Page 38 of Opposites (Never) Attract
“How do you know how to do it?”
He didn’t say anything, but I could sense his eyebrows lift behind his aviators.
“You know what I mean,” I said, feeling embarrassed. Maybe we weren’t supposed to talk about what happened. Maybe the first rule of spanking was, we don’t talk about spanking?
“I’m afraid I do not.”
“All that stuff back there. Like you just know the right thing to do and say. I guess you’ve done this a lot before.”
He turned his head and smiled. That was always something I remembered about Tag. He had this big smile that took up his whole face. So incongruent with his normally stoic expression. I think that’s why I had such a crush on him in high school. It was like he had this secret, that he wasn’t nearly the badass everyone thought he was. But you only knew that when he smiled.
“Darlin, I’m not going to tell you yours is the first ass I’ve smacked, but if you think I’ve taken some kind of kink class, you’d be wrong.”
“So, porn then?”
“I think what you’re asking is, how do I know what makes you feel good?”
“Yes.”
He nodded. “I try to put myself in your head and think about what you need. What might get your focus and hold your attention. There’s a reason the pain turns you on. I’ve broken enough bones over the years to know that when you pass a certain threshold of pain, it’s all your brain can hold onto.”
That made sense. When I did my electric shock core treatments at the spa, all I thought about was my core. Not work, not my next trade, not why I wasn’t being promoted.
“My brain…” I said, but didn’t know how to finish the sentence.
“Can be a scary place?”
I laughed, which was almost as good as the orgasm. Who was I kidding? It was nowhere near as good as that orgasm. Nothing would come close to that orgasm. Maybe making partner? Seemed unlikely from this boneless plane of existence where I was currently living.
“That shit with my family,” I said, and he shook his head.
“Oh no, don’t go thinking about them and ruining all my hard work.”
Startled by his candor, I laughed again. When did Tag get so funny? Did I know this about him in high school? Probably not.
Tag pulled off the dirt road onto pavement, and then a couple miles later, he turned onto another dirt road past a sign painted black that just said Chuck’s BBQ.
“Kinda far away from town for a restaurant, isn’t it?”
“Nothing about this place makes much sense. Chuck cooks when he feels like it. Then he calls Harmony and she has a sign on the front window of the store she uses to let everyone in town now he’s open for a time. He’ll sell BBQ until he runs out, and then it might be a couple of days until he bothers again.”
“That is not a practical business model.”
“Works, though,” Tag said.
Chuck’s BBQ was a double wide trailer with a bunch of picnic tables set up in front. Luckily, they were all empty. I looked around the truck to find my purse down in the footwell and opened it to get my phone.
Mom and Harmony had each texted. And called. I ignored those.
I had over fifteen texts and seventy emails from work. Apparently, a family crisis didn’t translate to out of touch. Most of the texts were just directions to read emails ASAP so I didn’t need to reply.
I put the phone back in the purse and got out of the truck.
I would eat first, deal with work second, then think about what came next.
“Have a seat. I’ll fix us up,” Tag said, and walked over to the trailer and banged on the door next to a service window.
Gingerly, I took a seat at the picnic table. My butt felt like it was three times its normal size. I tossed my purse on the table, and then, because I couldn’t shake the habit, pulled out my phone again, answering some of the easiest emails just to plow through some of the low hanging fruit.
