I loved making him smile again when I’d worried that I had ruined the moment earlier. It seemed incentives worked for this particular little boy.
“I’ll work the hardest ever!”
“I’m sure you will.”
13
Sam
The end of my final semester of school was just around the corner and I felt like I was crawling out of my skin. I should have been ecstatic because my life was better than I’d ever dreamed possible, but I felt like the bubble we lived in was about to burst. Until now, I hadn’t had to worry about slipping up when I was talking about Daddy. The only people I really talked to were the guys at work, and a few friends I’d made online or at the club. They were either in the lifestyle or had known about my curiosity forever, so they didn’t think twice if I slipped up.
But now, I was gearing up for a series of family visits. I hadn’t even told my parents about Theron, which meant I had to come clean because I didn’t want him stay away for the sake of my sanity. Logically, I knew I had nothing to worry about when they found out I was dating someone, but I knew my mom would worry. Theron was older than me. We’d only been dating a few months and we were practically living together. She’d be concerned that I was going to lose focus on getting a job after graduation. To her, working at a bar—even if I was in management—wasn’t a career for someone who had a college degree.
She was totally chill about most things, but she worried I wasn’t living up to my potential. I disagreed. Jack was one of the best mentors a guy could ask for, he accepted me as I was, and he pushed me beyond my comfort zone. I had ownership of something, and it was a heady feeling. I was even considering inviting my parents to the bar—during the day when I wouldn’t have to worry about them seeing anything none of us wanted to think about them witnessing—so what I’d been doing was more than vague explanations.
Maverick0808: Dude! Where in the hell are you? If you don’t respond to me, I’m going to think that Daddy you found was actually a serial killer and your body is rotting at the bottom of a ravine somewhere.
Mav was being dramatic, but when I scrolled through our messages, I felt like he was justified. I’d been in a frenzy between work, school, and Daddy that it had been three weeks since we chatted. When you were used to spending part of everyday talking to a person and they ghosted you shortly after finding a boyfriend, a good friend would probably get nervous.
Sammy1995: Hey, sorry. Things are nuts here.
Maverick0808: Doesn’t make it okay for you to ghost me. I was worried about you. Asshole.
Yeah, I owned my status as a complete asshole.
Sammy1995: That wasn’t my intention. Promise.
Maverick0808: So, I’m assuming things are going well, since you haven’t gotten online to bitch about how miserable you are?
Sammy1995: I’m not that bad! It’s not like I only talk to you when I want to complain.
Maverick0808: No, but you were mopey for a while.
As much as I wanted to catch up with Mav, Daddy was going to be home soon, and I still wasn’t done with my homework. And I had to call my mom, otherwise I’d be officially out of time. I almost unloaded on Mav but deleted the message before I sent it.
Sammy1995: Not ghosting, but I have to finish up this paper. It’s due by the end of the weekend and I have to work.
Maverick0808: Man, I do not miss that shit. You should be just about done, yeah?
Sammy1995: This paper and one more. Then… FREEDOM! I’d invite you to the graduation party Daddy’s throwing me but that might be weird.
It would definitely be strange to a lot of people that Mav was my best friend in the world and we’d never met. I’d shared a few pictures of myself with him, but he’d never returned the favor. Once upon a time, I’d tried badgering him into showing me what he looked like, but after it put a temporary rift between us, I’d quickly backed off. It wasn’t worth it.
Maverick0808: Was that a backhanded invite?
Sammy1995: No, because life is going good and I’m not a fan of rejection.
Maverick0808: You used to be such an optimist. I’d ask what happened, but I think we both know.