Skye was glad her mom couldn’t see her smile. “That’d be nice.” It’d be even nicer if they did turn out to be kinky and Skye found a way to talk about that and get hooked into a circle of friends she could relax around.
But that was wishful thinking.
“If you’d like to come to book club with me, we’d be glad to have you. Just be warned we sometimes read pretty racy stuff.”
Skye smiled again. “How racy?”
“Oh, one of the women in the group, Shayla? She researched and wrote a series on BDSM for the magazine she works for. She points us to realistic books in that genre.”
Skye nearly choked, but managed to catch herself in time. “Oh. That’s…interesting. I might take you up on that.”
And maybe find herself another easy entry into the local lifestyle scene.
On the ride home, she sent Mike and Jenny Facebook friend requests before going on FetLife to look at the RSVP list for the munch. A lot of the people seemed to have multiple friends in common. She wasn’t interested in friending anyone on there yet, until she met them in real life.
She’d already deleted ten friend requests from random dudes scattered all over the country, and blocked one douchebag from Naples who’d sent her a private message wanting her to bow before him and be his slave.
His profile picture was a dick, which she’d thought ironic, since he fucking acted like one.
After deleting the message without responding, she’d blocked him. That wasn’t unexpected, though. Wasn’t her first rodeo. She knew that would happen when she set up her new profile and she didn’t take it personally.
It was also why she didn’t friend people she hadn’t met in person.
* * * *
When her parents asked her where she was going late Sunday, Skye didn’t lie to them. “There’s a munch I’m attending. The Suncoast Society. I need to get back out there and start meeting people.”
“Kinky stuff?” her dad asked.
“Well, kinky people. The dinner’s at a restaurant.”
He looked at her mom. “Moon, why don’t you take me to events like that?”
She didn’t look up from her Kindle. “Because, Howard, you’d need a leash and a shock collar to behave, and I think they frown on that kind of stuff at those kinds of public events.”
“Argh!” Skye headed for the front door. “That’s TMI, guys!”
Her dad’s amused cackle followed her out the door.
She arrived twenty minutes early. The steakhouse had a private meeting room in the back. The hostess pointed the way, and Skye took a deep breath before heading in that direction. When she opened the door, there were already four people standing at the far end of the room. Their backs were mostly turned toward her, so she didn’t see their faces until one woman turned.
Jenny looked a little shocked to recognize her. “Skye!”
Well, glad to see my kinky radar is still in good working order.
She walked over and exchanged hugs with Jenny and Mike, and they introduced her to Loren and Ross, who were acting as hosts for the event.
“My parents know I’m here, before you ask. They know I’m kinky. And I had a strong suspicion Friday night you guys were, too.”
Mike scowled. “How?”
Skye told him, leaving Jenny smiling. “Well, your mom’s probably guessed we’re kinky. One of our other book club members is, too, and she’s who introduced us to the Suncoast Society. She’s really in the lifestyle and we read some BDSM books and she helped separate myth from truth.”
“Ah. My mom mentioned her the other night. Yeah, I end the discussions with my parents at that line. I don’t want to know the details of their love life.”
“We have a son in college. Totally understand your feelings there. We don’t want to know about his love life, either.”
They picked a table and more people started arriving.
