I was wrong.
“Theron won’t hurt you, Sam,” William promised.
“But what if he can’t deal with…” I waved a hand over my body. It shamed me to think I used to be so confident about who I was. When I first came out, I swore no one would make me ashamed of being the man I was. And I did well with that, right up to the first time I was challenged by someone I thought loved me. That one incident had defined me.
“Not every man is so shallow that his feelings for you are dependent on the presence or size of your penis.” William sounded like my parents. “Theron isn’t that type of man. When he has a boy in his life, the only thing he will judge them on is how well they obey the rules. And from what I know of you, I think that’s something you need, too.”
“Yes, Sir.” Both of us flinched when I called William, Sir. It was a shift in our relationship. I hadn’t noticed it until now, but he was something special to me. He’d never be my Daddy, and we’d never share anything sexual, but I felt protected by him. “Do you think you can help me talk to Daddy Theron? I like him, but I don’t want to make a fool of myself. And I can’t not tell him if I want to even see if there’s a spark between us.”
“Oh sweetie, the sparks are there just waiting to catch fire,” William responded.
As much as I wanted to believe him, that didn’t make sense to me. Theron hadn’t been an every-night, or even ever-weekend customer, but he’d been there frequently enough that I recognized him. And I knew his face well enough that I was certain he hadn’t been there on the nights I’d worked since opening night.
“Would it be easier for you if I call him and talk to him first?” As much as I appreciated William’s offer, I couldn’t take him up on it. I needed to take a stand for myself. “I’m not saying I’ll come out for you. That’s your story to tell. But I can reach out to him as a friend and ask that he hear you out. It’s not uncommon for a Dominant to take a submissive under his protection. That’s exactly what I’m offering you now. Whether it’s Theron or someone else, I will be a layer of protection for you. If, at any point, I feel you’re unsafe or it’s not a healthy situation for you, I would have the ability to call an end to the discussion.”
That didn’t sound so bad. If nothing else, having William there with me ensured I couldn’t chicken out of talking to Theron. And if things went south, William would be able to pick up the pieces and start putting me back together.
“Would you mind?” I balled my hands into fists when I noticed I was rubbing my thumb over my bottom lip. “I don’t want him to think I can’t take care of myself, but maybe having you there with me wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”
“Then we’ll make it happen.” William hugged me tighter and I felt the remaining tension leave my body. I settled against William, allowing myself to drift off to sleep. Homework could wait.
4
Theron
Some weeks were easier than others. This week definitely fell into the ‘others’ category. As I finished typing up a report on the disciplinary meeting I’d just had with a set of divorced parents who could hardly stand being in the same room as one another, I felt a telltale throbbing in my temples. I pulled open my top drawer and shook out two pain relievers. With any luck, they’d kick in before this tension headache had a chance to blossom into a migraine.
I groaned when there was a knock at the door. Because it was the way of things today, my water bottle was empty when I picked it up to wash down the pills, so I swallowed them dry. “Come in.”
I couldn’t decide if I was relieved or annoyed when Tom walked through the door. He and I had been friends for a long time, and he was a pain in my ass—both personally and professionally. Seeing him here at the end of the day meant he either had another issue for me to handle before I could finally pack it up for the weekend or he wanted to meddle in my personal life. My money