Page 8

Glenn

I arrived at Chained shortly after the auction began, later than I’d planned.

With so many buildings being demolished, there were a lot of people moving, and while not everyone would have been able to afford a professional moving company, enough did to keep us busier than usual.

Financially, it was great, but it did make it harder to act on my decision to try to be more social.

But I wasn’t the last person to arrive. As I found my way to the conversation area to find Bridger, other members and guests streamed past me onto the main floor.

The auction was set up there, with most of the equipment and dungeon furniture moved against the walls to make room for long tables of donated items.

From the sofas where we liked to sit, we had an unobstructed view of the floor, but it was too crowded to get a good look at any of tables or their contents. “Glenn!” Bridger stood up. “I was afraid you might not make it.”

“Sorry. Work stuff.” He had heard that often enough. “Did I miss anything good?”

“No. There’s still time to place your bids on anything you like. Want to have a drink first?”

I looked at the comfy sofa and shook my head. “I’ve been at work since six this morning. If I sit down, I won’t have the energy to make any bids. So, might be better to go and check it all out now. I want to be sure and contribute. If I don’t win anything, I’ll just write a check.”

Bridger sat again. “I’m waiting for Hudson. He had an appointment late this afternoon, so go ahead, and I’ll see you in there. Watch for anything you think I might like.”

“You got it.” The couch still called to me, but I felt like I should at least take a circuit of the room and see it all.

The brochure I got when I came in had a long list of contributions people had donated in order to help out the charity.

Leaving my friend behind, I pulled the brochure out of my pocket and traced down the list. I saw a trip to Hawaii that sounded fun, a few art pieces, a sauna…

The attendees moved along the tables, examining things that were actually present or reading the description of the more ephemeral.

Trips, classes, gym memberships, floggers, custom leatherwear.

So many choices. As a daddy, I didn’t wear a lot of leather, although I knew a couple who did.

I preferred more conservative slacks, button-down shirts, and sneakers or, for more formal occasions, loafers.

And there was a custom pair of Italian leather shoes I made a bid on.

Also, a Hawaiian Islands cruise that sounded fun.

I was blown away by the generosity of the donors to this event.

“Wow, Hawaii.” I turned to see who spoke and found a familiar face.

It was the crayon guy, my customer, and he was studying the description of the trip.

“I bet it’s going to go for a very high price.

” He wore jeans and a youngish shirt, although nothing that screamed little. He must not be planning to play.

“I’m not sure.” I looked at the row of bids leading up to mine. “Does look popular.”

“I am looking for a display box that was listed, but I haven’t found it yet.

” We were talking like we’d planned to meet up there, but of course that wasn’t the case.

I probably should have been less surprised since he was a little, and Chained was the only club of any size in town with an area and a variety of events geared just to daddies and littles.

But I had never run into him there. Was it his first time?

“Let’s go look for it.” We continued along with everyone else moving from one item to the next, marveling at the variety of things and the rapidly rising bids noted on the tablet by each.

The charity was going to get a very nice boost from this evening.

After a while, I was starting to think the box he wanted hadn’t made it here.

“There’s not much left,” BJ said. “Maybe it’s not here.”

“I was just wondering that, too.” We were coming to the end of the last table in the last row. “Perhaps the owner got delayed or decided they wanted to keep it.”

“It sounded very nice.” He sighed. “Perfect size for my collection.”

“Don’t give up hope yet,” I chided. “We have a little bit more to go.” And, sure enough, right at the end of the last table, there it sat. And, even better, there were no bids on it, yet.

BJ was so excited, examining the satiny wood and holding it up into the light. “Oh yes, this is just what I want. How much do you think I should bid?”

“I don’t know.” But it made me feel kind of good that he wanted my advice. “What will your budget allow?”

He chewed on his lower lip and picked up the tablet, adding an amount about twice what it was worth. “I want to make sure that the charity gets a benefit.”

I assured him that it was a good price, and he crossed his fingers that it would hold.

“Would you like to sit down and talk while we wait for the winners to be called?”

“All right.” He followed me to a couple of chairs closest to the table that held his wished-for display box. “I hope I get it.”

“Me too.” I settled in the comfortable upholstered seat and reached for the laminated cocktail/appetizer menu on the small round table between us. “How about a snack while we wait?”

“I’m not very hungry.” But his gaze was fixed on the color images of the tasty treats available. “But you go ahead.”

Although the omega was here at Chained and likely a member, that didn’t mean he had a lot of ready cash.

The building he’d lived in had been in bad shape, and his new home was better but not in a wealthy area.

