Page 24 of Night By Night

Mrs. McElroy insists we call her Eliza, and she said dinner at 7.

Maddox smiled. He wouldn’t deny it was kind of nice having Hank texting him like this.

Maybe I can secretly condition him to text me every morning.

The thought made his sadistic Dominant side giggle, even though he knew he would only be setting himself up for future disappointment.

Worth it.

He texted him back.

Text me as soon as you’re home from work and I’ll come over to pick you guys up.

Hank replied almost immediately with a thumbs-up emoji.

A giddy little rush swept through Maddox. No, this wasn’t technically violating Hank’s consent in any way, because helloooo, Hank considered them nothing more than friends.

That it dovetailed nicely with his own personal desires was a bonus.

* * * *

Hank tucked his phone away. He’d been stopped at a red light, on his way to take JJ to school, when Dox replied to his text.

Last night, while he’d slept better than he had in a long damn time, his dreams were filled with memories of the past.

Exactly how lonely he’d been all these years really slammed home now that Dox was back in his life.

And he didn’t even have to share Dox with a wife or girlfriend.

Okay, that’s selfish of me.

Yeah, he’d own that. When they were in high school, while both of them had dated on occasion, it seemed like that was more of an imposition to their friendship than having true benefits of its own. Hell, he could jerk off if he was horny, and his hand didn’t bitch that he was spending too much time with Dox.

Which back then, during the school year, a lot of their time together was spent studying. Because Dox had saved his ass in math.

Frankly, he’d dumped more than one girlfriend in high school because she’d tried to come between him and Dox.

Doesn’t that tell me something?

He dropped JJ off at school, but instead of letting her go in by herself, he walked her inside. “Remember, you go to Miss Eliza’s dojo on their bus. The teacher will help you find the right one.”

She jumped up and down. “I can’t wait!”

He headed to the office after seeing her to class and talking to her teacher to let her know about the new arrangement.

After he waited his turn, the administrative assistant smiled at him. “Did you have any luck finding child care yesterday?”

“I did, actually.” He had all the forms ready. “And I’d like to verify something on her emergency forms. I want to make sure my friend, Maddox Orosco, is listed as being authorized to pick her up from school, not just as an emergency contact.”

“Sure.” She pulled up JJ’s file and added that information.

“And I’d like to add Eliza and Rusty McElroy, too.” He called up their contact info on his phone. She’d told him he could feel free to add them to JJ’s file, just in case.

She looked at him. “She used to be a history teacher?”

“You know her?”

She laughed. “I worked with her at the high school before she retired. Is she a friend of yours?”