“But honestly, there is nothing tooverthink or worry about here. You did great and I wanted to help a friend.That’s it.”
Mostly.
He had looked erotic and so submissive I’dached to touch him…but that wasn’t relevant to the conversation.
A smile peeked out and he nodded. “I’ll domy best. I just…the only people I’ve ever talked about this kind of stuff withare the guys and Matthew. Strangers at the club are easy because I’m tooworried thinking about them to think about me, but you’re not a stranger.”
I shrugged. “Think of me as one of theguys. I can ignore Austin’s antics and listen to the grumpy stockbroker.”
Wade chuckled. “Yes, Bradley.”
“See, I already fit right in.” And I wasentertaining him which meant he was going to stay longer. “They’re going tolove me.”
His smile widened. “It’ll give Austinsomeone else to flirt with.”
“Nope. His alpha looks a bit…well, let’sjust say I bet those two have fun burying bodies together.” I was mostlyserious, but Wade laughed.
“Silas is sweet and puts up with all of Austin’santics. They’re perfect for each other.” Wade’s delusions of their sanity wascute.
“I’ll trust your judgment on those two, butI’d rather not test out my theory on their…extracurricular activities.” Wade’steasing grin made me groan. “Please don’t tell me that nut is the owner of theclub.”
“Kind of.” With a cat that ate the canarygrin, he continued. “We got together a few months ago and started talking aboutdating and BDSM in general and the idea came up. We’re technically all partnersin it together and my main contribution at this point is going in and managingthe staff and making sure everyone is behaving. Basically, I’m the grown-upthat watches while they play.”
“You would be perfect for that. But when doyou get to play?” I thought it was a reasonable question, but he startedsquirming again.
I just waited and he finally realized he hadto talk or we’d just sit there.
“Well, aside from doing the occasional…I mean…justa few times I’ve…” He stopped and took a breath then looked at me. “I wouldn’ttell this to just anyone, but you were always open-minded.”
I grinned. “You just never realized howopen.”
He laughed, nodding. “Yeah, but Matthewwouldn’t have been surprised by it.”
There was a faraway look in his eyes beforehe came back to the moment. “He would have loved to have been able to talk toyou about this kind of stuff. There were a few people I thought he might havetalked to, but no one I was confident enough to bring it up to after.”
“Yeah, sometimes you get a feeling aboutpeople, but most of the time it seems too risky to ask about. I wish I’d takenthe chance, though.” Part of me said it would’ve been nice to have shared thatwith him, but there was another part that would’ve struggled with it.
Fantasizing about Wade being submissivewould’ve been one thing…but knowing it back then might have been too hard.
“Tell me about Tristan and Dakota.” I didmy best to make sure my smile was relaxed and easy. “They seem good together,but you fit in there too. I had a hard time deciding at first if you were athreesome or not.”
An odd look swept over his face, but it wasgone in a flash before a smile took over. “They’ve been very good to me. Dakotaand I…well, once in a while we’d…”
There was a long pause before I stepped in.“You know you don’t have to tell me, right? I know I’m a little nosy and a bitbossy, but you can tell me no and it won’t hurt my feelings.”
He chuckled. “A bit bossy?”
I did my best to give him anI’m-so-innocent expression.
He laughed.
“Hey.” He knew my gruff response was justteasing, though.
“I don’t mind.” He sat straighter, stillwith his legs tucked up. “But it’s good practice. I need to get morecomfortable talking to people about this kind of stuff and you’re good topractice on.”
I snorted. “You make me sound terriblyboring.”
He giggled and the happy sound had mestruggling not to smile. “I’m very sorry. You’re sexy and strong and not boringat all.”
