by Sammi Cee
Everything in me settled now that he was here for the next couple of hours. I watched him floating around from table to table, talking away and hands fluttering around. He really spent too much time with Billy, but he was happy. That mattered to me more than anything. When I saw him staring down at his phone, then his gaze searched for me, much like the little duckling he reminded me of when he’d first started, I threw my towel on the bar-top and hustled through the pass-through to his side. “What’s wrong, boy?”
“My friend Russell just texted me that him and his Daddy are in the bar parking lot and on their way in. What do I do, Daddy?”
“You greet him when they come inside.” His gaze nervously shifted toward the door, and for the first time in a several weeks, I saw the tell-tale sign of him brutalizing the inside of his left cheek. “Boy,” I growled, pointing toward his face.
He flushed, mumbling, “Sorry, Daddy.”
“Let’s go to the bar to wait for you friend.” He spun around obediently, walking back toward Law, when I smacked his ass.
He jumped. “Daddy.” He glared up at me.
“You know better, boy. I know you haven’t seen your friend in a long time, but that’s a reason to get excited, not harm yourself.”
As we reached Law, he asked Davis, “What did you do, kid?”
Before he answered, a squeal came from the doorway, followed by, “Daaaavis. Look at you.” Then my boy was enfolded in the arms of a slim blond in skin-tight jeans and an emerald green blouse with bracelets going up one arm. When he pulled back, his heart-shaped face, complete with green eyeliner and bright, bold, red lips, was visible. The kid, who I assumed was Russell, was stunning. “I’m so happy to see you.”
Davis leaned back in for another hug. Then said, “It’s so good to see you, too. You look even more gorgeous than the last time I saw you.”
Russell waved Davis off. “Stop it. Now let me meet your Daddy.”
Next to me, Law whispered, “Wow. He kinda reminds me of Billy.”
I bit back a laugh and walked over next to stand next to my boy, where the two boys made introductions. I directed them all to a table right in front of the bar and suggested Brian, Russell’s Daddy, come and hang out with Law and give the two younger men time to chat.
After sending two waters to Davis’s table with Billy, who immediately and loudly, gushed over Russell’s makeup, I set a beer in front of Brian and shot the shit for several minutes. He was around six foot with thick black hair streaked with silver, probably forty-five to my forty-six, and lean like a runner. His clothes were on the preppy side, definitely not normal biker bar attire, but he held himself confidently and didn’t appear to feel out of place at all. When Law walked away to use the restroom, I said, “So your boy got my boy in a bit of trouble when we first got together.”
The man glanced at his boy, shaking his head with a fond expression on his face. “He told me about the bit of advice he offered your boy. I’m sorry about that. He felt bad later, but I told him that any Daddy worth his salt would straighten it out with his boy himself.”
I let the smile I’d been hiding out. “Oh, I set him straight alright. It was a good learning experience for us.”
We exchanged knowing smirks and cracked up laughing, causing our boys to glance over at us, both rolling their eyes, and then they went back to chatting a mile a minute. “In all honesty, I was happy when your boy reached out to mine,” Brian said. “Russell can be a bit impetuous, but he really considered Davis a friend and he was worried when he couldn’t get in touch with him and heard his job had been outsourced.”
“Well, I’m glad they reconnected then. I think it’ll be good for both of them. Davis needs a friend he can talk to about our dynamic.” At Brian’s worried expression, I said, “And Davis has been told to talk over any and all advice he gets with me, first, from now on.”
Eventually, the bar picked up enough that I had to help Rex out more. Brian and Law moved to the table to sit with the boys, with Billy bopping over whenever he got a chance. When Hunt, Trash, Diesel, and Sledge came in, they too sat down with them while Davis dashed to my office to grab the photos he’d asked me to bring in with me that he’d taken.
