Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 114284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
The lady on the line asked for the tracking information, so I had to look that up in my email. In the meantime, Nora sped up next to me, going a lot faster than she usually did. But she’d done a lot of that lately. She’d never kickboxed in the past either, nor had she listened to so much metal music.
That was what getting out of a shitty relationship could do to ya. She was in an angry phase.
After confirming the tracking information, I was told my delivery would, in fact, be delivered to Fairfax. Thank fuck. One less worry today. I thanked the woman and ended the call.
“Kom igen, jävla kukskit,” Nora snarled. “Lite till.”
I winced and returned to my program on the treadmill. “Have you forgotten I understand most of what you say?”
Being somewhat fluent in Danish meant I could pick up the gist of Swedish conversations as well, and Nora usually kept her swearing in Swedish. For being such a petite slip of a girl, she cursed like a sailor—and could drink like one too.
“Are you suddenly delicate?” she panted.
I grinned, out of breath, and shook my head. “Just reminding you that I’m picking up on your Swedish rage.”
Coincidentally, that was kind of how we’d met a couple years ago. We were part of the same kink community in Alexandria, and she’d perked up one night when I’d burst out my angry pain in Danish…after having my ass beaten with a cat-o’-nine-tails.
“Well howdy, fellow Scandinavian… I’m Nora!”
“Consider yourself privileged,” she said, reaching for her water bottle. “I’d curse at Tracey instead, but I finally blocked her everywhere.”
Good for Nora. She deserved better than a bitch who tried to manipulate her.
“Just don’t hide for too long,” I reminded her. “You know she barely shows up for events anymore. Don’t let her take the community from you.”
It’d been three months of both of them shying away, though Tracey had managed to get several friends on her side, which pissed me off. But that was Old Town in a nutshell. Our community seemed to get off on drama.
I couldn’t blame Corey for leaving us for Mclean House. He’d hightailed it out of there over two years ago.
“Sorry, but I don’t think I’m renewing my membership,” Nora admitted breathlessly.
I glanced at her sharply. What the fuck? No. I didn’t want her to leave. She was one of my closest friends. We’d managed to scrounge up a crew of six members who stayed out of the constant drama unfolding, and that included the two men who’d started Old Town. Even Max and Reid were getting sick of it all. Max, Reid, Nora, me—
“I want out of the dating scene too,” she panted. “Like, far away from it. I’m just gonna focus on work and myself.”
I made a face and sped up some more, effectively losing the ability to speak.
If I argued with her now, I’d be such a hypocrite. Except, she had a valid reason to retreat and recover. I was just hiding because I was a chickenshit dumbass.
“Unless you wanna get me into Mclean House?” Nora slowed down to a jog and eyed me curiously. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but their community is mainly for gay men, right? But there are some women too?”
Was she serious?
I heaved a breath and went down to level three on the display, where I could form coherent sentences.
“I don’t think I can recruit anyone yet.” I swallowed against the dryness in my throat and chugged the last of my water. “I’m seeing Macklin tonight, though. I’ll ask him.”
I’d be thrilled if she could join me at Mclean. And she was right; their community consisted primarily of gay men. But according to Macklin, they had a good mix of others too. One of the founding members, I remembered, was a lesbian.
As of this morning, I had an account on their online forum too, and I’d seen some smaller topic groups for asexuals, trans, and bisexuals.
“I’d appreciate it.” Nora smiled and wiped sweat off her forehead. “I really like how they set up events and stuff.”
That made me curious. “Do you know anyone there? And how do they set up events?”
Because fuck if I knew.
“Not a single soul—aside from Corey, I guess,” she said. And she and Corey weren’t what I’d call close. He’d quit Old Town shortly after Nora came aboard. “But you know their online community is open for everyone, right? I have an account there.”
Oh. No, I’d had no idea. That was awesome, though. Then I could add her as a friend.
“Basically, everyone can organize an event or a demo,” she went on. “I think that’s neat. You just go to one of the founding members, and they’ll help you. Don’t get me wrong—I adore Max and Reid, but their events line up with their kinks almost every time.”