Page 1 of Tessa

Chapter One

Beau

“So, see the thing is… the reason we wanted to meet with you today is that we’ve really enjoyed getting to know you these past few months. And we were hoping that you’d be interested in… that the three of us could discuss taking our relationship to the next level.” Dax stammered out the explanation he’d planned, and Beau worked hard on not facepalming.

The Little across the table from them, Jilly, had an expression that was far more alarming than just deer in the headlights. It reminded him of a baby bird flying top speed and realizing at the last minute that the thing he’s about to crash into is, in fact, a window or a sliding glass door, but he’s too close and there’s no time to stop it, so all the poor little birdie can do is brace for impact.

Dax, of course, was so sure this was right, and so intent on getting his proposal out that he was completely oblivious to Jilly’s obvious discomfort. Beau kicked him under the table to get him to stop, but as usual, he ignored him and kept going.

“We would be your Daddies and you would be our Little girl. We could take it at whatever pace we were all comfortable with, of course, but the hope is that you would move into our suite with us as soon as possible and we would take over your rules and daily care.”

Beau couldn’t watch anymore. Resting his elbow on the table, he covered his eyes with his hand.

When Dax finally stopped speaking, he peeked out between his fingers and watched in unsurprised horror as Jilly leapt to her feet.

“I… first of all… you guys are great. Truly. And I have really enjoyed getting to know you both. I know you’ll be great Daddies to a lucky Little girl someday, but… but that Little girl won’t be me. I am not ready to have a Daddy, and I’m certainly not ready to have two of them. And while I have nothing but respect and love for you both, I don’t think I’ll ever be ready for a Daddy.”

“Oh.” Her answer seemed to hit Dax like a Mack truck, yet again highlighting his inability to read a room.

While he was recovering, Beau smiled, once more cleaning up the mess Dax had made. “Thank you, Jilly, for your honesty. We are very sorry if we made you uncomfortable at all with our proposal, and I truly hope that we can put this awkwardness behind us and continue to be friends.”

She nearly trembled with relief. “I’m so glad to hear you say that, and I’m sorry if I like… led you on in any way. I didn’t mean to. I just really enjoyed your friendship.”

“You didn’t,” Beau assured her. “We enjoy your friendship too.”

“Okay good.” She shifted her weight awkwardly and he could tell she was looking for an escape.

“I ummmm…”

“You probably need to get going. Your friends are probably wondering where you are,” Beau supplied, letting her off the hook.

“Right! Yeah. They’re probably looking for me! See you later!” She flashed a blinding smile as she spun on her heel and ran from the cafeteria.

When she was out of sight, Beau turned his attention to his best friend, business partner, and most recently, his boy. “See. What did I tell you? Are you going to listen to me next time I tell you something is a bad idea?”

Casting his eyes to the floor, Dax heaved a sigh. “Yes, Daddy. Am I… am I in trouble?”

He wasn’t, and he shouldn’t be as Beau had gone along with it, but he knew from experience that Dax had a hard time letting things go when he thought he did something wrong, and sometimes a few good rounds with Beau’s hand on his bottom was the only way he could move on.

“You’re not in trouble, babyboy, but if you need me to give you a release while you sort out your disappointment, that can be arranged.”

His relief was tangible as he lay his head against Beau’s chest and sighed. “Yes, please.”

Tessa

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! What did I do? I’m so stupid!” Jilly, red-faced and teary, burst into the room they shared as the last two single littles in their House Daddy Baze’s care.

Sitting on her bed, Jilly hugged her knees and rocked back and forth.

Tessa stared at her with wide eyes. Oh shit. This was bad. This was really, really bad. She hadn’t seen Jilly in such a state in a long time, since before Baze.

And she was the worst possible person to deal with Jilly when she was like this, so of course she was the only available option. Baze and Luna had gone out on a date to celebrate their six-month anniversary or some such thing, and their manny, Sam, was currently giving a bath to his Little girl, Tessa’s twin sister, Ellie.

“Jilly?” She spoke softly and walked the few feet from her own bed to Jilly’s, gingerly sitting on the edge. Reaching out with one finger, she poked her friend’s shoulder. “Jilly, hon, why don’t you tell me what’s wrong?”

Jilly’s eyes, that had been closed as she rocked back and forth, popped open. “They… they wanted me to be their Little girl. I’m so dumb. I thought all this time they were just being nice, and that we were like… just friends.”

Tessa narrowed her eyes and tried to follow. “Who wanted you to be their Little girl?”