Page 11

"She reminds me of my grandma," Tyler says through laughter.

We've been sitting for about forty minutes now.

Our food has come and we've eaten everything, but then I decided to order dessert as well.

A salted caramel brownie that we split between the two of us.

More than once we've fought using our spoons to get the next bite.

Tyler is telling me about one of his regular customers that he's always happy to see.

"She always tries to give me candy from her pocket, which I politely refuse each time.

She's sweet though and is always dropping random pieces of advice that make no sense. "

"Like what?" I stick the spoon in my mouth, trying to lick off the caramel stuck to the back of it.

I catch Tyler's eyes dropping to my lips and smirk, exaggerating the movements I make with my tongue.

He shifts in the seat and I know exactly what that means.

I won't torture the guy, but I smile to myself knowing that I can make him squirm with such a small move.

"She, uh, told me today that she had a tip for me." He shifts once more before putting his spoon down and composing himself. "Don't wear high heels in the mud."

"What?" That catches me off guard and I laugh. Tyler joins me with his own quiet laugh. I finish the last bite of the brownie, after offering it to Tyler. "I would like to know if that was something just passed down or if she learned that first hand."

"That was my first thought, too." Tyler sits back in the booth and pats his stomach. "Food was great. Thanks for bringing me."

"Any time," I say. "We can head out if you want to now."

"Yes, please." I stand up first and hold a hand out for Tyler to help him up.

I don't let go, but use my other hand to pull my wallet out of my back pocket.

It's a pay as you leave type of restaurant.

I settle the bill, tip the staff, and we head out into the evening.

It's warm out, the sky is clear, but I see Tyler shiver at the temperature change from the cool air inside to the warm air out here.

I bite my tongue before I can ask him if he's okay. He ate a balanced enough meal. He stuck with water instead of the soda like I did. I open the car door for him before getting in behind the wheel. "Do you need to go to your house or anything to get clothes?"

"Would you mind?" Tyler looks at me. In the dim light of the sunset, his eyes are more of a moss green. They're beautiful. "I have some pajamas that I'd like to grab as well."

"Sounds good. Just tell me where to go."

He gives me the directions to where he lives.

It isn't too far away, but it's in the opposite direction of where I live so we'll only get about an hour of time before he'll need to go to bed.

I've read stories of Littles that put up a fight for bedtime and I'm curious how Tyler will react.

I'm kind of hoping for a bit of back and forth, maybe something playful where I have to be a smidge stern with him.

Of the late night scenes I've come up with in my head, caring for a bit of a bratty Tyler seems to be what I always end up with.

I park on the opposite side of the street and watch him until he's safely inside.

I pull out my phone and pull up the bookmarked tab.

It's bookmarked to one of my favorite accounts I've found, a guy named Taylor.

He lives in Arizona and is a lawyer, but he's also a Little and loves to document the scenes he does with different Daddies.

He doesn't get too descriptive of the intimate moments, but I find myself smiling when he describes pushing his Daddies' buttons and the different punishments— or funishments, as he sometimes calls them— that he gets.

He uploaded a new one last night about a scene where the Daddy made him write lines on a paper for fifteen minutes because he threw his blocks across the room instead of cleaning them up.

He continues, describing the way his Daddy gave him a bath after and they talked over the rules and then he trails off by saying their bath turned a bit naughtier.

By the time I finish reading, I look up to see Tyler crossing the street. He has a small duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He moves quickly, not giving me time to get out of the car and take his bag from him. He sets it in the backseat and then gets back in the passenger seat.

"Everything okay?" I ask as I put my signal on and pull onto the road.

"Yeah, just a lot of questions from my mom and teasing from my brother about staying out tonight." Tyler lays his head against the back of the seat and sighs heavily.

"What happened with the apartment hunting over the weekend?" We talked as much as we could over the weekend, but I realize I never asked how the apartments were.

"One of them was nice, but I didn't qualify after they ran my credit. I have a couple of medical bills that I haven't been able to pay and it's affecting my credit." He sounds dejected when he says it, like it's a battle he already knows he's going to lose.

"Have you applied for financial assistance?

" I ask. I glance at him once more before focusing back on the road.

Tyler doesn't say anything and I take that as he's waiting for me to explain.

"The hospital is non-profit, technically, which means they have a program that can help people pay their bills.

It's easy to apply for and I can help you. If you want."

I glance over at him when he still doesn't answer. I stop at an intersection and move my hand to rest on his leg. He finally looks over at me and gives a small smile. "I didn't know that was a thing."

"Yeah." I squeeze his leg before letting him go and driving again.

"They can cover any medical costs like your hospital stays, testing, all that.

I'll help you do it sometime this week if you like.

I just need a couple pay stubs and any monthly payments you make, like rent, car payment, that sort of thing. "

"I can do that," he says. It's quiet and I don't know if he means he can get the things together for me to help or he can do it on his own. I let the subject drop for now because we're almost to my place. "What did you pack for tonight?"

"I got my favorite pajamas and my stuffie," Tyler says quietly. I smile because this is really happening. We're about to go inside and have our first Daddy and Little experience. I'm excited for this.

"Let's get upstairs, then." I turn the car off and get out to grab his bag before he can. My apartment is on the second floor and we take the stairs slowly. I don't want him overworking himself, and I know he knows that but neither of us say it.

I unlock the door and let him step through before locking it back behind him. Fluff comes running from somewhere in the apartment, meowing loudly at both of us. I'm an hour late in feeding him dinner and he's letting me know he's upset.

"Let me feed this demanding creature and then we'll get you changed, okay?" I give Tyler a soft kiss on his cheek before moving to the kitchen. "Go ahead and put your bag in my bedroom and I'll be right there."