by KD Ellis
“Mr. Blue?” Ian smirked, closing the distance between them while Teddy was trying to back away without tripping over anyone. “We’ve named your teddy, I see.”
“Duh. Can’t keep calling him Teddy. It’ll get confusing.” Teddy pointed it out like it was the most obvious thing in the world as he struggled to dodge Ian’s hand. He failed, and Ian grasped him around the waist, pulling him forward until they stood, chest-to-chest, the stuffed animal—which truly was almost as big as Teddy—tucked, forgotten, in the crook of Ian’s arm. The fur brushed against Teddy’s skin, soft and warm. He couldn’t help rubbing his face across it.
Ian pushed it gently into Teddy’s arms. “Happy late birthday.”
Chapter Ten
Ian couldn’t help watching Teddy. The young man was all smiles as they made their way through the festival, the teddy bear clasped to his chest. Ian had offered to bring it back to the truck but he saw the way Teddy’s face fell at the suggestion, even though he’d agreed. Ian had retracted the offer immediately, not wanting to see anything but happiness on the boy’s face, and they’d kept walking.
After filling up on kettle corn and ribbon fries, they finally headed home after dark, despite Teddy’s protests. Ian had watched him start yawning hours before. He tried to hide them in the cowl of his sweater and the baggy sleeves, but Ian had noticed, the same way he’d seen his smile dimming. Teddy was exhausted, and it was time to get him home.
He wasn’t surprised when Teddy fell asleep before they even left the parking lot, curled up in the passenger seat with his knees to his chest, his head pillowed on the bear. Ian couldn’t help smiling at the sight.
Teddy didn’t even wake up when he pulled the truck into the driveway and turned it off. Ian debated waking him, but Teddy looked so peaceful that he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he climbed out and rounded the truck, carefully opening the passenger door and unbuckling Teddy’s seatbelt so he could gather him into his arms, the bear still tucked against his chest, then carry him across the lawn to the front door. It was a bit of a struggle to get the door open, but he managed it.
He passed Mama in the living room. She looked up from her knitting but didn’t comment. She just smiled and shook her head before dropping her eyes back to the richly dyed yarn in front of her. Papa was snoring in the armchair.
Ian carried Teddy upstairs to the guest room, depositing him gently in the center of the bed. Teddy woke just enough to help him get his shoes off, though it was clear from the blurriness of his eyes that he was still mostly asleep. Ian urged him under the covers, tucking Mr. Blue in beside him, and smiled at the sleepy yawn.
“Night, Daddy,” Teddy mumbled, curling into the bear.
Ian’s heart thudded in his chest as he backed out of the room, his eyes wide. Surely, there was no way Teddy had meant that. Teddy must have been dreaming, probably thought Ian was…well, not his father, because Ian knew Teddy’s dad had been dead for years, so…
Had Teddy meant it?
Ian had never explored the world of Daddy kink beyond porn. He had to admit that the few videos he’d watched had been hot, but there was something clinical about watching it on his laptop. He wanted…more. He wanted to wrap Teddy in his arms and keep him safe, wanted to help him get dressed in the morning, wanted to make him dinner at night.
Ian hurried into his bedroom for a change of clothes, then into the bathroom. He needed to take a cold shower now, because there was no way he could indulge in the fantasy that Teddy was into the same things he was. Teddy was too young to know what he wanted and Ian knew, if he let him, that he would take absolutely everything the boy had to give. Maybe, eventually, it was something they could explore, but not until he was sure Teddy was ready.
He groaned as the icy water pelted his skin, doing little to curtail the throbbing erection. Finally, it wilted, but the lack of physical evidence of his arousal did little to curb his thoughts. Shivering, he finally climbed out of the shower when it was clear it wasn’t helping. The only thing that was going through his mind was Teddy.
Teddy giggling at the street shows at the festival.
Teddy curled up in bed, wrapped around his teddy bear.
Teddy on his knees, his eyes wide as he stared up at him, begging for Daddy’s cock.
Ian groaned as his erection started to grow again.
