Page 5 of Lakeside Little (Pineberry Falls: Summer Daddies #2)

I was of the thought that you should always go for something you want, and I wanted Diego.

He had experience as a Daddy Dom before, he was gay, but a little closeted from what he’d said, and he was single.

I went in for the kiss, which was unlike me because I often waited for the other guy to make a move first, especially when it came to Daddies, it was almost a show of them to kiss first.

Diego had been out of the Daddy game, but he said it himself, he was a quick study, and even if this was a fling for the next two weeks, I was going to make it a memorable fling on both sides.

After fixing the doll house, applying a coat of paint to the new panels, Diego made the fish we’d caught alongside some veggies and rice.

It was surprisingly very delicious. He made it at his cabin, so I was there, dressed in a nice t-shirt, cargo shorts, and several layers of my caramel scented body mists.

Deigo was in a nice white shirt, contrasting with his gorgeous, tanned skin.

Nory was also seated at the table, but she didn’t have a plate or anything, she was just sat watching as I made googly eyes at Diego, and he stared back into them with a big smile.

“Another glass of wine?” he asked. “It’s the town’s signature blend.”

The pineberry wine was nice, a little too sweet, even for me, but it was very strong in terms of alcohol. “Sure,” I said, giggling uncontrollably. “You know, usually, when I’m in town for the summer, I spend it in the actual town with my cousin and the community stuff happening.”

“Don’t let me stop you,” he said, heading to the fridge in the same room. I caught a glimpse at the other two bottles of wine in the fridge.

“Why do you have so much wine?” I asked. “You didn’t get it all at the store earlier.”

He poured into my wine glass and nodded. “You’re right, I didn’t. I’m sure you probably think I’m the type of guy who would drink beer, but honestly, I cannot stand the stuff.”

I held both hands up. “I’m not judging you.”

“I know, I’m just saying, since the whole losing my job situation, I thought I’d be here alone, drinking away my sorrows in the evening, fishing in the morning, and then hopefully get all the sad shit out of my system.”

Raising my wine glass, he met mine with his. “I can cheers to that,” I said. “To getting rid of all the sad shit.”

“Cheers.”

We guzzled down our glasses of wine before calling it a night.

Diego walked me home and told me that I had to get a good night of rest because we’d be taking the boat out tomorrow, my cousin’s husband’s boat out onto the lake.

It was a sweet moment of him setting up a glass of water by my bed as I brushed my teeth.

We kissed one final time where he commented on my choice of toothpaste, it was a minty berry that had a dissolvable glitter in it, of course that’s what I was going to brush my teeth with.

I was surprised the night ended like that, especially when I thought it would end in his bed, or mine, but that could’ve just been the wine and how it brought out a hornier side of me.

Waking at the crack of dawn to sunlight shining on my face, I let out a load groan and nearly whacked the full glass of water from the nightstand in the process. Instead, I discovered a note and some painkillers.

The note read. ‘ I hope you’re reading this in the morning, and I hope your head is ok. I’ll be over in the morning, not too early though. Drink the water.’

I drank the water and took the painkillers. The slightest headache encroaching on the sides of my mind were enough for me to gulp them down the moment I spotted them. The entire glass. water went down in a series of gulps leaving me wanting more hydration.

Diego came over around eleven in the morning, I’d showered, had an instant coffee, and some toaster strudel which doubled as content for the social media accounts.

I found it funny putting the dolls beside large objects and acting as if they were interacting with them.

The toaster strudel in particular was nibbled at by a circle of dolls, at least that’s what my online story posts told.

“You smell delicious,” Diego’s first words to me. “And good morning, or afternoon almost.”

“I thought you were coming over earlier.”

“I think I drank a little too much wine last night.”

“Not me, I woke up perfectly fine.” My giggle gave it away that I was lying.

“Mhm, I’m sure,” he said. “So, I’ve sorted things with Mason, we just need to head to his house, which he said you know where it is, and Oliver should be home to hand over the keys for it.”

I rolled my eyes; it was a condition of having to do too much. “I thought it was going to be on the lake already.”

“I don’t think it is, but it shouldn’t be too big of an issue. I’m gonna be there doing most—if not all of the hard work.” He flashed me his muscular biceps with a quick trip to the gun show. There was a new confidence to him, I was in awe of it. It’s exactly what I needed from a Daddy.

“You’re gonna take someone’s eye out with those,” I giggled, gnawing on my lip a little. “Maybe not my eye, because I like looking at them.”

He smirked. “That’s right. You can sit in the car as a princess while I get it all ready. My van is equipped with one of those hooks on it that should transport a boat just fine.”

I knew he could take care of it all, I was just not really ready to be around fish again.

“You’ve already convinced me, and I could get used to princess treatment.

” I’d enjoyed eating it last night, but they were all so slimy and smelly sometimes.

But seeing Deigo’s smile create little would-be dimples had me knowing that it was the best way to spend time with him, and also to farm content for the dolls.

They needed a day out badly, even if Nory had told them about her awful experience falling face first into the lake mud.

“Good,” he said. “Now, it’s a warm day, sun is out and not many clouds, so you have sunscreen and a hat?”

“A hat!” I gasped, running around. “I think I have just the thing.”

In my suitcase, squashed behind clothes, I had a wide brim woven hat that made me look like I lived out in the country, or was a part-time scarecrow sitting in a field watching over crops.

It was a little janky from behind squashed, but a small punch of the top and it was perfect again.

Casting a nice area of shade around my face and the back of my neck.

I walked into the living room, presenting myself with it in front of Diego.

“Wow, that wasn’t what I thought you’d be wearing when you came back out,” he said. “It’s definitely good for the weather. But have you applied sunscreen?”

“No, have you?”

