Page 31 of Forfeits

“Really? And which do you prefer?”

“How about you?”

Aiden laughed. “I asked you first.”

I made a show of sighing, but I wasn’t annoyed. “I prefer to bottom. But I’m open to anything.”

Aiden stroked his tongue in a languid path over his bottom lip.

“Versatile. Excellent.”

“You?”

“Well, I like to top, so I suppose this might work out after all.”

He gazed at me, and I gazed at him—and I wondered if my days of being lonely in my grief were gone…at least for a little while.

* * * *

I punched my code into the door lock and went in as quietly as I could at around two in the morning. Cocoa came up to me wagging her tail, and Eddie followed, giving one small bark and whining, as if complaining about me being out so late.

When I rounded the corner into the living room, I saw Patrick snuggled under a soft throw on the sofa, sound asleep, with a magazine laying on his chest. I turned on a lamp, then went up to him and touched his shoulder.

“Hey…I’m home.”

Patrick blinked in the sudden light. “Oh. Hey. What time is it?”

“It’s two in the morning. I’m so sorry.” I gave him a guilty look, but I couldn’t help smiling.

“I guess you had a good date,” he said, rubbing at his face.

“Yes, it was. Thank you for being here. I’ll call you an Uber.”

Once I had seen Patrick off, I wandered around the place, tidying up and thinking about my date. It had been an incredible evening, and I wondered when we might see each other again.

My phone dinged with a text message.

Gnight, Fletcher.

Gnight, Aiden. Ty.

For what?

For looking after me so well. I don’t just mean the spider.

* * * *

“Why don’t you bring Aiden to Maverick Molly’s?” Patrick said, out of the blue, a few weeks later.

“Huh?”

Aiden and I had been dating and becoming more intimate. It had been going well, but we hadn’t broached the subject of kink. I wasn’t in a rush, although the idea of being dommed by Aiden was intriguing.

“The vibe in the gaming parlor is so cool. You feel like you’ve stepped back in time. And there’s the kink room in the back, if you think you guys might want to give it a try?”

Patrick poured himself a glass of milk.

“You’d have to go when I’m not there, if you want me to watch the wombat, so you won’t get to see me in action.”

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