* * * *
Teddy woke up in bed, aching with arousal but burning with embarrassment over his sleep-addled admission, and immediately escaped to the Beckett Estate, Mr. Blue forgotten in his haste.
“So, you really did it? Moved out?” Shiloh sat on the side of the pool, kicking his feet lazily in the cool water. He leaned back on his hands, his elbows locked and his face tilted up to the brilliant sunlight. A pair of custom Bulgari frames in black cherry with rose lenses perched on his nose, reflecting the light that glinted off the pool.
Teddy shrugged, though Shiloh didn’t see it. Out loud, he said, “Yeah. It was time. She’s been getting worse. I feel more like her parent, and, dude, I am so not ready to be a parent.” Teddy tried to make it sound joking but it came out flat. He didn’t want to be anybody’s Daddy. “She slapped me.”
“Bitch,” Shiloh cursed, though he didn’t sound surprised. To be honest, once the shock had worn off, Teddy hadn’t been either. He’d been more surprised it hadn’t happened sooner. “What about your surgery? Will the Romeros be there to help?”
“I’m not going to ask them to do that,” Teddy immediately rejected the suggestion. That was too much to ask of anyone, especially Ian, especially after he’d accidentally called him ‘Daddy’. “I’ll figure it out. I’m hoping to have found an apartment by then. I’ve got a week or two.”
“I thought they asked you to stay?”
Teddy shrugged. “They did. But I’m sure they just meant until I got on my feet again.”
Shiloh sat silently behind him for several moments, the only sound the splashing of his feet in the pool. Eventually, he rolled onto his side and propped his head on his hand, his elbow on the cement. “I’ll come stay with you. I can help you keep your stitches dry and make sure you eat. I won’t cook for you, but I can order in.” Shiloh shrugged. “I need a break from all this anyway.” He waved his hand halfheartedly at the mansion.
“So you want to come play nurse for me?” Teddy pulled his feet out of the water, propping them on the edge so he could rest his arms on his knees. “I’ve been taking care of myself for years. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“There’s a difference between packing your own lunch and recovering from major surgery. They won’t release you without home care. You know that.” Shiloh frowned. “It was in your hospital packet. I know. I read it.”
“They don’t have to know.” Teddy shrugged. He’d lied to people in suits before, so what was one more time?
“Come on, Teddy. It’s not a big deal. It’s not like you don’t take care of me when I’m hungover. You’ve cleaned up my puke. I can take care of you for a few weeks.”
“This is all dependent on whether I find an apartment in time anyway, you know,” Teddy pointed out.
“You’ll find one. It might not be a great one, but I’m sure you’ll find something.”
* * * *
A week before his surgery was scheduled, Teddy signed the lease on a dingy apartment a few streets over. It was, to put it nicely, a dump.
The air conditioner was stuck permanently on, the water heater banged ominously at random times and he was positive he had a handful of skittering roommates. Ian had asked to come with him to check the place out but Teddy cringed at the thought of admitting how shitty the place was, especially to him.
He told Ian that he was subletting from a lovely couple going on an extended honeymoon, because there was no way in hell he was letting Ian within a hundred feet of it. He liked Ian, even if he shouldn’t, and he definitely didn’t need the older man judging him. Not that he thought Ian would be mean about it, but no way did he want to see pity.
>
Not from Ian, anyway. He was dealing with it already from Shiloh, who’d come with him while he signed the paperwork. Shiloh hadn’t said anything, but he didn’t have to. He just stood uncomfortably in the space between the kitchenette and living area, like he was afraid of catching a disease if he touched anything.
The ad had said it was fully furnished, which meant there was a refrigerator from the last decade and a microwave. No stove, but honestly, Teddy couldn’t see a space for one anyway. He figured the only thing he’d need to get right away would be a mattress. Everything else could come later, if he bothered. He didn’t plan on being there long anyway.
The landlord, a balding man with thick glasses, passed him a pair of keys. “If you need something, call the super. His name’s Vik. He can get here right quick if there’s an emergency.”
Under his breath, Shiloh muttered, “The emergency is the health code. I swear I saw a rat.”
