But living there no longer felt like much of a triumph.
I opened the door to find Briggs standing on my doorstep in a deep blue suit. With his thick beard and wide shoulders, he looked every bit the dream come true that he’d been that morning in bed. It was no wonder I’d dropped a whole tray of dishes the first time I’d seen him.
He dragged his eyes along my body, and I felt the presence of his gaze as if he were running his hands all over me.
“You clean up nice,” he said.
I was wearing a pair of slacks and a button-up shirt, which was probably a little more dressed up than I would normally get before going to Twisted Sisters, but this was my first date with Briggs.
If anything was worth getting dressed up for, this was it.
I stepped out onto the porch, and he placed his hand at the small of my back.
“How did studying go?”
I shrugged. How did I explain to him that it didn’t matter? That sounded rash, even to me. But as he led me to his car that was parked in an uncovered spot near the front of the lot, it felt like I was walking in the opposite direction of college. I got to spend the night with a man who made me feel good about myself, who made me feel like enough. He wanted me to be happy. He thought I deserved that.
And the stressful cycle of school, work, and seeing my mom was the opposite of that.
“I, uh, hung out with Leo instead.”
I expected him to admonish me or at the very least give me a stern glare, but Briggs simply pulled out his keys and pushed a button, unlocking the doors to his Rover.
“You seem happy, sweetheart. That’s so good to see,” he said as he climbed into the driver’s seat of the car.
No guilt trips. No admonishments. No mentions of a spanking either, which in retrospect was a little disappointing. But honestly, I couldn’t believe he was going to let me get away with this.
I climbed into the passenger seat and shut the door. “You’re not going to get mad at me for that?”
He turned to me with an amused quirk of his lips. “Do you want me to?”
“No, I just—”
“Baby, I’m not going to punish you for taking care of yourself. The most important thing to me is that you’re emotionally as well as physically healthy. That isn’t possible if you’re working and studying all the time.”
The way he said it made it sound so simple. But if I didn’t figure out how to pass my tests, I’d never finish my degree.
The idea of that wasn’t as alarming as it used to be.
“I try to have balance,” I explained.
Briggs started the car. “That isn’t a criticism, sweetheart. It’s just me giving you permission to take a break. Like tonight, for instance. I’ve been really looking forward to this.”
He leaned over and brushed his lips against mine. In that moment, I didn’t care if I was going to fail my classes or if I was a good student. I got lost in the softness of his lips against mine, in the texture of his beard against my skin.
He was giving me permission to take a break. And I had every intention of obeying my new Daddy in every way I could.
Twisted Sisters was on the corner of Main Street, exactly two blocks from The Little Bean. The bottom floor had a series of booths along huge windows in the front and a full bar, where Chris stood.
Chris was a woman with arm muscles twice the size of mine and short hair the same salt-and-pepper as Briggs. Around here, she was quite the Casanova. Many a queer woman had spent the morning after a hot night with Chris, crying over coffee with my mother at The Little Bean because Chris wasn’t the type to settle down.
“Hey, Emmett,” she said, wiping down the bar with a white rag. “Who’s this?”
I glanced back at Briggs. How did I introduce him? Were we boyfriends? I certainly couldn’t introduce him as my Daddy, could I? No, that would be weird.
He held out his hand to her. “I’m Briggs.”
Chris gave him a long, hard look before shaking his hand.
“We have a reservation for a table on the balcony at seven,” Briggs said.
She grabbed two menus hanging on the opposite side of the bar. “Come with me.”
We followed her up a flight of hardwood stairs to the second floor. Up here there were tables with wooden chairs painted in stripes of every color. A glass door on the edge of the room opened up to a small balcony. Only a few metal tables and chairs were crowded together in the space. The balcony looked out onto Main Street, which was now festooned with Christmas lights and garland.
It was perfect, if a little chilly.
Chris set the menus on the chair in the far corner. “There you are. A server will be up shortly to take your order.”
Briggs pulled out the first chair and gestured for me to sit down. Chris watched him with almost calculating eyes.
“Emmett is loved here,” she said. “Just so you know. And here in Red Canyon, we take care of our own.”
My cheeks flushed hot. “Chris!” What right did she have to get all protective when she’d broken the hearts of half the women in Red Canyon?
But Briggs didn’t seem the least bit ruffled. “I’m glad he has friends here who are protective of him.”
Chris gave him a curt nod and disappeared back into the restaurant.
“I’m sorry about that. She shouldn’t have—”
Briggs reached across the table and took my hand. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Now tell me, what’s good here? I’ve only been once before, and I’m sure you have insider information.”
I did, actually.
“Do you want something light or do you want the best mushroom burger you’ve ever had in your life? It’s even better than sex.” I stopped and blushed again. Ugh, I couldn’t stop blushing in front of him. “I mean, not better than sex with you.”
Briggs chuckled, but there was a fire in his eyes that did lots of funny things to my stomach. “I hope not. If so, we may need to try again.”
I swallowed hard. “Okay. I mean, the burger wasn’t better. It’s just, I want to try again. I mean I want to have sex again. I mean—”
Thankfully, a server walked out onto the balcony and saved me from myself. But Briggs didn’t seem annoyed. His lips quirked up in the amused smile that always accompanied my rambling. He really didn’t mind how awkward I was.
It might take me a long time to get used to how good his acceptance felt.
17
Briggs
We were on our way home after one of the best dates I’d ever had, and I didn’t want the night to end. I reached over and clasped Sanders’s hand and brought it to my lips, giving it a kiss and maybe even a little nibble. I smiled when I heard his breath catch.
“Do you have to work tomorrow?” I glanced his way and saw him scrunch his nose up in distaste.
“No.”
I turned back to the road. “Why the face, sweetheart?”
He shrugged. “I took the weekend off to study.”
Hmm. “Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to come home with me again tonight—”
“Yes!”
“—but I don’t want to keep you from studying.” I should admonish him for interrupting but damned if his eagerness didn’t have me chuckling instead.