Whatever their silent communicationconveyed, Stuart decided it was time to take over the conversation. “Asa and Ihave an agreement that he needs to make more friends. He and Ridley are workingon that.”
Stuart’s answer had Asa settling back downinto position and leaning against his Master’s thigh. So it was at least aclose enough answer that he didn’t think it was lying. Asa had a thing for thetruth to the point where he could be just a bit abrasive. But while it was trueenough that Asa could easily accept the answer, there was no way that was allof it.
Not that asking would do me any good.
“I’m glad you’re making friends with him. Ihave a feeling he could use a few more understanding people in his life.” Myresponse had Asa nodding, relaxing even more as it became clear I wasn’t goingto pressure him for something he wouldn’t or couldn’t tell me.
Yes, it was couldn’t.
It wasn’t illegal or immoral in a sensethat it would hurt me. Asa’s sense of honesty was too well-developed for that.No one else would ever be as important to him as Stuart was, but as I’d gottento know him, it had become clear that we were considered family-ish by default.
“I’ll let him know you were asking abouthim.” And while I was at it, I was going to ask a few more pointed questionsabout what they’d been talking about. At the very least, a good guilt tripcouldn’t hurt.
The only thing that made sense from Asa’sreactions was that Ridley was supposed to have told me something and clearlythat hadn’t taken place.
What had they talked about?
Work?
A fantasy or scene?
No, Asa might end up talking aboutsomething kinky over coffee, but I couldn’t see Ridley wanting that kind ofconversation to get out around work. Ridley hadn’t said much about his job as aparalegal, but everything he’d said and just the expression he was wearing ashe’d talked about it said how much he loved it.
I was lost in thought, still watching thewiggly sub with Conner, when Julian shifted closer on the couch, dropping hisvoice low. “Why can’t we just ask what he’s hiding?”
Trying not to laugh, I shook my head andwhispered back quietly enough that we couldn’t be heard over the backgroundnoise of the room. “Don’t be an ass. We can’t torture Asa like that. He’sclearly not supposed to say.”
Just because he wasn’t exactly subtledidn’t mean it would be nice to fuck with him like that.
Stuart would kill us if we upset Asa, andhonestly, he and Ridley could both use other people to talk with, soencouraging their friendship was probably a good idea.
Julian huffed. “You’re no fun.”
That had me snorting and I shoved myshoulder against his, then smiled as everyone glanced over to us. “Ass. Youjust need to get laid or find a cute sub to spank.”
I might have said that too loud becauseStuart and Porter laughed, and even Landon was trying not to smile as hesnuggled closer to Porter’s thigh, blushing faintly.
Julian gave an evil grin, shifting on thecouch to stretch out his legs. “Possibly.”
He was just hamming it up, giving a teasingresponse to play off my comment, but for some reason, Niall was scowling at allof us. “That’s not an answer to every problem.”
Niall was clearly taking the whole thingentirely too seriously, but why?
Julian wasn’t the type to even dateindiscriminately. It was one of the things that had pushed us all together tobegin with. We’d taken relationships and ultimately BDSM seriously, even if weweren’t strict Doms.
“Sounds like you’re in the same boat.”Rolling my eyes to try to downplay the tension, I gestured toward the back ofthe club. “Both of you need to go mingle and find some subs to torment.”
Giving Julian a devilish grin, I gave himanother teasing push. “Or better yet, maybe you should go find a Dom to helpyou adjust your attitude. It’s been a while since you played like that, hasn’tit?”
Most of the time he dominated at the club,but occasionally he’d let his sub side out to play. I just couldn’t rememberthe last time he’d talked about another Dom. But even if he wasn’t feeling theurge to submit, there were lots of single subs at the moment and more than afew that seemed to be feisty enough to keep his attention.
Glancing around the room, I saw a lot ofnew and familiar faces, but only one seemed like the right kind of guy forJulian. Nudging him again, I nodded toward Conner. “Who’s Conner talking to?”
The new guy was still grinning and bouncy,looking eager enough that I thought he might come at any second. “He looks likea fabulous distraction. At the very least, he’s new enough that he probablyhasn’t met too many people. You wouldn’t want him to be lonely.”
Asa snorted. “Or to have to deal withConner all night.”
Ignoring that, and the way Stuart wastrying not to laugh as he leaned down to whisper something to Asa, I stayedfocused on Julian, determined to give him another push. But he clearly didn’tneed much of one because he nodded and stood, looking more serious as hestudied the room. “I probably should. Mitch is here tonight and eyeing thecutie like he’s a steak dinner.”