Teddy elbowed his friend, but thankfully, the landlord didn’t seem to hear. He just waddled out into the hallway, leaving Teddy and Shiloh alone in his new apartment. He’d paid first and last month’s rent, so it was his for at least two months.
“I need a bed,” Teddy decided, looking around the barren room.
“Yeah, you do.” Shiloh leered. The look slid into laughter, though, when Teddy just dug his elbow into Shiloh’s side again. “Okay, okay. No more comments.”
* * * *
Ian helped Teddy carry the last of his boxes out of his mom’s house to the small moving van idling by the curb. Teddy seemed skittish, looking toward the door the whole time, like he expected his mother to come home from wherever the hell she was and stop them.
Outside, Teddy’s friend Shiloh was already waiting, a pair of dark sunglasses swallowing half his face, a beanie pulled down over his ears. With one leg propped casually against the side of the van, he looked like he belonged in some magazine.
“Ready?” Shiloh asked, straightening as Ian tucked the last box away.
Ian wanted to yell that no, he wasn’t ready. He didn’t want Teddy to move out, especially not to some small apartment where he was going to be alone and vulnerable. He didn’t care that the older couple he was leasing it from had left all the furniture or that it was within walking distance of a bus stop that would drop him off near the University of Texas at Austin School for Architecture, where Teddy had been accepted on scholarship for the fall. He wanted Teddy to stay with him.
Teddy had called him ‘Daddy’, and everything in him screamed for Ian to ask if he’d meant it.
But he bit his lip on the words, smiled and nodded when Teddy waved goodbye then silently cursed himself for a fool when Teddy climbed into the moving van and it started trundling away. He understood that Teddy wanted to stand on his own two feet. He even understood that he didn’t want to feel like a burden. He just wished Teddy understood that to Ian, he would never be a burden.
Mama clapped him on the shoulder when he eventually wandered back inside and said, “Oh, mijo, don’t worry. That boy looks at you with stars in his eyes. He’ll be back. You’ll see.”
Chapter Eleven
Two months later
Mama had never listened when he told her he was too old for birthday parties. She’d promised that year not to throw one. But when his boss met him outside the club he worked at, Ian knew what he’d find when he got home. The man stuttered his way through an excuse about a scheduling error, so his surprise party wasn’t much of a surprise in the end.
It seemed like the entire neighborhood had been crammed into their house, overflowing into the backyard and into their neighbors’ yards as well. He swore he only recognized one in three people. He was pretty sure the dark-haired teenager by the picnic table, picking her way through the fruit salad, was one of his cousin Valerie’s children, although she could have belonged to Cousin Theresa as well.
A small body rocketed over to him, ricocheting off his knees and onto his diapered rump. Ian scooped the child up with a rowdy laugh. “Alejo, my little firecracker. I nearly squashed you into butter!”
“Not a squash, not a squash!” Alejandro squealed, giggling. He latched his tiny fists onto Ian’s ears like handles. “I’m a big boy! Watch, I zoom!” He wiggled to get down until Ian lowered him onto his feet.
The child held his hands out from his sides and plunged into the yard, zigging around legs without care. Mama separated from the women to greet Ian with a kiss, her face twisted with concern. “Mijo, I know you said no party. I hope you’re not angry. I just couldn’t bear to think of my boy sitting alone on his birthday.”
“I’m not angry, Mama.” Ian promised. “I just don’t want you to go to so much work.”
“It’s never work, mijo.” Mama gripped his arm like she thought he was going to escape and urged him into the yard. “Greet your guests. Aunt Jada and I will finish dinner.”
Ian’s stomach rumbled at the thought of food. He had planned on eating before his shift.
Mama laughed and patted his stomach. “My growing boy. I’ve left snacks out, so don’t even think about sneaking into the kitchen.”
“I haven’t tried to steal my birthday cake since I was ten, Mama,” Ian protested.
“Only because I threatened you with a chancletazo. And don’t think you’re too old for one now.” Mama straightened her spine. It brought her only to his shoulders, but that didn’t stop the residual tingle of fear left over from his childhood.
