Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
“I suspect their habits come from a similar place,” I said. “At least sometimes. Make everything perfect so that no one leaves.”
Greer nodded once. “Not a day goes by when I don’t wanna bash Marcus’s skull in.”
That would be the ex who’d used and abused Corey.
“I feel ya, buddy.” I dragged a hand over my face, wiping away the snowflakes as they melted into ice-cold water. “But—so, when Corey drops a fortune on somethin’ for someone else, just…you know, remind him he doesn’t have to. At least, that’s what we do with Kit. And you know what? Nothin’ wrong with a little bit of punishment for those acts. By now, Kit knows he’s not allowed to buy affection. He’ll slide down some slope of insecurities—it’s rare now, thankfully—and he’ll think someone will like him more if he brings somethin’ extra. Trust me, I have no issues givin’ him the belt for those occasions. Just—I’ll let the talk sink in first, and I’ll tell him we don’t want to encourage that line of thinkin’.”
“That’s the route Sloan took yesterday.” Greer was becoming out of breath too, thank fuck. “Not with the belt, but how he explained the reasoning behind the spending and how we don’t want him to use his money for everything. Jamie lights right up—all Corey has to do is tell some funny story about frogs. Emma-Jo is weirdly attached to both him and Archie. I mean, it’s happened so fast, is all. But either way…yeah, the shopping has to go down. I was the one who wanted to give him the belt, but he was in his little space, so I let Sloan handle it.”
Probably wise. It was a tricky balance, especially when the boys regressed. “Sometimes it’s better to save the punishment for after. With Kit, it can go both ways—as long as I don’t throw him off. Like I said, we discuss it.”
“Makes sense. That Daddy business is fuckin’ new to me.”
I chuckled breathlessly, every gust of air misting in front of me. “Don’t sell yourself short. You’ve been a Daddy to half the community for eight years.”
He snorted.
“I mean it. You realize the brats laugh at you when you claim that fetish ain’t for you?”
“Let them fuckin’ laugh.” He got a little huffy. “Goddamn brats. What do they know?”
I smirked and sped up a little. We were almost at the river. “Greer, my boy wouldn’t have a li’l crush on you if you weren’t a Daddy type.”
“Aw, shit—really? He’s too sweet, that one.” He grinned and sniffled. “Don’t let Corey know. He’s been complaining about youse being a closed triad since the bondage shoot.”
Funny he should mention the photo shoot. We’d clearly opened a can of worms. And maybe I was ultimately the guilty one since I’d told Kit about the time—way, way back—when Luke and I had a threesome with Greer.
“I reckon closed will be a relative term soon enough,” I admitted. We slowed down before we reached a stoplight. Traffic was nuts down here. I blew out a heavy breath and eyed the lights, waiting for it to turn green.
“You kiddin’?” Greer was surprised.
I couldn’t blame him. Luke and I had always been restrictive in how we played.
I wiped sweat off my forehead and rolled my shoulders. “Kit’s twenty-two years old, man. He’ll wanna explore a little bit. We think he’s gearin’ up to talk to us about it.”
Boy thought he was being subtle about it too.
“You okay with that?”
I flicked him a sideways glance before I returned my gaze to the light. And at the tightening of discomfort in my stomach, I had to chuckle at myself. “I will be. He ain’t the type to finally discover he wants several relationships.”
“But that’s what’s runnin’ through your head,” Greer deduced.
Well, yeah. “I know I’m worryin’ for nothin’.”
“You really fucking are, buddy. Let’s go.” The light turned, and he took the lead across the street.
Having no interest in the tourist attractions along the waterside, mainly the ice rink, we headed straight for the narrow waterfront park that extended along the river.
We weren’t the only ones running here, but I’d expected more.
The trees were actually covered in snow. It wasn’t melting as soon as it hit the ground anymore.
“As someone who just had his pipe dreams come true,” Greer said, “lemme remind you of back in the day when you and Lucas talked the future. How you wanted your own Little, then friends with similar tastes y’all could meet up with for dirty playdates.”
Reality looked a lot different from fantasies.
“It never stays at that, though,” I replied. “You know how it is. You have a few drinks with your friends and you conjure all these dream scenarios, and…that’s it.”
Way back in the day, as Greer had mentioned, Luke and I had been naïve as hell. Sure, it was hot in theory—share a playtime dynamic between two established relationships. But…I just couldn’t picture it today. I wasn’t that man anymore. I had no interest in sticking my shit into someone other than Luke and Kit, which I told Greer.