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Demetrius’s fork clattered to the plate. “Jesus. I never thought…I was just…” He rubbed his face. “I’m so fucking sorry.”

“You had no way of knowing. I got the gifts, and I panicked. If not Gary—”

“The Gnat.”

“—the Gnat.” Somehow, that made me smile. “Yeah, him. But if not him, then who?”

“I thought you recognized me but weren’t saying anything. I just…wanted to give you something. To remind you of our time together. To remind you of happy moments.”

“Yeah.” I sipped my water. “So that was unexpected for me. And buying treats for Queenie and Taffy was the first time I’d stepped into a pet store in six years. That…hurt. I love being Buttercup. I just don’t know if he can be part of me anymore.”

Demetrius also sipped his water. “Well, we’ve got twenty-four hours to figure that out—if you’re game.”

Intrigued, I cocked my head.

He smiled. “Okay, I didn’t bring my overnight bag into your cabin because I didn’t want to be presumptuous. I’ll do that after I show you what’s in my bag—if you want me to stay. Otherwise, nabbing a room at The Grand won’t be a hardship. Or you can throw me in a cabin here for the night—I promise to behave.”

“You’re thinking I’m going to kick you out?”

He shrugged. “I’m never quite sure what’s going to happen in life. I can plan and try to predict and do my best to influence things. In the end, though, I feel like I have little control. I mean, I can make the proactive decision to move to Mission City—after my kids spend four days hounding me. I can make appointments to see five houses tomorrow morning with a realtor and then take the kids to see the topcouple of contenders, but I can’t guarantee our perfect house is out there.”

Again, my heart rate increased. He was serious. He was moving to Mission City.

“You’re selling your place in Vancouver?”

He shook his head. Then nodded. “When I talked to Alessandra about this insanity—because she’s a really easy person to talk to—”

“It’s the social worker in her.”

“There is that. Anyway, she recommended that realtor, Cadence Crawford, to help me find a place in Mission City and he, in turn, knew a realtor named Juanita in Vancouver. She normally handles, uh, expensive places. But as favor to Cadence, she’s taking my sale. She’s in there with a staging crew today. I told her to leave the kids’ rooms as they were, but to do whatever needed to be done with the rest of the place.”

“You’re not letting grass grow under your feet.”

“Nope.” He popped thep. “I’ve got schools to register the kids in. Extracurricular activities to sign up for.”

“Your work…?” I still wasn’t entirely certain what he did.

“Work from home on a flexible schedule. As long as I’m in Canada, I’m good.”

I wasn’t going to ask. If he wanted to share, he would. “So that’s that?” Things felt like they were moving at lightning speed.

“Only to do with me and the kids. They made their case. I listened. I explained the reality of their choice. They pretended to listen. We came to an agreement. But that doesn’t affect you and me.” He gestured between us both. “Whether we even see each other again is entirely up to you.”

“But you want to see me?”He’s here, right? So that’s a pretty stupid question.

“I do. I want to feel out what kind of relationship we might have. I’m as attracted to you as I was six years ago. Only now I’m free to take it beyond Daddy/pup play in a club. But you need to tell me what you want. Because frankly, Jai, I don’t see you as an open book. I see a man who’s been hurt. A man in need of love and healing. Whether that involves puppy play, some kind of physical intimacy, both, or neither will be entirely up to you. I can be your friend, your lover, your Daddy. Just one of those or all three. Or some combination. I know it’ll be incredibly challenging—you’ve got camp and I’ve got the kids. They know nothing about my lifestyle. I’ve told them I’m bisexual—so that part of any relationship won’t come as a surprise. That’s if you even want them to know. But I’ll warn you now, I don’t like secrets.”

“I don’t like secrets either.”

He nodded. “So we’re in agreement.”

Having that out of the way, my impish nature burst through. “Is Big D going to show me what’s in his bag?”

An eyebrow shot up, followed by a huge grin. “Pup, I thought you’d never ask.”

Chapter Twenty

Demetrius