"Is it your dad?" He asks abruptly, his hand dropping to cup my cheek, and bring my face nearer to his. My heart caught in my throat at his closeness, and the intensity of his gaze. I don't know why I proceeded to lie, why I didn't just tell him there and then. Instead, I only scoffed and shook my head.

"No, so stop asking."

His mouth tightens and he grumbles a soft, "goddamnit, Lucas." As he searches my face.
I rolled my eyes and shrugged. "Look, if you're not gonna spank me and play with me or whatever can we just go? I'm gonna be late for class." Why am I being such a defensive little shitbag? Why?

Jae has been nothing but kind and compassionate, and now I'm like ten times more into him than I was last night, which I wouldn't have thought was possible.

He huffed and eyed me sternly. "Lucas Price there will be plenty of time for me to tan that ass of yours, and drill it till you can't sit right, but right now is not it. I'm not taking you to school until after you've seen a doctor. If you want to argue, feel free, but if you plan to hitch a ride with me this morning, that is my fee."

I slumped down in my seat and crossed my arms, heart racing as I processed his words. I felt wildly aroused and angry at the same time—I want him to fuck me so badly, but I also am terrified of dad finding out I didn't make it to school on time, let alone maybe at all! I mean shit, how could he tease me like this, talking about spanking me, fucking me, then tell me no? What do I even say?

"Pouting won't work with me, Lu." He chides, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of the center console and lighting up. Ugh, he looks so fucking hot.

I scoffed. "I am not pouting."

"U-huh." Jae smirks, shaking his head as he takes an inhale off his smoke. "But seriously, Lucas. You need to see a doctor... the play will come later, I promise. Though, how you have the mental energy right now to focus on fetish play while your hand is that fucked is beyond me... it's impressive even."

I grinned. "I'm a masochist, Jae! How else would I have the mental energy to think about you punishing me?" I did my best to ignore the merciless pain in my hand—it was almost overwhelming, and I'd be lying to myself if I didn't admit I had to try hard to dissociate from it. Talking dirty helped, though.

Jae gives me a deadpan expression and pulls the smoke from his lips, exhaling slowly. "Sure, Lucas."

"Jae, I'm fine. I don't need a doctor. I can't afford one anyway!" I protested, throwing my hand up in frustration. "If my da—I mean, if I'm late or don't make it to school I'll get in even more trouble, Jae. You'd be making it worse for me." I winced, hating that I'd nearly let the word "dad" slip.

The muscles in Jae's jaw feathered as he took another drag off his smoke, and I think maybe all he got was the word "dad" out of that. Fuck.

"Is that so?" he asks flatly, white knuckling the steering wheel with his free hand.

"Yes..." I nodded slowly, toying with the strings on my hoodie with my good hand.

Jae takes another drag off his smoke before putting it out, and I can't help but think about the fact that he never even cracked a window. His lungs must be pretty fucked and that worries me.
Without another word Jae pulls his phone out, fingers a blur as he taps at the screen. Soon he puts the phone to his ear, and I can hear an outgoing call go through.

Someone picks up.

"Hey there... yeah, no I'm having a good morning, how's yours?" He responds, and I furrowed my brow, wondering what the actual fuck Jae was doing. Who was he talking to?

"Great! Well, I'm calling because I've got my nephew here with me and he needs to see a doctor this morning, it's urgent. Yes ma'am, senior at Sherman..."

My jaw dropped, and I began to wave my hands in protest, shaking my head emphatically as he continued his charade with the school receptionist. "Jae no!" I hissed only to have him playfully tap his fingertip against my lips to silence me.

Ugh, he can silence me all he wants. Wait, no!

"Yes, his name is Lucas Price. Mmhmm, that's right. Of course. Yeah, no I'll make sure he has a doctor's note with him and should have him back by second period..."

My heart pounded in my chest while fear and nervous excitement competed for supremacy. If we go to the doctor that means I get to spend more time with Jae... but, if I miss school, won't dad be notified? Jae's voice cuts in again.

"No, his dad already knows. Yeah, yeah. There's no need to notify him." I stared in silent shock as I watched Jae work. He sounds so confident and believable. I hoped that the receptionist would take his word for it, and not call dad. I really hoped so.

"Oh, and Mandi?" Jae pauses, stifling a yawn. "Can you put me through to Massey-Erickson? He's got AP Chem this morning and I'd like to notify her personally he won't be in class. My nephew tends to have the habit of being tardy, and I don't want this absence to be lumped in with his usual attendance issues... ah, perfect. Thanks, Mandi."

I choked on my own spit and stared in wide-eyed disbelief at Jae's boldness.

Oh. My. God.

He smirks and pulls the phone away from his mouth for a moment, shooting a knowing wink at me. "Watch this." He whispers, and I can hear the dial tone through the receiver as he puts it on speaker.
A few seconds pass before we heard that familiar "click" as The Witch picked up.

"This is Briana."

"Hey Bri." Jae smirks, leaning back in his seat to get comfortable.

"I'm sorry, who is this?" She snips impatiently. Oh man, I can see the look on her face already.

"It's me, Jae. You know, from back in the day."

The line goes silent, and I swear I could hear her heart pounding from here.
"W-what the fuck do you want, Jae?" She hisses angrily.

"Need a favor, Bri."

"Stop calling me that!" She barks, and it takes everything in me not to laugh. A mischievous grin flits across Jae's lips at her distress.

Sadist. I fucking love it.

"Now, now, now Brianna..." he begins, gazing out the window. "A student of yours won't be making it to AP Chem this morning, as he's been excused from first period for an appointment. I'm sure you still enjoy ratting your students out to their parents when late to class... but you're not going to do that this morning Bri. You're going to mind your business, teach, and keep this to yourself."

