Page 32 of Forfeits

“Huh. Bummer,” I said, with heavy sarcasm.

“Ha-ha. Anyway, it’s a trip. You don’t have to go hardcore or anything.”

Ever since I’d had to go in and use the washroom, I’d been thinking about the place and wondering what it would be like to go there. But would Aiden be into it?

There was only one way to find out.

I asked him about it the next time I went to see his band, The Tardy Boys, play. I’d been a few times, and it was always a good time. Aiden had a great voice, and the way he interacted with the other band members was fun to watch. He became this other guy, this ultra-cool musician, that upped his attractiveness factor by at least twenty points. And I’d thought he was amazing already.

The band was taking a break, and Aiden was sitting at a table with me, chatting briefly with anyone who came up to the table and wanted to say hi to the lead singer. I tried to take it in stride, but it felt like I was dating a celebrity. I supposed the fact that he was very attractive, a compelling vocalist, excellent guitar player and gay had something to do with his general appeal.

“Patrick thinks we should check out Maverick Molly’s.”

Aiden took a sip of his IPA. “He thought we should check it out?”

“He’s a server there. I’ve never been,” I admitted. “Well, I went in to use the bathroom once.”

“I’ve heard good things about the place. Don’t the servers dress as Victorian tarts?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.”

Aiden laughed. “I love that your nephew works there. That’s fantastic.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty funny.”

“There’s a kink room for rent there, too, isn’t there?” Aiden said, affecting disinterest, as he met my gaze.

“Patrick said it’s called The Bordello. I think you have to reserve it in advance…”

My voice trailed off as I took in Aiden’s expression. His face had lit up, as if I’d proposed a trip to Paris. And now he seemed to be trying to temper his enthusiasm.

“Wait. Did you want to go to the kink room?” I asked.

He lifted his tankard to his lips and took a long sip, holding my gaze as he did.

“Fuck,” I said, my dick getting hard in my pants. Seemed to always happen around him. I didn’t say anything for a long moment then I said, “If we did go to the Bordello, what would you be interested in doing there?”

“In general?” he asked. “Or…more specifically?”

I kept my gaze on his and shrugged. “You can be specific.”

Aiden rubbed his hands together. “Oooh boy. I wondered when we might have this conversation. Didn’t expect it to be so soon.”

“I guess we can thank Patrick for that.”

He laughed. “Yeah.”

“Are we having this conversation?”

“I think we are.”

“All right.” I sipped my beer. “I should tell you that…Daniel and I…we had a sort of arrangement…”

I didn’t know what to call it. It hadn’t been a twenty-four seven deal at any point. But before Lucy had come along, it had been a frequent thing.

“What do you mean by ‘arrangement’?” Aiden asked, his eyes widening.

“I mean,” I said, blushing and worrying the place where my wedding band had been.

---