Brave Boy by K.M. Neuhold

As long as LonelyDaddy is on the other side of the computer screen, there’s a chance he could be the man Emerson has been dreaming of.
I’ve gotten used to being alone, to disappearing inside the fictional worlds between the pages of a book and letting my lonely life fade away.
Books have never judged me for the stutter I can’t control. Books have never abandoned me. Books have never let me down. Then again, books have never hugged me or told me they loved me either, so my plan is far from perfect.
The first time I lay eyes on the tall, red-haired Kiernan with a beard for days and shoulders made for scratch marks, I wanted to crawl onto his lap and call him Daddy. The only problem is, I can never seem to string two words together around him… Heck, I’d be happy to manage to get even one word out, like maybe “yes,” preferably over and over again.
I thought making an online dating profile would be the hardest part, but it turns out getting up the courage to meet the man I’ve been messaging is even more difficult. Could LonelyDaddy be Kiernan? And if he is, is there any chance he’ll want to keep me? Can I be his brave boy?