One of the nice things about Chained was the scholarship program members contributed to.

People who were a good fit, who shared the many lifestyles embraced there, weren’t always able to pay the fees, but those who had more paid into a fund to help them out.

Was BJ one of those? It didn’t matter because whether he was or not, as a daddy, I preferred to pick up the tab on dates.

I had been called old-fashioned before, but I didn’t care.

A little who didn’t like it probably wouldn’t like me.

“I want to get a mixed platter, and it’s more than I can manage. Would you maybe eat a little just to keep me company?” Yeah, I liked to make sure the littles I cared for didn’t miss meals. “I’d appreciate it.”

He smiled, revealing a dimple in his cheek I hadn’t seen before. Even in street clothes and clearly not in his little headspace, he was more adorable than any little I’d ever met. “Okay, I can probably eat a little something.”

And since I ordered the big/little combo, he would be able to do just that.

We both ordered sparkling waters with fruit juice and settled in to watch the action.

Quite a different view from the normal stations where kink happened every night of the week, but interesting nonetheless.

Since my play space was the little room, I didn’t partake in the usual impact, bondage, and other activities, but they were fun to watch.

Our order arrived, and we sat back and watched people making their bids and talked.

“Thanks for inviting me to sit with you,” he said, a dino nuggie in his hand. He dipped it in ranch and took a big bite. “These are house made, you know. It’s my favorite thing.”

“Dinosaurs?” I trailed a wedge fry through a puddle of aioli.

“No, although they are cute. Nuggies. They do different shapes, and I always wait to see which it will be.”

“I see.”

“I was supposed to come with someone tonight, but he couldn’t make it, got the flu. Normally, I’m not that comfortable coming alone, but I really wanted to see if I could win the box.”

“A friend or a daddy?” It was a daring ask, but I wanted to know where we were starting out. If he had a daddy or mommy, friend zone it was.

“I don’t have…no, just a friend.”

“That’s good. I mean, I’m sorry about your friend.” I sipped my drink, enjoying the refreshing seltzer with blackberries and a lime wedge. “I hope he’ll be better soon.”

“He will. But thanks.” BJ picked up a square deep-fried mac ’n cheese cube and popped it in his mouth. “Oh my gods. This may be my favorite. I think it’s new. Try one.” He held it out and instead of taking it with my hands, I let him feed it to me. “Well?”

It had a crunch and subtle spice, the inside creamy. “I think this one will be popular with big and little alike.”

“Me too. Oh no!” They had just announced the last five minutes of bidding time, and we’d both thought the box was a win, but a man in a suit that cost more than most people’s whole wardrobe had paused next to the item.

We both held our breath. I didn’t care much about my bids. If I lost, I’d just donate money anyway. Please don’t let him… But, of course, he did.

“Well, that’s that. I’m sure he bid more than I can top. Did you see those shoes?” BJ sounded so despondent, I had to do something about it.

“No, but if they were anything like the suit, I’m sure they were expensive.”

The man walked away from the wooden box and stopped next to several other items to make bids.

“And I bet he doesn’t even care about it,” BJ moaned. “Oh, never mind.”

“Don’t give up yet. We don’t know what he bid.”

“It’s sure to be a fortune. I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

“You keep our spot, and I’ll go look.” Without giving him a chance to argue, I hopped up and moved over the tablet.

Sure enough, it had been a donation effort because nobody would pay that much for the little box, no matter how cute.

I grabbed the stylus and topped him by a hundred dollars before returning to the seats.

“What did you do?” BJ had a crinkle between his brows. I fisted my hand to avoid reaching to smooth it out. “Did you bid?”

“I did.” I grabbed a dino nuggie. “These are good, you said?”

“You’re changing the subject. I hope you didn’t spend a lot of money.” He moved to stand, but I laid my hand on his arm.

“Not too much. Let’s call it a gift from my company to make up for losing your things in moving.”

“You found them, and I was probably at fault anyway.” But he subsided. “Thank you. I really want it, but I’d never have asked you to do that.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to. So, about the dino nuggies? What should I dip them in?”

The bids began to be awarded and when they got to the box, he turned to me with a look of shock. “That was so much.”

“It was not only an apology from your friendly moving company, but about the amount I intended to donate.”

“I did want to give, too. I’ll give some cash.” He nodded and slurped the last of his drink, tapping it to free the blackberry blocking the straw. “But I owe you.”

“Okay, you can pay me back by having dinner with me sometime.” Before he could argue, some of my friends came over, talking about their wins. The night was over entirely too fast.