She scoffs. "Oh yeah? And why would I do that? Which student are we talking about here?"

Jae grins. "Lucas Price."

"W-wait... what? How would you know that stupid kid?" She stutters awkwardly. I couldn't help but smile with satisfaction, because I knew she had to realize I had absolutely told the truth yesterday morning, well partly. I'm pretty sure The Witch is shitting herself, but the question is why?

"That's besides the point, Brianna. The point is that you are to accept his absence this morning and do nothing else about it. Please have one of the students take notes for him if possible and have any work he needs to take-home ready for him to pick up during second period."

The line goes silent on her end for an agonizing few seconds until she opens her bitchy mouth.
"... what do you want, Jae?"

"I just told you what I wanted, Brianna." He sighs, stifling another yawn. Jae almost looks bored, which makes this even more entertaining.

"I have a husband, Jae; we've been married ten years! Just fucking drop it!" She whines.

"We're not talking about your sketchy marriage, Brianna. We're talking about Lucas, and why you're going to do nothing about his absence today."

I could only stare in astonishment. Jae doesn't just have some dirt on The Witch, it seems like he has all the dirt. Holy shit.
"... Fine. I'll set aside his classwork and have his little friend Ian Nakamura take notes. I'll see him at 2nd period to pick them up and do nothing else."

"Lovely. Nice chatting with you, Brianna."

"Fuck you, Jae."

"You wish." He laughs, hanging up the phone.

I exhaled a dry laugh, running my eyes over him pointedly. "Holy shit, Jae."

He tilts his head to look at me. "Your absence has been accounted for and a certain somebody shouldn't be finding out about it. Good enough?"

I looked around the cabin in amusement, unable to hide how impressed or curious I was. "'Bri'? Jae! You're either a fucking wizard or you're the god of blackmail, which is it?" I blurted out in amazement.

A tiny smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, and I could see the laughter behind his warm, hazel eyes. "I'm a wizard, truthfully."

"Okay, but seriously... how? How did you pull that off? The Witch bends for no one!" I laughed, shoving Jae playfully with my good hand.

He sighs and looks up at the ceiling for a beat before settling his gaze on me. "I'll fill you in, but only if you let me take you to the doctor, Lucas."

I grimaced, squirming in my seat as I considered his offer. Deep down I sort of already knew I'd give in, that I'd go with Jae anywhere he asked. I know my hand is seriously fucked... that I need help. But how do I afford it? Dad won't put me on his insurance. He says it costs too much.

"I don't have insurance..." I mumbled, brushing my bangs away.

"I'll take care of it." Jae said, and his reassuring nod was more than enough to change my resolve.

"... okay... I'll go to the stupid doctor." I said awkwardly, slumping into my seat in defeat.

"Good boy." Jae smirks, patting my cheek once, ever-so-gently. I flushed and bit my lip, dirty thoughts rushing through my conflicted brain. With that, Jae put the car in drive, checking for traffic before pulling back out onto Sherman. "We'll head to Urgent care in town, then. Shouldn't be too busy this time of day..." He says.

I nodded and relaxed into the seat, trying to make sense of the slurry of thoughts and feelings I had swirling around inside of me. On one hand I felt pain, and fear, sadness, and anger over what happened with dad this morning. On the other, I felt turned on as fuck, excited, and even... safe. Part of me is so annoyed he wouldn't just stop worrying about me, wouldn't just take me to school without question like I hoped. The more I think about it, though, I realize that this is just how Jae is—he can't be any other way. Realistically, I should've anticipated this based on how conscientious he was of my comfort and emotional well-being last night; should've anticipated that he'd be the same this morning, if not more-so in person.

I may have been stupid to think I could put anything like this past Jae, and the longer I pondered my stupidity, I started to wonder if I really shouldn't just tell Jae. Fess up...

"Lu?" He interjects, bringing me back to the present.

"Uh...yeah?"

"If you think the conversation that we started about your father is over, it's not... just in case you wondered." His voice was firm, but his face was kind, and riddled with concern. How could I be mad at that?

"Not without a blow job..." I muttered under my breath, getting a double-take from Jae.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What was that again?" he chuckled, gaze darting between me and the road intermittently.

"I said not without head, Jae. I wanna give you head before you drop me at school, otherwise I'll continue to stonewall you on the subject." I crossed my arms and shot a matter-of-a-fact "take it or leave it" smirk his way.

Jae huffs. "You're a very demanding little dog, you know."

I rolled my eyes and laid the seat back to get comfortable. "It's not a demand, Daddy. It's a bargaining chip. You do want me to fess up, don't you?"

Jae furrowed his brow and shook his head irritably, but I didn't miss the way he adjusted himself a bit in his seat after hearing the word "daddy". Hah.

"Please be serious, Lucas. I'm very concerned about you... abuse, whoever's abusing you, that knowledge shouldn't be toyed with like this!" He says, jaw set with heat and frustration.

"Fine, you can be concerned about me while I give you head, and then maybe I'll feel more talkative afterwards." I offered, dirty grin stretching across my face.

Jae's expression darkened. "We'll see about that, Lucas."

I grinned, raking my eyes over his appearance. He looks mad, but he also looks so hot and bothered it isn't even funny. For a split second there I didn't even feel the throbbing pain in my hand, or the ache in my heart, I could only feel anticipation for what might come later today, pun totally intended. I hope in my mouth, more than anything.

"Wipe that naughty look off your face, Pet!" Jae complained, reaching over to flick the top of my head. I stuck my tongue out and laughed, batting his hand away. Fuck, it felt so good to laugh.

Could every day be like this if I told Jae about dad, if I let him help me?

I could only dream of it.