“Of course, I’m used to working outside all day, I don’t play when it comes to my sunscreen.”

“But you do play with the hand moisturizers,” I giggled in return, it happened quickly, like a slip of the tongue. I hadn’t meant to be bratty, but it felt fun.

Diego forced a straight smile and nodded. “I’ll mark that down,” he said. “One count of sass. How do you plead?”

“Guilty.” I offered with a pout, hoping it would work in my favor.

He hummed and nodded. “I spoke to the council of—of Daddies, and they agree with me, you’re off with a warning, but the next time you sass me, there will be a punishment for it. And—” his eyes scanned the room. “It might mean confiscating one of your dolls. Or your phones.”

My smile dropped. “Not my phone,” I said, frisking myself for it in my pocket. “I won’t do it again. Pwomise.” I extended a pinky finger to him, and he extended his in return.

“And if you break it, I take your pinky too,” he said. “Kidding.”

I was somewhat forgetful of things like summer hats and sunscreen, so it was nice to have someone tell me that I had to wear them.

I would’ve remembered, eventually, and rushed to wear them.

This was something I missed about being a little, most of the time, it was just playing alone, or with other littles.

I needed the structure a Daddy could offer, it was important in some ways to me that I could have someone to offer that, but it had been so long, I’d forgotten the joy of it.

Daddy Diego prepared a lot for the day, which explained why it took him so long to come over.

There was an entire cooler of ice and a second cooler with waters and some juices.

I rummaged through the box on the backseat of the car, seeing that he’d even packed little fruit snacks and some cold cuts, probably to go with the bread rolls in the paper bag.

“I know I packed quite a bit,” he said. “But who knows how long we’re going to be out there, and I would like to catch a lot of fish. I might not have the social reach you do, but people love seeing pictures of big fish.”

I stared blankly at him. He’d been brainwashed by the straight men for so long. I bit my tongue and just smiled.

“What?” he asked.

“It’s just—that’s what straight guys do, and you’re not.”

He laughed. “And that makes up about all my friends.”

“Do they know you’re—”

“Yes, it’s not a secret I ever kept from anyone, even my religious trauma family,” he said with a forced laugh. “So, this is an important question.”

Gulping hard, I didn’t know where he was going with it after what he’d just said. “Ok.”

“When I catch a huge fish, will you take a picture of me with it?”

Instant relief brought sweat quickly drying at my brow from the icy car AC. “Yes, of course.”

“And I’ll take a picture of you with it as well.”

“Oh, you don’t have to—”

He laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m just playing. But you can if you want, and you are my good luck charm, so I’m gonna need you to bring that with you on the boat.”

I nodded. “And I’m gonna need one million positive affirmations.”

“Like, you’re such a good boy,” he asked, and he didn’t need to give me the others because that was worth a million all by itself.

Diego drove to my cousin’s house in town and Oliver was laid out on the front lawn in a pair of speedos, sunbathing right beside the white boat. It was a small center console fishing boat branded with teddy bear stickers and vinyl across the front and small roof area above the console.

“Boat looks incredible,” Diego said as we startled Oliver.

“Oh, lord, I forgot you were coming by,” Oliver said. “I was almost asleep.”

“You shouldn’t sleep in the sun,” Diego said.

“And have you put sunscreen on?” I asked, hiding behind a Diego as I giggled.

Oliver slipped into a bathrobe. “Plenty,” he said.

“And I’m making the most of the sun while it’s here.

I don’t think we’re going to get an actual vacation this year.

” He puffed out a raspberry. “Also, what do you think of her? It’s Mason’s pride and joy, you’re lucky he’s letting you take her out on the lake. ”

“I think more than anything, he trusts Jack,” he said.

Oliver laughed. “Love you, cuz, but he’s only doing it because of how similar the two of you are. I think if it was anyone else, he would’ve pretended he didn’t even have a boat.”

“Plus, I think Mason thought it was funny that I’d actually volunteered to do some form of fishing.”

“Which reminds me, I want a picture, so I know you’re not making it up,” he said. “And Mason wanted me to ask if you’d bring us some fish over, assuming you have a good haul. He would never have asked himself, but I love the bass from the lake, if you catch any of them.”

In truth, the fish we caught and ate yesterday had been nice, but I could never survive on a diet of fish. It was just too—fishy.

Oliver headed inside, leaving me and Diego walking around the boat. I’d seen it a handful of times but never had the urge to ever want to go out onto the lake in it, purely because I wasn’t the best swimmer, and also because I liked my feet firmly on land.

“Bigger than I expected,” Diego said. “And some built-in shade. These stickers are cute too; do they have a kid?”

With pinched eyes, I stared at him. “No,” I whispered. “They’re—you know, like me.”

“Oh shit, well, that’s probably not all too surprising.”

“What’s not too surprising?” Oliver asked, walking out in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

He dangled the keys at us. “She’s got a half-tank of fuel, but there is a cannister you can fill.

It really doesn’t take much, so as long as you’re not doing laps of the lake, she’ll be fine.

” He handed me the keys. “So, what’s not too surprising? ”

“The stickers,” I said, patting at the sun bleached and fading teddy bear vinyl.

“She needs a new look, maybe we’ll give her a makeover when fall comes around,” he said. “You two have fun though, and please, Jack, wear the life vest at all times. We don’t want a replay of you in the lake that one year.”

Stomping and missing. his foot, it was a reflex. “Don’t mention that.”

“What?” Diego asked.

And the embarrassing story of how I thought I was drowning in the edge of the lake water came out.

It my defense, the sandy-sludge earth did feel like it was pulling me into it.

And the worst part was that I was twenty at the time, so I couldn’t blame behind a kid either—even with my cute little pout and big lashes blinking, there was no escaping that past.

I was going to cling to the life vest anyway.