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“You understand?” Clarifying my response, he waited until I nodded again to smile. “A bit overwhelmed?”

I could feel my face heating up but I managed another nod. “Thank you for answering my questions even though it was hard.”

I was so glad I hadn’t frustrated him, the relief must’ve been written all over my face. He managed not to smile but it was close. “Were you worried about upsetting me?”

Nodding again, I inched the glass over so my hand was closer to his. That got a smile out of him but he cupped both my hands to show he’d understood the silent request. “You don’t need to worry about that then. But you might have to worry about Austin because he’s looking out the window. No talking will be involved, but if you could look over your shoulder and smile, I’d appreciate it.”

Laughing, I managed a real smile and even gave Austin a silly glare and mouthed at him to go away.

He wasn’t going to agree to that.

Austin had that stubborn look on his face but then he was whisked away as Silas gave me a quick wave.

“He’s just feeling a bit protective.” Tyson seemed to think he was talking about me, but I knew for a fact that Austin was protective over both of us.

I was pretty sure that was what was making him so nuts about the whole thing. Most of the time when he played matchmaker, he was only protective over one person and he got to growl at the other. This time he liked us both.

“We’ll be fine.” Yay, words.

Tyson grinned as he turned back to me. “Yes, we will.”

I was going to keep my fingers crossed, but so far there weren’t any red flags and he didn’t think I was weird.

“How often do you go to the club and hang out in the playroom?” Tyson seemed to have decided we should jump into the get to know you part of the evening because the conversational leap was pretty big.

But since he was probably right and I knew I could talk about that kind of stuff without getting overwhelmed, I agreed with him and played along. “Lots.”

My answer got a chuckle out of him but I kept going instead of teasing him too much. “My job is kind of stressful, a mix of the work and the people, so it’s a good place to unwind and I’ve made a lot of friends there.”

Tyson’s shoulders relaxed back as he set his glass down. “Austin gave me a detailed lecture about all the toys and things that are in there. I think he was even trying to make me jealous that someone named Uncle Jarrett was giving you cookies.”

I couldn’t help laughing. “He’s got his own little and there’s nothing going on with me and anyone in the playroom. Austin was probably just getting excited. He likes coming to the playroom. He reads us books and sneaks in candy when he thinks Jarrett isn’t looking.”

Uncle Jarrett was always looking, though.

Tyson flashed me another grin. “That’s good to know.”

I hoped so.

I knew from Austin that Tyson hadn’t been dating much lately, so I tried to take the conversation in a different direction. “Did he tell you about any of the other spaces in the club? There’s a bit of everything in there.”

Raising one eyebrow, he gave me a bit of a wicked smirk. “Is that a hint that I should ask you about other spaces you like?”

His chuckle said I’d gone as red as I thought I had. “No, but I have to admit that I haven’t played in any of the other areas.”

The curiosity in his eyes stayed but the smirk faded. “Any particular reason?”

Before I could answer, he jumped in again. “Not that you have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

He was kind of cute when he worried.

“I don’t mind talking about stuff like that. I know it’s an important part of getting to know someone who’s into BDSM in any way.” I’d practiced enough that it was only slightly weird at this point. “Mostly because no one besides Austin asked me to.”

Tyson blinked a few times.

“I don’t know what to say to that. I’m sorry.”

And he was getting even cuter.

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