”
“Good.”
The mention of Charles didn’t seem to spark any suspicion from him. Breathe.