Robert's POV

For the first time since I'd known him, I woke up before Jerry. And it was quite the treat.

My adorable submissive seemed to be trying to hug the entire bed. He was on his stomach, completely starfished, with his arms and legs spread wide. His face was buried into the pillow, and he was snoring loudly.

I chuckled and ran my fingers through his hair. I was lucky that I fell asleep faster and woke up later, that way I didn't have to deal with his insane sleeping habits.

I sat up, a bit disoriented. I didn't usually sleep over at the club, even when I used to hook up with submissives more frequently in this room.

A note was slipped under the door from one of my dungeon monitors, Freddie. He wrote, I didn't think you'd want me to disturb you, so I'm closing up!

The dungeon monitors were required to make sure that the private rooms were empty by the end of the night, as well as checking in on couples before and after their private scenes. It probably wasn't good that I got special privileges, but it meant that I was trusted.

I left the room for a few minutes to get from fruit from behind the bar for breakfast. When I got back to the room, I checked my phone and rolled my eyes. Not only was it on 1%, but I had a million texts from Aidan asking me how Jason liked our idea.

I answered Aidan and reflected on the night with Jason. It was a bit troubling.

Jason hadn't been flirting with Jerry, obviously. But it had still made me feel sick to watch them smile so brightly at each other. What the hell was I thinking?

I'd known I was possessive of my submissives, but that went beyond possession. It was jealously. I knew that if Jerry left me, he could easily get someone as young and handsome as Master Jason. Hadn't I encouraged it?

I tugged my hair and groaned. This wasn't good. I'd honestly thought that I would be able to ignore my feelings for Jerry and keep our time together lighthearted. But after last night, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something deeper going on here. The trust that Jerry had given me was more than simply wanting to get off.

He stirred and I kissed his forehead. When his eyes fluttered open and landed on me, he gave me the sweetest smile.

"Morning, hotness," Jerry said, voice still rough from last night. His eyes were a little puffy still, since he'd gone to bed directly after crying.

"Good morning, beautiful boy," I said, kissing him again. Jerry sat up and rested against me, and my heart swelled with affection.

This kind of closeness wasn't casual. I wasn't sure why I'd thought I could pretend that it was.

His short, curly hair was a crazy mess, and his skin was flushed pink. He looked at me with a shyness that I'd began to realize was typical for post-sex Jerry. "Um, you're not upset with me, right?" he croaked.

My eyes widened. "What? Honey, why would I be upset with you?"

He blushed and stared at the blankets. "I didn't obey you, remember? I called that Claude guy some pretty terrible names."

I leaned over and our kiss was long and sweet. "Baby, I'm nothing but proud of you, okay?" Jerry's eyes widened and looked a little moist. "I know you yelled at Claude, and do I wish that you'd ignored him and come to me? A little. But that's only because I would rather put him in his place directly, so you don't have to deal with that stress. And you more than made up for it. That was an intense scene."

Jerry nodded, cuddling close. "I feel like I don't want to leave your side."

I wrapped my arms around my sweet boy and nuzzled his neck. Considering this was his first punishment scene, I wasn't surprised that he needed a bit of a reboot. "Wanna use the hot tub and then go out for breakfast?"

"Yes!"

Jerry and I showered quickly as the hot tub warmed up. I kissed him slowly and washed his body for him. Jerry ended up leaning against my chest as I washed him, humming and moaning softly. I couldn't stop smiling. Something had shifted last night, and I felt closer to him that ever. And Jerry couldn't seem to bare being more than five inches away from me.

I also couldn't seem to stop taking care of him. I toweled-dried him after our shower, carried him back to the hot tub, and peeled his orange for him.

We snuggled in the warm water, surrounded by the massaging jets and a comfortable silence.

That is, until Jerry looked up at me nervously. "I think I fucked up," he said, nibbling on his lip. "And I don't know if it was the scene yesterday or not, but right now it's all I can think about."

My stomach dropped. I almost didn't want to ask him to continue, because suddenly I was filled with doubt. He wanted a younger Dom, like Jason. He didn't like the scene and it was messing with his head. I pushed him too far... or worse, I scared him.

"What's wrong?" I asked, tilting his chin so he'd meet my eyes.

And then his bottom lip wobbled, and his eyes welled up with tears. "Um— I'm sorry, I just—" He sniffed and started wiping at his tears.

I sat up in alarm and cradled his face in my hand. "Baby, you have to tell me what's wrong. Was it the scene last night? I know it wasn't easy, but did I cross a line?"

He shook his head miserably. "No, sorry." He took a deep breath and then met my eyes. "Sorry, I'm just... I've felt emotional since the moment I woke up, I don't know why. I think it's probably because the scene was so good."

I was able to relax, just a little. "So there aren't any negative feelings about it?"

"No..." He took another deep breath and sighed. "No, it was really good. I'm like obsessed with you now I think."

I laughed and kissed his hair. "So what's wrong, honey? You're freaking me out."

"I'm just...I'm sad, because everything about us is perfect," he sniffed. "Like, you're so cute and handsome and sweet and hard-headed and dumb and over-protective—"

I wrinkled my nose. "That took a turn."

