Page 2 of Wrestling with Daddy

“That’s the thing. I don’t know lately.” Lee took a sip of his whiskey before he continued, “You have to let go of all that shit in your past before I know for sure it’s not an act.”

“Right.” Ken snorted. “I thought we didn’t bring that up.”

“The rules change when you turn forty.”

“Do they?” Ken quirked an eyebrow. “So what rules are changing for you next year, lover boy?”

“Oh, shut up,” Lee groaned.

In a matter of seconds, that ribbed glass of whiskey was far more interesting than whatever conversation Ken might have been able to offer.

He understood.

Neither of them were big talkers. Many of the times they met at the club, they would have their drinks and watch the pups and boys dance or play on the floor by the back of the club.

It was their thing.

Usually, though, Lee hadn’t dropped a bomb on him right before. A part of him even wished that Ash didn’t take too long in the bathroom and was back to bothering him soon.

Then again, given the time, Ken guessed that the two of them would be leaving as soon as the pup made it back, finding some excuse to head home early.

It would leave Ken ruminating about the things he didn’t want to think about, the reasons why he went to bed feeling lonely most nights and why sleep was becoming more and more elusive.

Lee had a point in being concerned. Ken just didn’t like admitting to it. It would make it more real… and force his more practical side to take hold of the reins and do something about it.

* * *

If only doing something about it hadn’t involved getting two more drinks than would’ve been appropriate. Or listening to Ash’s parting piece of advice.

“Fuck’s sake, Plum,” Ken groaned, waving his arms to try and get the Siamese cat away. “I just turned forty. Didn’t you hear?”

Trying to get his cat to listen when there was food to fill her bowl with wasn’t going to work. He didn’t need a cat whisperer to tell him that, so he sucked it up and got out of bed and made his way to the pantry.

Plum ate the high quality kibble he stored there without the enthusiasm the tag price deserved. Nothing he could do about it, though.

At least having to focus on the pampered cat meant that he didn’t think about the profile he’d ended up creating in the stupid app Ash had found.

Logically, he thought as he put on a pair of plaid pajama pants over his boxer briefs, he knew nothing was going to come out of it.

Dating apps hadn’t changed that much in the years since he’d last bothered with one. Only three scenarios came out of them.

Scenario #1. People swiped right but never said anything, so it went nowhere.

Scenario #2. They swiped right and only bothered with dick pics he’d stopped having interest in. It had happened as soon as he’d started going out and realized that nothing held his interest like leather-clad skin, sweat, and smaller boys on their knees.

Scenario #3. They started out with a half decent conversation, but the texts fizzled out after a couple of days. Maybe they talked about going out for a coffee, or something more adventurous on the rare occasion, but the interest waned once they learned of Ken’s schedules and travels that were definitely not for pleasure.

That was what he expected to find when he opened the app while the coffee brewed in the machine he’d gifted himself last Christmas—a few ‘hi’s, a couple dick pics, and a number in red with all the people who had swiped right along with an encouragement from the app to get into its paid plan so that he could see past the blurred profile icons.

Before he checked the messages, though, he went to his profile.

Ken was certain that he remembered what he’d uploaded there, but double checking was ingrained in his nature.

At least he’d kept it concise and to the point: a couple of pictures, one of his face and another one of his naked torso, and a simple about section:

Experienced Daddy Dom looking for a pup to handle and dine from time to time. Thinking about going to the Pet Play by the Lake charity this year, but going alone doesn’t hold much appeal.

The charity Lee ran at the Mountain Lake Resort was still a couple of months away, but Ken had figured putting it out there would help him prune the guys who only wanted a one-night stand.