“I’ll stay out of the kitchen, Mama,” He promised.
“Good. Go find your brother. I worry.”
“Yes, Mama.”
She left him, heading back to the kitchen, and Ian smiled fondly after her before turning to look for his brother. It seemed the younger man was finally starting to show maturity. He’d been home more over the past month, ever since Teddy had moved out. He didn’t seem to be getting in as much trouble, and more often than not, he was turning down offers to hang with his friends.
Of course, Ian wished he would hang out with one friend, in particular, if it meant getting to see Teddy more. Teddy had spent over a month in recovery after his surgery, refusing to let Ian see him until he was healed. Afterward, he had picked up a second job washing dishes at a restaurant over on Loop Blvd that specialized in Mexican cuisine. It meant more money for Teddy but less time.
A handful of children rocketed around the lawn, clutching leftover sparklers from the Dia de la Patria celebration earlier in the week, and Ian nearly collided into Cousin Monique trying to dodge them. She wished him a happy birthday with a kiss on the cheek, then ushered him along.
Several minutes of mingling later, he finally spotted Lucas in the back of the yard, sitting on the grass by the fire pit. Tio Carlos was crouched across from him, arranging logs to start a bonfire. Ian’s gaze softened when it landed on Teddy, who was sitting stiffly on a folding chair by his brother.
Teddy looked fully recovered, but, more than that, he looked happier. He practically glowed.
Ian grinned, grateful that Mama’s order to find his brother gave him an excuse to approach. He would have anyway, but it was nice not to have to make up a reason. A small part of him worried that Teddy didn’t want to see him, but the larger part knew he was being stupid. It was his birthday party. If Teddy didn’t want to see him, he wouldn’t have shown up.
Teddy met Ian’s eyes and a wide smile crossed his face. It wasn’t fair how sinfully perfect he looked in those too-tight jeans.
“Hey, brat,” Ian said, stepping over his brother’s legs to stand closer to Teddy, close enough to see that Teddy’s hair was no longer buzzed tight to his scalp, but growing out in gentle curls. It wouldn’t take much to thread his fingers through them and urge the younger man forward, to press his face against the crotch of his jeans. He wouldn’t do it—not in public, certainly not at his family birthday party—but he could. And the way Teddy looked at him, the soft parting of his lips, the small breath he released before he wet his lips with his tongue, made him
think that Teddy wouldn’t mind if he did.
“Are you talking to me or Teddy?” his brother said dryly from where he sat, leaning back on his hands. There was a teasing grin on his face that had been missing for a while.
“I don’t know. Teddy, are you a brat?” Ian turned back to the boy, his lips twitching.
“I could be…for the right person.” Teddy leaned forward, bringing himself closer with a glint in his eyes.
“Oh, gross. Wait until I’m gone before you flirt with my brother, at least.” Lucas faked a gag then pushed himself up.
“You better run away fast, then. It’s about to get hot over here.” Teddy smirked and leaned back, lifting his finger to Ian’s chest, tugging the already-low collar of his shirt farther down.
Lucas rolled his eyes and walked off toward the snacks. A moment later, Tio Carlos chuckled and followed.
“It’s already hot,” Ian rumbled now that they were alone—or as alone as they could be, in a crowded back yard—and he leaned down, planting his hands on the arm of the folding chair. He scanned the lithe stretch of body presented to him like an offering. It was firm and slender, compact but strong. Ian knew the younger man would fit perfectly tucked beneath his chin, or under his arm…or under his body, stretched out on a bed. He caught the glimpse of a compression binder beneath the low collar of Teddy’s shirt, a reminder that his fantasies would have to remain so for a few more weeks at least.
“Do I get a kiss?” Ian asked.
“Only if you say the magic word,” Teddy teased. He bent his head backward, revealing the long, pale line of his neck. Ian wanted to bury his face there, to lick and nibble and leave his mark all over it.
“You want me to beg?” Ian’s voice deepened, practically a growl. “I don’t beg, pollito.”
Teddy flushed, but then his eyebrows pulled low over his eyes in confusion. “Did you just call me little chicken?”