He slumped into my chest and his eyes fluttered shut. "And you have the best cock in this whole fucking world, that is a fact."

"...And now I forgive you."

He pulled away and looked at me, desperate and pleading and sad. "I know you said that you don't want to be my boyfriend, and I totally said the same thing, and this is really embarrassing because, historically, you're the one who's obsessed with me..."

He trailed off and I stared at him, shocked to my core. "I'm sorry, are you saying that you have feelings for me?"

"You knew that already!" Jerry whined, splashing the water. "I said that. Stop making me say embarrassing things. I already cried, have some fucking mercy on ya boy."

"No...you said you had a crush," I said, trying to recall the details of our conversation. "That's not...I didn't think that you...Jerry, obviously I have feelings for you. That was never in question. But this is about you and gaining experience."

"No!" Jerry said, gasping and shoving a wet finger into my chest. "That is a pineapple-picking lie, mister."

"I'm sorry, what the fuck does pine—"

"You said that you didn't want to ever be with me, because you wanted me to find some young stud who plays Fortnite and has no chest hair!" Jerry spat, looking at me like I was completely unreasonable.

He looked like a wet cat, because his hair was sticking up in all directions and his eyes had this extremely accusatory look in them. It was so cute.

"I think you're putting a few words in my mouth," I chuckled. "I said that you should find a nice young man to fall in love with. I mean, realistically, when I meet your father it'll be awkward trying to guess who's older..."

"See?!" Jerry cried, gesturing at me. It was cute and all until the moisture returned to his eyes. "There you go, sounding all— not into me! ...And, also, you're older than my dad."

My jaw dropped. "That can't be true. Tell me that's not true."

He snorted and pointed. "No, but you should've seen the look on your face."

I groaned and grabbed Jerry, plopping him into my lap. There were a risky minute where I almost got hard, because his firm and bare ass was right in my crotch. Luckily, I managed to get a hold of myself and salvage my dignity.

"Here— I'll be explicitly honest with you," I decided. "That way we can really talk about this. Do I have romantic feelings for you? Absolutely. Would I love to have you as my boyfriend? Of course. Do I feel like you're underselling yourself? Yes."

Jerry stared at me like I was psychotic. "You mean to tell me that this whole 'find a young dweeb' thing was some kind of expression of a lack of self-confidence?"

I sat up straight. "No. It's an expression of logic."

"Bullshit!" Jerry wiped at his face and made a frustrated growl. "Ugh, I hate that I cried! I never cry; I'm a badass. Listen up, stupid."

"Stupid, Sir," I corrected lightly.

Jerry groaned. "Stupid, Sir. I thought you were like trying to politely turn me down. I thought you just liked to flirt with all the little boys. You have to admit, you come on so strong. Like, you shoved people into walls for me twenty minutes after meeting me. I thought you just had this flirtatiously chivalrous personality!"

I squinted at him. "I am not the stupid one. Because I flirted with you constantly; how did you not realize that that was serious?"

Jerry squirmed and groaned and cuddled into my chest again. "I don't knooooooww. We're both stupid. I like you, dumbass. I have feelings for you. I want you to be my boyfriend for real, not just when we go to the guy who pierces my nipples."

I still couldn't shake the feeling that this was a bad idea. "Jerry, I want the same thing. But I also want you to be happy. And...I know Aidan and Finn look happy together, but I'm sure that their age-gap causes a lot of problems for them. Are you sure you don't want to find someone like...like Master Jason. He's young enough to know what a Fortnite is."

Jerry moaned and wiggled his eyebrows. "Well, he does look like a fucking Hollister model. But that's kind of my point, you nugget. I know he's old enough to play video games and have a six-pack that belongs on the cover of a magazine. It doesn't matter; I like you."

I wanted to call him crazy, but I couldn't. He was looking at me with the most sincerity that I'd ever seen in his light brown eyes.

He'd also just called me a nugget, so I was having a lot of complex and mixed emotions.

I swallowed, feeling like we were at a fork in the road and I didn't know which turn to make. "So...what are you saying? You want to be my boyfriend?"

There was a part of me that wanted him to say no, that way I couldn't have to be responsible for being...dead weight. Jerry was a magnetic person, who always drew attention. He could have anyone. It made me sad to think that he would settle for me.

But he wasn't looking at me like I was something he was settling for. He looked at me with wide, hopeful eyes; like he hadn't imagined that I would say these things.

"Yes," he insisted, leaning forward close enough to kiss me. "I was worried at first about the age gap, and about how my parents would react. But my parents support me, and I think it's a little too soon to start worrying about the twenty years of loneliness I'll have to face after you die."

I blinked. "Yeah, see, that doesn't make me feel better."

Jerry groaned. "I just said it is not time to worry about that! All I know is that in that scene last night, I trusted you. I don't think I've ever trusted somebody like that in my whole entire life. But with you, it's different. So...please?"

And with Jerry looking at me like that, with those big brown eyes, how could I say no?

Besides, I could never resist a submissive who begged.