“Thought you might want to do something while we wait, baby girl.”
She looked up at him in embarrassment. “Won’t people think I’m weird?”
“What do we care what people think?”
She froze for a moment. When had she not cared what people thought? All through school, she’d never brought anyone home for a playdate because she didn’t want them meeting her parents. Then she’d tried to live up to Greg’s expectations. Seemed like she’d always cared.
But she didn’t have to now.
She reached for the menu eagerly and Duke let out a quiet chuckle as she started to carefully color between the lines. She was concentrating so hard; she didn’t even realize the food had arrived.
“Food, baby girl.”
“In a moment.” She stuck her tongue out as she carefully colored the gorilla’s belly.
A fry was waved in front of her face then pressed to her lips. She opened her mouth automatically, letting out a small moan of appreciation at the greasy, salty taste.
Duke leaned in to speak quietly in her ear. “That’s a really cute picture. You’re very good at sticking to coloring in the lines.”
She preened at that. She was, wasn’t she?
“But I want you to eat your lunch now, please.” The ‘please’ was said very firmly and she knew he was serious. Especially when he pulled the picture away and replaced it with her plate of food.
“I’m not hungry.”
“You barely ate breakfast. I want to see half of that gone. You can finish this off later.”
She sighed but reached for half of the grilled cheese. Yum. When was the last time she’d eaten this?
“So how come your parents never taught you to ride, baby girl?”
She shrugged. “Too busy getting high and partying, I guess. And then spending the next day coming down from that high. We spent the first five years of my life in a commune. Those were actually the best years because even if my parents were shit at least there were other people around to feed and clothe me and who actually cared.”
She stopped to take a sip of her root beer float. She didn’t know what had possessed her to order it. She hadn’t had one in years, but damn, it tasted good.
“What happened after they left the commune?”
“I think we got kicked out. My parents didn’t exactly contribute anything. We travelled around a lot. My dad got odd jobs but never stuck at anything long. When I was thirteen, I got a fake ID so I could get a job. At least then we got to stay in one place because I made sure the rent was paid.”
What the fuck? At thirteen she was paying the goddamn rent? Her fucking parents ought to be shot. He was getting more of an idea about her now. Her parents had neglected her and she’d had to take on a lot of responsibility at a young age.
Maybe that was part of the reason she was drawn to age play. As a way to have a childhood she’d never had. A way to be free from all the worries that had been weighing her down from a young age. He stared at the picture she was coloring. It was perfect. She didn’t cross over the lines once and everything was the right color. The trees were green, the sky blue.
He’d have felt better if she’d made a mess. Colored the sky purple and the clouds orange with black polka dots.
Seemed like she’d spent her childhood taking care of her parents. But when had anyone looked after her? Certainly, seemed like that douche, Greg, hadn’t. All he’d done was teach her that she had to be perfect or she wasn’t good enough.
Screw that.
If nothing else, he was going to get her to stop coloring in the lines all the time.
He finished off his food and picked up a crayon. “Mind if I help you finish, little rebel?”
“Sure,” she said suspiciously.
He started to color the banana pink.
“Hey!” She grasped hold of his hand, sending a spark of heat along his skin. “That’s the banana.”