Trust in Me - Quinn Ward Page 0,60
didn’t need or want a boy around all the time. I nodded. “So maybe part of the problem is he knows he’s not going to get the time he’s used to while his family’s in town. If I’m right, and you know I usually am, you need to do two things when you get home tonight.”
“Tell me, oh wise one,” I quipped, ignoring Tom’s comment about how often he was right. Any other time, I would have pointed out that I was the one who had to help him pull his head out of his ass when he was lusting after the student teacher who’d been assigned to work with him. This was his payback and I was grateful for it, not that I’d ever tell him.
“First, you need to figure out subtle ways for him to get some little time. It might be as simple as you picking out the outfit he’s going to wear or taking care of him while his family is there.” That seemed like common sense to me. I couldn’t remember the last time I hadn’t done those things so it wouldn’t be much of a change for us. “And then, you need to put him in the bathtub until he’s nice and relaxed, then give him as much little time as possible until his family arrives. Make sure he has that to hold onto until the next time the two of you have the house to yourselves.”
Huh. Seemed that was where I’d fucked up. I was planning on trying to help ease him into being big at home, thinking that would help him feel confident when others were around. But now that Tom suggested it, I knew what I needed to do. I started packing my laptop and papers, even though I knew damn well I wasn’t going to get any work done this weekend. The next two days were all about proving to Sam’s family that he was in good hands and that he was loved.
“You’re a genius.” I gave his shoulder a squeeze on my way past. Tom didn’t need to be told it was time to leave. He knew I tended to go full speed once I had a task in front of me.
“I’m sorry, can you repeat that once I have my phone out?” I flipped him off without turning back. I could hear him laughing behind me, and the secretary looked at both of us like we were insane. Compared to a lot of the buttoned-up old guard around here, we were, but slowly, the rest of them were seeing how much progress we’d made with the students, so they shut up and dealt with our antics.
Sam was so focused on finishing his homework that he didn’t notice when I walked into the kitchen from the garage. Except, when we’d talked earlier, he’d told me he was almost done and promised he would curl up on the couch to watch a movie until I got home.
He didn’t flinch when I closed the door, meaning he had his headphones in. He admitted that, even though he didn’t need the music to block out noise when he was here, it had become a habit and he struggled to focus when it was quiet. I could understand that, but my boy was completely oblivious to me moving around behind him, which meant his music was entirely too loud.
I paused a few feet behind his chair, trying to decide the best way to approach him. Unfortunately, I couldn’t think of any way that wouldn’t startle him. As expected, he jumped when I wrapped my arms around his chest and pressed my lips against his hair. “Daddy! You scared the shit out of me!”
“Excuse me?” I released him, crossing my arms over my chest. “Are you allowed to say bad words, young man?”
“I’m sorry but you did!” he protested. “You could have been a burglar or a kidnapper trying to take me.”
“Perhaps you should have thought about that before you turned up the volume on your music,” I scolded him as I pulled the wireless headphones out of his ears. “And, seriously, we may need to talk about what sort of home intruders you think try to cuddle their victims into submission.”
As we continued chatting, I started stacking the papers Sam had strewn all over the table. It only took a glance at his laptop screen to see he hadn’t been working on anything pressing at all, which meant he’d disobeyed me.
“I can clean