"I'm aware. That’s why I offered it. And you can have it. But first we need to get some clothes on you."
I gasped. I'd still been naked this whole time. Brody laughed when I jumped off his lap with both hands covering my junk. Stopping only long enough to grab my Batman underoos from the floor, I ran for my bathroom. I squeaked when I felt Brody's eyes on me—I was showing him my bare butt. Holding my underwear over my junk and slapping my other hand over my butt crack, I ran into the bathroom and slammed the door.
And totally ignored the sound of Brody's laughter on the other side.
Chapter Five
Brody
"Okay, Da—er, Mr. Brody. The breakfast dishes are in the dishwasher. I even cleaned the counters, did you see?" Neil was adorable as ever.
"I did. Hmm, let me check your work to make sure you didn't miss anything." I knew he hadn't, but I also knew he loved having me look and putting a sticker on the reward chart I'd instituted a few days ago.
After another stressful week, it was finally Saturday. A fortnight of the constant strain was wearing on both of us. As badly as I wanted a break, I wanted one even more for Neil.
I hadn’t been the slightest bit surprised when he apparently decided the same thing. He came out of his room this morning wearing one of his younger outfits—this time a Superman T-shirt with denim shorts. And bare feet. Seeing Neil without so much as socks on was rare.
All signs of the adult Neil were formally tucked away. Since I hadn't agreed to let him eat cereal on the couch and watch cartoons, the only thing distracting him from brat mode was pancakes. And I had to let him help. I'd had my reservations, but damned if it hadn’t been fun.
After a couple weeks of this, I had to admit Neil was getting under my skin. While I still wasn't sure I was cut out to be a Daddy—even if the boy in question was Neil—remembering why was getting harder.
Neil walked so close behind me, I could feel his breath on my arm. Especially when he peeked around every so often to see what I was inspecting as I made a show of running my hand over the different surfaces to make sure they were clean. When the breath against my arm felt hotter, I glanced down, trying not to grin at the childlike hope in his eyes.
"Well? Did I do a good job with my chores?"
I turned faster than he expected and tickled his belly. "You sure did, buddy. And since I already checked your bedroom and bathroom while you were working, it's time for your sticker."
"Yay!" Neil started to run out of the room, then came back when he saw me standing there with a bemused smile on my face. "Come on, slowpoke. We have to put the final sticker on so I can earn my reward." He grabbed one of my hands in both of his and walked backwards, tugging my arm to join in.
"Okay, okay." I couldn't help but laugh at his exuberance. Seriously, who knew a reward-based chore chart would make him so happy? Jim, that's who. I made a mental note to send the man a bottle of wine as my thank-you for the suggestion he'd made in passing, after watching Neil have a hissy fit because I said no about something.
Never mind the something in question was Brittany coming over to meet Miss Meow Meow a couple days after he'd gotten her. I'd felt awful, but I hadn't had a choice. Not when Neil had ignored his bedtime the previous night. When I made the rules, I knew I had to be prepared to enforce them, even if I didn't like to be the bad guy.
As adorable as he could be, Neil was also a willful little monster when he wasn't getting his way. Not to mention cranky as fuck in the mornings if he didn't get to bed by eight o'clock. I'd figured him out real quick and did my best to put a stop to it. For a man who rarely got to bed before eleven, there wasn't enough coffee to balance a three a.m. wakeup call. A rested Neil was a much happier guy.
I walked into his home office where we'd hung the chore chart. Beaming, Neil held up an iridescent unicorn sticker. "This one, Mr. Brody. I choose this one today."
"Okay, buddy.