Page 20 of Flirt

“Well, between your job and family connections, you do know quite a few of them,” I teased.

“Girl, don’t even go there. And stop changing the subject. Now tell me about the guy.” Tori was nothing if not relentless. I supposed it was what made her an excellent attorney.

I placed the last folded towel in the laundry basket, then turned and leaned my butt against the dryer. “He’s controlling, direct, sure of himself,” I said and absently rubbed the palm of my hand across my breasts. There hadn’t even been the slightest mark when I looked in the mirror this morning. It would have been relatively easy to convince myself nothing had taken place if not for the faint sign of whisker burn on the inside of one thigh, which I wouldn’t have noticed if the hot water in my morning shower hadn’t caused a bit of a sting when it came in contact, making me take a closer look.

“Oh no, it was awful,” Tori surmised when I hadn’t continued.

“No. Yes. No. It was...” I paused, squeezed my eyes shut, and brought up Max’s image, remembering how being with him felt. “It was the most intense sexual experience I have ever had yet liberating at the same time. I’m not sure I’m capable of putting into words how or what it felt like to have a man understand what I needed, not only physically but mentally. God, Tori, I loved Justin with my whole heart, and our sex life was incredible. After he was gone, the few times I have had sex, it was mediocre at best. It made me think it was me. Not that I expected it to be the same, especially with different partners. I had just hoped it was good. I could work with that, you know? When it wasn’t, I chalked it up to maybe I wasn’t ready to move on. I mean, I was busy between finishing my internship and raising Sawyer, then moving here and starting my own practice. After a bit, sex became... unimportant—something to concentrate on later when I had more free time.

“Then I finally feel ready to dip back into the relationship slash sexual pool because I was starting to miss the intimacy two actual breathing individuals share, instead of having a battery-operated fill-in, and what happens? Every sleazy, overconfident, self-absorbed loser in a fifty-mile radius seems to find me. Which, hey, I might have been willing to overlook their less than stellar personalities for a crack-the-crystal-screaming-orgasm.” I snorted, “But no, I get the bright idea I don’t need the relationship part to reach sexual gratification, just the man. ‘Cause you know, the characters in the books I started reading were having fulfilling and gratifying sexual encounters, so why couldn’t that be me? I join a club because there isn’t anything crazy about not knowing jack shit to do with BDSM other than from what I read in books. Oh, and the research on the internet where I decided I must be a submissive since letting a man push me sexually and take over allows me to reap the benefit without thinking sounded like something I would enjoy. For God’s sake, I let a man I know absolutely nothing about... What was I thinking, Tori?”

“That you were lonely and carrying enough stress with your job and being a single parent, which doesn’t leave enough time to have a personal life. Cut yourself a break. There’s nothing wrong with you, Brie. Your reasons in joining a club might have been a little wacky, but you didn’t just run out the door and find the first club to test your interest. You researched every aspect beforehand. You talked with me about it. Heck, you even texted the time you would be at the club, then texted when you were headed home just so someone would know where you were. I may not know much about sex clubs but, I do know you. You are not the rash decision maker type. You never have been, which has me wondering. What is the cause behind your out-of-character little weirded-out moment?”

I sighed, opened my eyes, and pushed off the dryer. After positioning the phone between my ear and shoulder, I picked up the basket, planning to put away the laundry while I continued to talk with Tori.

“Brie, are you still there?” Tori asked as I walked out of the laundry room.

“Yeah, sorry. I don’t know what came over me,” I said, heading down the hallway toward the linen closet after a quick glance into the living room to make sure Sawyer was still occupied.

“I’ll tell you what I think. I think something happened to spook you last night. Now, if you don’t want my attorney mind running rapidly over every bad thing imaginable or my sister's brain shouting go pack a bag and be ready to roll in case my sister needs my help killing someone or hiding a body, then start explaining.”

My sister had the ability to make me laugh no matter what was going on. “You sound like Gina. Maybe you should have gone to work for the family.”

“Yeah, yeah. Now get to talking.”

“Nothing bad took place, so you can relax,” I said, then took a deep breath and blew it out before I continued. “I may have miscalculated on the mindless sexual escapade without a relationship.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. Tori, what started my tiny breakdown was... I might be a novice, but I’m not sure being an experienced submissive would have prepared me for Max,” I said, lowering my voice as I passed the living room on my way back to the laundry to return the empty basket to its place.

“Okay, it sounds like your first encounter went off with a bang or ended on a bang,” Tori snickered, and I wanted to reach through the phone and smack her.

“Tori, it isn’t funny.”

“Fine. You used to be more fun before you decided to unleash your freaky side.”

“I swear to God I will reach through this phone and snatch you bald if you don’t stop it.”

“Alright, I’ll stop. But I don’t understand what the problem is. You evidently enjoyed yourself with this man. Enjoy yourself some more. Good sex could lead to a relationship. I mean, I don’t know the rules, but surely there isn’t one that says you can’t become involved outside the club. Is there?”

“No. It’s just this was supposed to be physical without all the other stress from being in a relationship. Crud, I am overthinking this. It was one time. Who’s to say the next time won’t be a dud. He could have been on his ‘A’ game since it was our first experience together.” Even as I spoke, I didn’t believe a word of it.

“Uh huh, keep saying it, and you might even believe it. So, you are meeting up with him again, I presume since you said next time. Can I give you a tiny bit of advice? If you decide you want more than earth shattering orgasms, then go after it. I can’t think of anyone who could deserve having everything more than you, my sister.”

“You are going to make me cry. God, I miss you, Tori. I can’t wait to see and spend time with you during the holidays,” I said and wiped the corner of my eye with a finger to keep the lone tear from sliding out.

“I get the whole moving there and stuff, but I sure miss having you close. Especially since you insisted on taking Sawyer with you. Now let me talk with my favorite niece before we hang up.”

“Love ya, sis. Talk to you later,” I said before reaching the living room and handing the phone off to Sawyer.

While Tori and Sawyer talked, I took care of another laundry load and made a pass through the house, picking up the mess from the previous week. I was headed back into the living room when I ran into Sawyer in the doorway. My cell rang as she held it out to me. I looked at the screen and groaned. It was my service calling, which was never a good sign on the weekend.

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