Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
It wasn’t ruined. I was going home.
“We gave it a try. I’m hungry,” I told Reese, side-eyeing Lucian Leroux. “Let’s get somethin’ garlicky.”
My brother sighed, annoyed. “Uh, all right. You don’t wanna hit up that other event where—”
“I wanna go home,” I stated. “Tonight wasn’t meant to be. Let it go.”
Lucian chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. “Evidently not for me either. Enjoy your weekend, guys.” With that, he nodded and took off, and Reese offered an absent goodbye while he pulled out his phone.
“Lemme shoot West a message. Then we can go.”
Thank fuck.
ONE BY ONE ONLINE
Lucas West tagged you in a photo
I squinted at the blurry photo, extra glad we hadn’t been let in last night. Christ. The club had been packed, not that Lucas had suffered. He was wearing a big smile as he stood next to the girl I assumed was his Little—and a bunch of other people who were laughing, drinking, and dancing.
You missed out last night!
“Ugh. Hardly.” I returned my phone to my nightstand and rolled over. I wasn’t ready to get up—wait. Was Reese in the kitchen? I heard some clanking. “Bro! Shut up!”
“So you don’t want bacon and pancakes?” he hollered back.
Goddammit. I buried my face in the pillow.
I wanted bacon and pancakes.
CHAPTER 4
A year and some change later
Greer Finlay
DC did have a great kink scene. I had friends in the area. I’d been coming here for events for years already—but could I picture myself living here?
I tossed my duffel on the bed and eyed my shitty motel room.
This was my brother’s fault. Ben and I were supposed to open our branch in South Carolina, not here. Goddammit. As much as we loved being close to our family, we’d both spent time down south after high school, and we’d fallen for Charleston and Savannah. I’d worked in Charleston for a few years, and Ben had gone to school in Savannah. And even though the plan had been to return home to Brooklyn at some point, once we’d decided to open our business together, all of us, Angus had floated the idea that we didn’t all have to be in the same location. He and Cullen were more rooted in New York, so it made sense for them to stay. Ben was gonna help Angus get the company off the ground, and once Cullen, Kyle, and I left the service, we’d join them.
Then last week, Ben had dropped the bombshell. He’d met someone in DC. She was fucking pregnant.
I checked my watch. A quick dinner with him in an hour, and then I’d stop by the Master & Slave event I’d been looking forward to attending. With work and deployments, it was fucking rare I happened to be home when that community hosted one of their M/s nights. Now I had a whole week to get to know more people and hopefully find a play partner or two.
Sloan had already canceled on me, of course. We’d meet up for burgers tomorrow, but the odds of dragging him out past dark…? I’d have a bigger shot at winning the lottery.
Safe to say, I wasn’t a big fan of his wife.
I popped a Tums and rubbed a fist against my chest, and I eyed the line outside the club as I locked the door to my truck.
DC and I weren’t going to become great friends if I had to stand in line every goddamn Saturday night. Especially when it was cold out.
The event better not be too clubby either. I wasn’t sure I could handle it. Loud noises didn’t usually bother me, but I could never be sure. Crowds, though. Crowds bothered me. Even though I didn’t fear a nervous breakdown or a flashback, I tensed up and struggled to filter out background noise and movement. I’d be exhausted by the time I got back to my motel.
The shit I did for my rare ventures into the glorious kink world.
When I got out of the service, I was gonna jump into this life headfirst and never leave.
And evidently not in Charleston.
On the flip side, the kink scene was better in DC. I had that going for me.
I had my Scottish luck on my side tonight too, ’cause the line moved fast, and I entered the club after ten minutes of dicking around on my phone.
No Christmas decorations yet, thank fuck.
It was an old building, and they’d kept all the fixtures when renovating the club. High ceilings, intricate crown molding, fishbone wooden flooring underneath a layer of glossy, protective coating, and white-painted pillars with—
I threw a glare behind me when someone bumped into me, and I took a quick breath to calm my ass down. I couldn’t get riled up so easily. Fucking hell.
Angus was right. I had to deal with my anger issues sooner rather than later.