Davis had volunteered at a fundraiser for a charity Hunt and his crew were supporting, and they’d asked Davis to take candid photos that they could use for the company’s website and other marketing material for them. He’d been a little nervous the day of, but just like any other time he got behind the lens of his camera, the minute he started taking shots, he was lost in the artistry of it and enjoyed himself. It had been hosted during the day, so Ralph, Bull, Law, Billy, and I had attended as well, and my respect for Hunt and the guys had increased exponentially, which I wouldn’t have thought was possible. They’d earned all kinds of respect and gratitude after they’d helped to protect my boy and my bar—one who’d become my world, the other my dream—the night we had to throw those guys out. Hunt, Trash, Diesel, and Sledge had always been loyal patrons, but they’d become good, solid friends.
“Rex, watch the bar for a minute, please.” Davis held the envelope containing the pictures in one hand and raised the pass-through with the other. “Come on, Daddy. I want you with me when they see them.”
“Go on. I got this,” Rex said.
It was really too busy to leave him, but with us finally having a barback Rex tolerated, he wasn’t totally on his own. I wrapped my arm around my boy’s waist as we walked toward the table, saying, “I could easily see you guys from behind the bar.”
Davis’s blue eyes twinkled as he stopped and gazed up at me, the precious smile that was only for me on his face, and said, “It’s the first time someone ever asked me to do something like this for them, and ultimately, that’s because you took a chance on me and gave me a job. I’m in school, I have good friends, a beautiful home, nice clothes, and I never have to worry about a meal. You’ve made every dream come true, Daddy. This event was special for the guys, especially Hunt, and because of you, I got to be a part of that. I know you can’t always be right by my side, and that there are things that I’ll have to do alone, but there will never be a time that I won’t want to be right next to you for all of the good stuff.”
I swallowed the lump that lodged in my throat and said gruffly, “And the bad stuff, too, boy. I want to be by your side for those things, too.”
“And everything in between, Daddy.”
So we sealed it with a kiss, much to the delight of the whole bar based on the hooting and hollering we pointedly ignored as I gathered my boy into my arms and indulged in that taste I’d been craving.
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About Brittany Cournoyer
Brittany was born in Enterprise, Alabama and moved to a small town in Indiana when she was thirteen. And, even though the town is named Kokomo, it’s nothing like the Beach Boys song. During her free time, she loves to read amazing books, watch mindless television, and spend time with family and loved ones. Oh, and squeeze in writing some time throughout the day as well. She is also the mom to an adorable, yet precocious, Border Collie named Delilah. When not doing any of those fun-filled activities, she works at a hospital as a switchboard operator.
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Also by Sammi Cee
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New Series - Takoda Outreach Center
Jasper’s
Fish
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Snowed In - Valentine’s Inc.: Book 2 (Stand-alone)
Paper Snowflakes
A Snow Globe Christmas: Book 5 (Stand-alone)
Heavenly Melody
Stand-Alone Novellas
Kissing Our Loves
Shipping Our Loves (MMM)
Interlocking Fragments Series (Contemporary MM with Michele Notaro)
Heart Strain
Digging Deeper
Liberating Love
Slate Mountain Wolf Pack (Paranormal MM with Michelle Frost)
Under A Full Moon
Half Moon Above
Crescent Moon’s Curve
New Moon’s Light
The Brotherhood of Ormarr (Paranormal MM)
Azaran (Book 1 by Jacki James)
Zale (Book 2 by Michelle Frost)
Eeli (Book 3 by Bobbie Rayne & Steph Marie/Michele Notaro & Sammi Cee YA names)
Malachite (Book 4 by Michele Notaro & Sammi Cee)
In You Series Novellas
Mixed Up in You
Trusting in You
Ending in You
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The Consequence of Destiny
Fated Heroes
Dark Saviors
Forever in Middlebury
Teaching Tenderness
Teaching Trust
Teaching Truthfulness
Personal Protectors
Vow of Protection
Promise to Shield
Oath of Valor
Valentine’s Inc.
Kissing Lessons
Battle Ship
Ain’t Snow Mountain High Enough
Badge and Bullets
At a Stranger’s Mercy
With a Friend’s Strength
With a Lover’s Courage
Out of Darkness
Captivated
Standalones
Bite Me, Santa
Sinister Shadows
Godfather Wars
