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Lake turned to look at Jesse.

Jesse grinned. “One.”

But there were so many! Lake pushed his bottom lip out.

The smile fell from Jesse’s face. “One, Lake!”

“What if I hurt one of their feelings for not taking them home?” Lake asked.

Scotty giggled before slapping a hand over his mouth.

Jesse hesitated. Lake could feel him starting to soften. Lake was only half joking. He didn’t even know where he’d put all his new friends, but he wanted them. “One,” Jesse said. “But we’ll book another time to come back while we’re here today and we’ll bring Dom, Ezra, and Brandon with us. Between the four of you, you can share friends.”

Lake bounced over and hugged Jesse. “Really?”

“Oh! A party! Those are my favorites,” Scotty said.

“You are gonna love my friends too!” Lake said.

“Cool! I’ve only been here six months. I haven’t met a lot of friends yet. My boyfriend and I came here to get away from his family who couldn’t accept that he’s gay.”

Lake squealed. “New friend!” He hugged Scotty to him. “Show me around.” He loved meeting new awesome people.

Scotty took Lake’s hand and led him to the first wall of shelves.

Jesse followed behind them, listening and holding on to Zeb. It wasn’t until they reached the back that Lake knew he’d found the perfect new stuffie! He turned to Jesse with a smile.

Jesse leaned against Lake’s back. “We can’t not get him.”

“Right!” Lake bounced. “Isn’t he perfect?”

Scotty looked from Lake to Jesse then pointed at the stuffie that still needed to be stuffed. Ha! That was funny. “This one? Okay, I was not expecting that.”

“He’s so perfect,” Lake drawled.

Scotty shrugged. “If you say so.” He picked up Lake’s new friend. “We need to get him stuffed and then pick out his clothes.”

“He wants pretty clothes like Zeb!” Lake said.

“Of course he does,” Jesse agreed. “And Zeb saw some bows that he just can’t live without.”

This was the best date ever. If anyone ever went on a date this good, then they were the luckiest boy in the entire world, just like Lake. Lake turned to Jesse and opened his arms. “Can I have a hug?”

“Yes.” Jesse wrapped his arms around Lake and held him tight. “This is fun.”

“Best date ever!” Lake told him.

“What if we took Zeb and…his new brother for ice cream after this?” Jesse suggested.

“Yes!” Lake exclaimed. “There’s a vegan ice cream place down the street from here.”

Jesse grinned. “I know.”

He knew! Because Jesse was awesome like that. Jesse wanted to take care of Lake. Jesse was a Daddy, after all. Lake stepped back. Jesse was watching him with genuine pleasure.

Lake wondered if this was the moment he would always remember. Jesse wasn’t his boss. Jesse wasn’t just the rich guy that came around from time to time. Jesse was the man that Lake wanted to call Daddy.

“You okay, baby?” Jesse said, cupping his face.