Page 5 of Daddy’s Little Chaos Gremlin (The Lactin Brotherhood)

5

ZEPHYR

Stepping outside, I sucked in a deep breath and tipped my head back to watch the moon slipping down the horizon. The view was perfect to make it my focal point as I went through my warmup sketches while Tristan set up his equipment and explained what he needed me to do.

“I’m thinking of calling these pieces greet the day,” Tristan said. “So, I’d love for you to ease in slowly, like you’re just waking up and shaking off the last remnants of sleep. Stretch like you’re doing now and build momentum as the sun comes up. When the light hits just right, that’s when you’ll go into your more complicated acrobatics, like that snatchcannon you showed me, that was awesome.”

I thought about it for several seconds, putting together a routine in my mind. “Basically, you’d like me to run through my warmup routine, then work my way through beginner and mid-level combinations until you’re ready for me to nail the more difficult techniques.”

“Exactly, yes, just that.”

“Would you prefer continuous motion or me to pause between each move?” I asked.

“Continuous, please. Oh my goddess, you can do that?”

“Yes. I know you have a limited window, so I’ll give it my all and you signal me when you want the really creative techniques, and I’ll crank it up another notch.”

Tristan squeezed and pressed his fingers to his lips, then rushed forward to hug me. “Thank you.”

It felt so good to be hugged, especially by the man who would be my big brother if I managed to earn the contract. I’d always wanted a big brother. Paulie and I had been the same age, and I’d always felt like I needed to act as a buffer between him and his folks so he didn’t get dragged into their arguing. Every time that happened, one of them tried to force him to pick a side and he’d wind up in tears when they both turned on him, hollering about him being disloyal when he tried to point out the ways they were both at fault. In the end, I’d wished for someone to be a buffer between us and them, because it had all just gotten exhausting.

Right now, I was excited and hugged Tristan back before turning him loose so he could finish setting up. The moment the first rays of light drifted into the courtyard, he nodded at me to begin. He’d meticulously mapped out the path the light carved through the space with spray-painted lines to show me the area he needed me to stay in. The bright pink was impossible to miss, and I was grateful for that, because they were an easy cue to see against the shadowy grass. I quickly lost myself in the warm glow that fell over me as I flipped and spun.

The clicking from Tristan’s camera was like a rapid-fire drumbeat, and each time he moved, I caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of my eye. As I kicked my heels over my head and flipped backward, I realized that the lines weren’t only about the light. He’d created zones so neither of us would get hurt while we did our parts to bring his vision to life. I suddenly felt safe and protected, knowing that he’d had the foresight to safeguard us both. We’d already established the yellow flag signal, a bright, waving sign for me to kick things into high gear. In deference to the neighbors, the only music I had was in my ear buds, and it was all high octane. The moment I saw that brilliant canary bandana waving over his head, I did a double handspring into a backward summersault, then hit the ground in a forward roll, springing to my feet only to leap into a twisting summersault. There was a stone wall in my zone, so I ran up it, using it as a springboard to propel me into a backflip followed by a trio of twisting backflips the moment my feet touched the ground.

I could flip, twist and turn with the best of them and ran my way through some of my favorite tricks until he waved the flag again, signaling that it was time for the finale. I might not have been able to see it, but I could feel by the way my body snapped into each rotation that the snatchcannon I pulled off was one of my best. I landed in that superhero crouch he’d applauded the day before, my eyes seeking his as he kept snapping away with the camera until he was just a few steps away.

That’s when he dropped to his knees, threw his arms around me, and nearly squished out what little breath I had left. Gasping, I leaned into his embrace as he peppered my sweaty face with kisses and fervently praised me for my performance. Time seemed to melt into that golden sunrise as we clung to one another, but had I really given him everything he’d needed? It was all a blur now, every performance was when it was over, unless I’d botched something, which I hadn’t even come close to doing this time.

I’d come to accept that mistakes happened and that sometimes they were extremely painful ones, but I was proud of the fact that nothing like that had happened today. Still, I was anxious to see the results of the shoot.

Only, when I went to stand, the world tilted a little. Tristan immediately steadied me as I blinked and waited for my vision to level out. It was almost there when I was swept off my feet and clutched against the strong chest I’d gotten intimately familiar with the night before.

“I’m okay,” I murmured. “Prolly should have had a protein shake first, though.”

“No more morning sessions without food first,” Mr. Rowan declared with the kind of finality that I knew better than to argue with.

He’d have probably been upset if I’d tried to explain that a protein shake in the morning was all I usually had, at least until landing at Honey Hearth, with all of the wonderful food Brenner and Bruce prepared.

“I’ll be back to help you bring your equipment in as soon as I have him settled,” Mr. Rowan called over his shoulder as he carried me inside.

“It’s okay, Daddy, I can get it.”

“What did I just say?” Mr. Rowan growled, the rumbly vibration making me shiver, or maybe it was just the rapidly cooling sweat drying on my skin.

When a hard wind blew, I was grateful for his body heat and that his much larger stature was acting as a wind screen as he carried me into the apartment. When he placed me on the couch, he tucked a pillow behind my back and draped a blanket over me, smoothing it down my arms despite the fact that I was sticky and gross. I never sat on furniture after performing, not until I’d had a shower first. But he told me not to move before he hurried back to the courtyard to help Tristan, so I stayed where he placed me and hugged the blanket to my chest, hoping I wasn’t in any trouble.

The longer I sat there, the more the fear set in. I was convinced I’d fucked everything up royally. Curling my knees to my chest, I hunched forward to rest my head on them and struggled to hold back the tears. Where the morning had once felt so promising, now there was only despair and a growing desire to flee into my room, gather my things, and go back to Honey Hearth before Tristan and Mr. Rowan asked me to.

