Page 77 of Tamed (The Courtside King Duology 1)

“Not always. I prefer rope.”

Breck paused to digest that, then forced himself to focus. “Whatever. But there’s always a Dom and sub involved.”

“That’s true.”

“And we both know which role you play.”

Kai’s eyes glittered. “You think I like to dominate.”

“I know you do.”

“Because you know me so well.”

“I know you enough. I took your class, remember?”

“Of course, I remember.” Kai glanced away. “But if that’s what you think…” He re-met Breck’s gaze. “Then you read me wrong.”

Breck chuckled again. “I don’t think so.”

“I’m serious.” Kai held his stare. “I wasn’t trying to bring you to heel. I was merely taking you down a notch. Your superiority complex was hindering your performance.”

Breck stiffened indignantly, then grunted and looked away. In truth, even his friend Charlie had said the same.

“To win a fight, one must be humble,” Kai pointed out. “Otherwise, we run the risk of underestimating our opponent.”

His logic was sound. Breck knew it was. Hell, even on the basketball court that concept rang true. Thing was, he wasn’t an idiot. While Kai’s philosophy may be valid, he’d still enjoyed stealing Breck’s thunder. What else would that constant glint in Kai’s eyes have meant?

Not that he wanted to go down that rabbit hole. That’d be playing with fire. They’d end up talking about their private session. Something Breck was so not prepared to get into right now.

“Whatever,” he muttered around another swig. “Were you all humble downstairs just now with your shiny new toy? You know, so you didn’t ‘underestimate’ Sean while the two of you were fucking?”

Kai glanced away. “I told you, Max stopped it. Nothing happened.”

“Nothing,” Breck drawled flatly. “You were down there for half an hour.”

Kai shrugged. “Prepping takes time.”

“Prepping.”

Kai met his gaze. “I tied him up.”

Breck stilled, his gut clenching. Right. Kai and his ropes. Not a visual Breck had wanted, though, considering those involved. “Oh.” He averted his gaze, but then furrowed his brow and looked back. “It took thirty fucking minutes to tie him up?”

“Not quite thirty. Maybe twenty.”

Breck eyed him expectantly. When Kai merely eyed him back, he grated, “So, for that last ten minutes… the two of you just, what, stood there and looked at each other?”

“Not exactly.”

Breck narrowed his eyes. “Then you lied. Stuff did happen.”

“Nothing of substance. We’d barely begun.”

“Was he naked?”

“Not completely.”

“But you touched him.”

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