Phex’s shoulders dropped. “You’re not in this for the sex, then.”
“No. Don’t get me wrong. I like sex, and I’m sure it would be spectacular with you. But that’s not the main goal for me. I want to help you, Phex. Help you feel better, help you find balance, help you embrace every aspect of who you are. I want you to be happy…and you’re not.”
No, he wasn’t, and how heartbreakingly real that Devlin had noticed that so easily. “I need to think about this.”
“I didn’t expect anything else. Now, let’s go inside. You need a shower, something to eat and drink, and then it’s time for a nap.”
7
Phex was as meek as a little lamb when Devlin guided him back inside, both of them wrapped in a fluffy towel he’d grabbed from a handy little poolside cabinet. Devlin brought their clothes inside as well, figuring he at least would need his own. Considering the difference in size between him and Phex, he doubted any of Phex’s would fit him. He led Phex straight to his amazing bathroom, where Devlin dropped his clothes on the vanity and turned on the shower.
“I don’t feel like showering,” Phex complained, but it came out tired and weak.
“You’ll feel better afterward, sweetheart, when you’re all warm and smell nice rather than reek of chlorine.”
Devlin didn’t wait for more possible objections but tested the water had the right temperature and simply pushed Phex under the shower. “There you go.”
He stepped in with him, and Phex’s eyes only widened for a moment, but then he seemed to accept it. “Turn around,” Devlin told him, and when Phex did, he squeezed out some shampoo and started washing his hair.
Did Phex realize how he leaned into Devlin’s touch? The little sounds he made, the hums and happy sighs that Devlin could hear even over the sound of the shower? He’d never seen a boy who needed a Daddy more than Phex, and everything inside him ached to take care of him.
For now, he’d do as much as Phex would allow him, and he soaped his body, using his hands to clean every part of him, including his gorgeous cock. He was soft, even when Devlin handled him, but that didn’t surprise him. Phex was exhausted in every way, so of course sex wasn’t what his body craved. Before sex was on the table, they still had a ways to go.
Devlin did a perfunctory wash of himself, then turned off the water. The towels here were just as fluffy as the ones outside, and he wrapped Phex in one, then dried him off. “Come on, sweetheart.”
He quickly put on his own underwear and shorts, forgoing a T-shirt, then tugged Phex’s hand and led him into the hallway, where Phex stopped, looking confused. “Where are we going?”
“Mikey’s room,” Devlin said.
“I don’t know if I can—
“Trust me, sweetheart. Okay? Just surrender to me.”
His shoulders stooped. “Okay.” The word came out as barely a whisper.
Devlin pulled him into Mikey’s bedroom, where he dried him off a little more, then rummaged in the drawer he’d seen Mikey open last time to get pull-ups. He’d half expected him to protest again, but he didn’t. He just followed Devlin’s every move with tired eyes.
“Here, step into this, buddy.”
Devlin made the transition from Phex to Mikey gradual, hoping that the change in his tone would help Phex sink into Mikey’s headspace. Mikey obediently lifted one foot, then the other, allowing Devlin to help him into his pull-ups.
“Those look so cute on you,” Devlin said. “You’re such an adorable boy.”
That earned him a little smile and a spark in Mikey’s eyes.
“Let’s see if we can find you some comfortable jammies, hmm?”
He opened the drawers and soon found what he needed. “Minions? Or Superman?”
“Superman, please, Daddy…”
Devlin smiled. It was working. Mikey was slowly showing. “Superman it is.”
Mikey lifted his arms, and Devlin put the pajama T-shirt over his arms and head, then helped him to get into the shorts that were part of the ensemble. “Look at you,” Devlin praised him. “I could eat you with how sweet you look.”
“You can’t eat me, Daddy.” Mikey’s voice was back, that slightly higher pitch that gave Devlin all the feels.
“Why not?”