Page 7 of Austin


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As long as I was willing to take thechance.

It wasn’t the money I was worried about oreven the cops, really. I just wasn’t sure about tying my name to a project likethat. The BDSM community was small and very well hidden. If my name wasassociated with it in any way, it would send a message I wasn’t sure I waswilling to commit to.

Not unless I liked what I saw.

As the microwave dinged, I grabbed a spoonand my soup and headed for the table in the living room. The kitchen was barelybig enough to move in because the apartment had originally been designed as anefficiency. Over the years I’d remodeled a bit and put in more cabinets and astove, but that meant nothing else would fit.

Not that I needed anything else; it’d beenjust me for more years than I wanted to count. When I’d first moved in, I’dtold myself it would just be until I found my boy and figured something elseout, but I’d never found my boy.

The confidence of youth had made it seemlike there had to be endless omegas who’d be willing to explore submission.Sure, I’d found a few people to play with over the years, but no one who wantedto take the lifestyle seriously and no one who’d been willing to buckconvention when it came to settling down.

A sex store owner was fun to play with butnot to take home to the parents.

I pushed away my frustrations as I grabbedmy phone and started to eat. Rehashing the past wouldn’t change anything andwouldn’t help me decide what to do about the BDSM club. Scrolling through thelocal news app, I tried to see if there were any rumors about a new club.Nothing.

Even the gossip channels just listed thingsabout who was dating whom and which filthy-rich omega was rumored to be lookingto settle down. Not a single hint about a BDSM club or vague scandal. Even thecops hadn’t accused me of anything as they’d been demanding to see the alpha’sID card.

That might mean nothing. But if they wereas good as Shane said they were, then maybe they stood a chance. As long asthey met the right people.

But would the risk outweigh the possiblereward?

Chapter 3

Austin

“No, I really think this needs to be a goin full guns blazing kind of situation.” I sighed and leaned back in the chair,trying to get comfortable. The closest coffee shop to the warehouse was turningout to be a convenient place to meet, but we hadn’t snagged the good chairs andI was getting ready to complain.

Of course, the one big group table in theback with the cushy seats was taken by two guys just chatting. Wade had givenme ayou’dbetter behavelook when I’d started to go over to askthem to move earlier, so I’d kept my mouth shut. There was no point in drivinghim crazy before the meeting even started. But I was starting to regret that aswe crowded around two small café tables.

Wade chuckled. “But we want to make a goodimpression. I think Dakota was just saying that toning things down a littlemight help.”

Rolling my eyes, I did my best not to drivethe rest of the guys insane and kept my voice quiet. It was more difficult thanthey seemed to realize. “He sells sex toys for a living. If we’re shocking,he’s in the wrong business.”

Shane coughed, a fake sound that had melooking over and winking at him. He was trying to stay in the background andtake notes as we talked, but sometimes that was hard for the poor guy. We werejust too fabulous to ignore.

Bradley snorted but kept his voice quiet aswell as he leaned in. “If we’re that much of a surprise, I think the dramaqueen is right. We need to find people who accept us for us. This is the onespace where we’re not supposed to have to fake anything.”

“See. I’m not insane.” Dakota just neededto get laid.

“That’s still debatable.” Tanner’s grin hadme leaning toward Shane, smiling.

“You think it’s the right idea to just beourselves, don’t you?” Batting my eyelashes, I gave him a wide-eyed look thatalways had alphas eating out of the palm of my hand.

Tanner threw a napkin at me.

“Stop that.”

Laughing, I sat up and winked at Shaneagain. “He didn’t say he disagreed with me.”

“Because he’s smart enough to know not toget involved in this.” Shane delivered the teasing remark with a deadpanexpression that had everyone chuckling.

Tanner leaned over and gave him a kiss onthe cheek. “Smart man.”

They were so cute, but Bradley wasn’t goingto let us drift off track. “We need a decision.”

I shrugged. “You know my opinion. We needto know if we can work with him in the long run. Can any of you really say thatyou want to behave like proper little omegas every time we meet him? I’m justnot sure that’s reasonable.”

They clearly had more faith in our abilityto bullshit than I did.