Trust in Me - Quinn Ward Page 0,67

the tip of my nose. “Your mom wants to see your work. She said you’ve been dodgy about it and asked if I thought you’d be willing to take them down there while they’re in town.”

“I can’t do that!” I heaved a bit just thinking about the subtle hints from earlier. What if they wanted to see the Back Deck? What if they liked the bar and wanted to actually go there? And I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to consider playing there with Daddy on my nights off once they’d been there. Everywhere I’d look, I’d see remnants of them. That was gross.

“You can, Sam.” Sam, not Sammy. This was big boy time. I sucked in a deep breath and held it. “Let it out.” I followed his directions. “Good boy. I know you’re worried about this but it’s time. You’ve done amazing things at The Lodge and you deserve to show that off. They love and accept all of you. Even if you call me Daddy, even if you need to play with your friends for a while and I show them around the club, nothing you do will make them love you less. And they deserve to see how proud they should be of your accomplishments.”

“And you’ll be there with us?” I’d been very careful about how much I told my parents about The Lodge for a reason. Daddy was absolutely right, but I couldn’t do it without him next to me. I needed his strength to get me through.

“Every step of the way,” he promised.

Okay. I could do this. And Daddy was right. It was time my parents see what I’d been doing so they understood it was so much more than just a college job for me.

16

Theron

Sam was on an emotional roller coaster all day and there was nothing I could do to help him. It was clear to see how much he loved and missed his parents. After his mom reassured me it wouldn’t be rude at all, I excused myself to the bedroom for about an hour, giving them time to catch up with their son without feeling like they had to be on their best behavior for my sake. I had no doubt they’d grilled him about our relationship, but as long as they hadn’t said anything to upset him, I wouldn’t intervene.

If I were them, I’d have concerns as well. There was a significant age difference between us. On the surface, it would be easy to assume I was his Sugar Daddy, lavishing him with gifts in order to keep the younger, beautiful man by my side. He’d dealt with so much in his life, faced rejection and pain I couldn’t even fathom. They were well within their rights to be concerned about him.

I closed my laptop when I heard a soft knock on the door. I scanned the room to make sure none of Sammy’s gear was on display. When I opened the door, Sammy was the last person I expected to see standing in front of me. He practically fell into my arms when I reached for him.

“I didn’t want to interrupt you if you were still working,” he explained before I could ask why he hadn’t come into the room. He never needed to knock before entering. “Dad wanted me to tell you dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes.”

“How are you feeling?” I took a step back, holding him by the arms as I looked over him for any outward signs of distress. There were none. In many ways, he seemed more relaxed than he had been all day. That was a step in the right direction.

“I’m good. They asked me a lot of questions, but I kept remembering you telling me it would be okay, and we got through it. They’re probably going to want your life history over dinner,” he warned me.

“That’s fine, baby. I’ll tell them whatever they want to know.” With any luck, his family was going to be in my life for years to come, and I wouldn’t keep secrets from them. “Do you want to change now or wait until after dinner to get ready to go?”

Sammy smiled up at me. “I think now would be okay. I’m not as scared as I was this morning.”

“I’m proud of you, baby. You’re being a very big boy today,” I praised him. Sammy was coming out more and more in our daily lives, and it had worried me when he’d been adamant