“Go on and have some more, pup.” He knew Nicky had to be hungry. The burgers they’d indulged in had been ages ago.
“Are you sure? You’re a big guy. You probably need ten times the calories I do.”
“Oh, we’re going to have more than just the popcorn, pup. Don’t worry about it.”
“Yes, Sir. Thank you.” Nicky took a handful, nibbled.
Whip found himself watching the kid while the music played on. He could fall for this pup. He absolutely could. There was something about Nicky, something gentle and tender and begging for domination. He wanted to protect Nicky from the assholes who wanted to hurt him. And he felt a pull to give Nicky what he needed.
“So what do you do?” Whip asked. “You said something about a bar?”
“I waited tables, yeah. I’m going to… I don’t know. Hitch a ride north, find something.”
“Yeah? Sudbury? North Bay? Why there?” Whip found himself wanting to forbid it, wanting to tell Nicky he’d take care of the pup.
“I can’t go back where I was. You know?”
“That man doesn’t own you. You need to remember that. I’m from east of here, though. Still, there’s plenty of places to work in Ottawa.” He held back from outright inviting Nicky to live with him. He’d known the pup what? A day? He did that and he’d scare Nicky into running, he bet.
“Yeah? That might work. We’ll see where I end up, I guess. What do you do?”
“Would you believe I’m an EMT?” Taking care of people he’d just met was kind of his day job. Of course it was