The voice I could never quite bring myself to trust kept hollering that I was getting ahead of myself and getting all worked up for no reason, but I couldn’t slow my breathing down. It was almost as bad as at the end of my performance, only that had been sheer exhilaration, where this just felt like a panic attack coming on.

Yes, and you know what to do when that happens.

There was that voice again. I could hear it loud and clear, but I couldn’t make myself listen. Not when another part of my brain picked that moment to remind me that my time in this town had already been running out when I’d auditioned, and I still hadn’t heard back from any of the places I’d put in applications at.

Tristan’s voice reached me first, but instead of the excitement I’d heard in it outside, there was worry and rambled apologies.

“Are you okay?” he asked, hands sliding up my arms moments later.

Hiccupping, I shook my head no. “I-I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to mess everything up.”

The last thing I expected was for him to burst into tears. He was holding me so tight I couldn’t hold him and now I was really worried, ‘cause I had no idea how Mr. Rowan was going to react to me being the cause of his boy’s tears. I tensed when I felt his arms wrap around us, but that just made him hug us tighter. Then I heard his voice beside my ear.

“You’ve done nothing to apologize for,” he murmured as he stroked the sweaty hair back from the side of my face and neck.

I could feel his lips against my earlobe, his breath a warm woosh as he continued to speak.

“There’s nothing to be worried about, nothing at all. I should have insisted upon you having something in your belly when you went out there, but I wasn’t sure what to suggest or how long you’d need to wait before performing. I promise that I’ll educate myself better going forward,” Mr. Rowan said.

“Y-you’re not mad?” I stammered, stunned that the voice had been right, again, despite my refusal to listen to it.

“Oh, I’m fuckin’ pissed,” Mr. Rowan declared.

I immediately cringed and tried to pull away, not like there was any real chance of that happening. He was way stronger than me.

“At myself,” Mr. Rowan continued. “For not having a conversation with you about it last night. I got as caught up in the excitement as Tristan did and never once considered that you wouldn’t ask for something if you needed it.”

“I-I just didn’t think it would hit me before we could come in to get breakfast,” I admitted. “It was just a little sugar drop.”

“A drop of any kind isn’t little,” Mr. Rowan insisted. “And you will not be allowed to let that happened again, do I make myself understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now, you two are going to stay right here while I finish breakfast and don’t even think about discussing anything relating to work. I will bring the food to you when it’s ready and only once I’m certain you are steady on your feet will you be able to go clean up.”

Nodding, I finally met his gaze. “Yes, sir,” I said while Tristan chimed in with a tearful sounding, Yes, Daddy.

He pressed a kiss to the side of my head and kissed Tristan on the forehead before tucking a blanket around us. The kitchen was only a few feet away, and the wall design had the center piece cut out so we could still see him as he started plating the food. Just turning my head made the dizziness come back even worse than the last time.

Moaning, I slumped against the back of the couch, until Tristan gently tugged me down to lie across his lap and started stroking my hair as my vision evened out again.

“You were so amazing,” Tristan praised.

“That kind of talk drifts dangerously close to talking about work,” Mr. Rowan called from the kitchen. “You may praise him all you’d like while you’re looking at the photos, for now, why not take a moment to see what else you two have in common.”

I cuddled closer to him, eager to learn more about him.

“Would it be too much like a dating app to ask what you like to do during your downtime?” Tristan asked.

“Not as long as it isn’t too much like a dating app for me to ask what your favorite movies are,” I replied.

Giggling, we hugged each other some more while he thoughtfully considered my question.

“I know it’s a bit all over the place, but I love pieces with mood and attitude. The Crow , Sin City , and Underworld are my go-to comfort movies, and I love both versions of The Punisher , just not War Games , it didn’t tick off the right boxes for me.”

“I’ve never seen War Games , but I love both the Dolph Lundgren and the Thomas Jane Punishers.”

“Aren’t they the best?”

“Yeah, they are,” I said. “I love all of the ones you named and Interview with a Vampire . I love the whole tone of that movie.”

“That one is awesome, too, but I really felt like there should have been more explored between Louie and Lestat.”

“Right? Like how can people not see it?”

We giggled at that, heads pressed together as he hugged the blankets around us.

“ Sleepy Hollow is another of my favorites,” I admitted. “I know it probably sounds weird, but when I can’t sleep, I let it play over and over, so I can get lost in the story. It’s still resting, even if I never completely fall asleep.”

“Daddy doesn’t let me stay up all night anymore,” Tristan admitted. “I get frustrated with my sculptures because I’m too tired to focus on them properly.”

“Don’t forget cranky, anxious and weepy,” Mr. Rowan pointed out. “It’s never good to stress yourself out that way, though the occasional all-night movie marathon would certainly be permittable, provided there were no attempts to enter the workroom the following day.”

“Wanna do that?” Tristan asked. “Have a big, long movie marathon with me? We can add Snow White and the Huntsman to the list and The Dark Knight .”

“Ohh, that’s my favorite Batman movie,” I replied. “Have you ever watched Flatliners ?”

“Just the original, I’m not sure I wanna see the remake.”

“Me, either. The original was just so awesome.”

“And different.”

“Uh-huh, I’ve never seen another movie like it.”

“Then it seems like we have the rest of our day all planned out,” Mr. Rowan declared as he joined us in the living room with a platter of food that smelled delicious, though the thing I truly craved wasn’t on any of the plates. Two damp patches marred the front of his tank top and I licked my lips before I could stop myself and tried to look away.

“Though perhaps a drink would be in order first,” Mr. Rowan said, and just like that, he stripped his t-shirt off and patted his lap. Tray of food forgotten, I slid into it happy to latch on. As far as I was concerned, there was no better place I could possibly be.