Page 38 of For the Night

I wanted another weekend like that, only we switched out a daytime party for the big Game, and maybe we added sex to the repertoire, before we cuddled and talked all night.

Penelope had set a pace that I found myself needing but not wanting. The impatient girl who’d had a crush on Penelope for so long wanted to get down and dirty right freaking now, but I wasn’t sure my mind would be at ease if we’d gone that route. Instead, we’d texted a lot the past few days, and before we’d parted ways on Sunday morning, our alone time together had been so…almost tranquil. And fun.

“When were you and Ash getting together?” she asked.

“Tomorrow,” I answered. “He said he was bringing dinner.”

We were gonna discuss the last details of our boundaries and so on.

Penelope nodded and slowed down before a red light. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to sit in on your negotiation.”

Mind? Uh, no. Her wanting to join only showcased her interest.

“I don’t mind at all.” I smiled. “By the way, I saw you announced the next Game already online.”

She inclined her head. “It’s an annual event, so the Game will piggyback on the theme.”

An annual masquerade ball? Sign me up! With the announcement, they’d posted a couple photos from last year, and everyone had been dressed to the nines. It took place the first weekend of May, so I was gonna make sure I had that Sunday off too.

“Would you like to attend with me?”

Yes! A thousand times yes!

“I’d love to.” Gah, I wanted to bite her arm or something. Excitement bubbled up within me, and I couldn’t wait to find out what it would feel like to be her submissive.

Hopefully, I’d get a taste of that before the next Game. Today was Wednesday, and my schedule was wide open.

Before heading out to Mclean, Penelope proposed dinner, so we went to a Mexican place not far from where I lived. They had awesome queso, which really said a lot about a Mexican restaurant.

Once we’d ordered, my phone dinged with a message, and the designated tone let me know it was a certain group chat. But it would have to wait. I’d see Macklin and some of the others in an hour or so. He was the leader of this brat chat pack.

I put my phone on silent instead, and Penelope smiled and grabbed my hand on the table.

That gesture did something to me. As if I’d been floating in space before, she reeled me in and made me focus on my surroundings and on her. This was a date, wasn’t it? The tables did have tealights and white tablecloths to go with the multicolored cantina atmosphere. And everybody knew that candles and tablecloths meant date. Right?

“Did Master Lucian really send someone to assemble your furniture?” I asked.

She chuckled and nodded once. “Yup. They showed up bright and early on Monday. Two guys—they looked kinda lost on the property.”

I grinned. Well, aside from one of two features, nobody could guess it was a kink place from the outside.

Our sodas arrived, along with a basket of chips, salsa, and queso, and my stomach snarled with want.

“It feels nice to have the bed upstairs again,” she said, dragging a chip through the salsa. “And I can eat at a table instead of sitting on a mattress or a moving box.”

That was my everyday life, sans moving boxes. “You should see my place. My roommates are musicians, so our tiny kitchen is their storage space for instruments. Thankfully, I have my own room—they share. There isn’t much of a living room either.”

“Have you lived there long?”

“About two years,” I said, thinking back. “I returned home to Sweden for uni studies, and when I graduated, I was like, I can’t live with my parents again.” I chuckled and grabbed a couple chips. “Mom didn’t get it. She was all, you have more space in your old room, and you wouldn’t have to pay rent. And Dad kinda nudged her and was like, honey, she wants privacy. She’d rather pay rent and live in a dump than have us breathing down her neck.”

Penelope laughed. “I was the same way, except I had less of a choice. My dad didn’t understand why I didn’t move back to LA after I graduated. He kept saying I’d have less pressure if I stayed at home—I wouldn’t have to rush to find a job I wasn’t happy with—but…” She shrugged. “I’d found my home out here. And when you’re young, it’s okay to have two or three roommates and virtually no money because you’re free. Just…wait a few years, and you’ll start thinking it wouldn’t have been so bad to live with your parents.”

I snickered. Maybe she was right; maybe she wasn’t. It wasn’t like I enjoyed the no-money part, but yeah. I loved having my mother across town.

“I don’t know. I love my mom, and we have a great relationship, but it’s nice to have a Metro ride between us,” I said. “I hope…” Oh shit. I swallowed, and I accidentally forced down a piece of chip that was a size too large. Fuck. Ouch. Ohhh, the pain I put myself through in order not to say too much. I’d almost said I hoped Penelope wanted to meet my parents soon.

Yikes.

---