Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 114284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
I frowned. “Excuse me one moment, Ty. I’m gonna make a quick call.”
“Yeah, all right.”
I left my seat and headed for the exit as I pressed dial on the number.
Icy winds met me outside, though they were nowhere near as bad as they’d been last night. The storm had moved north.
“Hello?” Lane answered.
“Lane, it’s Walker.” I ducked between two buildings and zipped up the jacket. “Is everything okay?”
“Oh, um—yeah, it’s just… Hold on one sec, Sir. I’m just leaving Corey’s place,” he replied. “By the way, have you been in touch with Macklin today? He hasn’t responded to my texts.”
“I think he’s starting late,” I answered. “When I had service again, I saw his last message was sent at four in the morning, so he’s probably asleep.”
Though, he should wake up soon. He’d spent the night reorganizing his kitchen and going through his stash of candles.
“Ah, okay,” Lane said. It sounded like he was in an elevator, and a voice announcing the floor he was on confirmed my guess. “Yeah, so, Saturday. It has less to do with the event and more to do with Macklin. I know he wants to do everything all at once—and I don’t think it’s working. So I’m going to end our D/s thing before something worse happens than you two fighting about it.”
I straightened automatically. Macklin must’ve told Lane about our fight. Hell, I didn’t want the boy to get the wrong idea, so perhaps some damage control was in order.
“That fight wasn’t about you, dear—you know that, right?”
“No, I know,” he said quickly. “But it’s causing a strain anyway, and he should be focusing on his marriage first.”
Well, I couldn’t say I didn’t agree.
“I admit, I thought it was going to be a more casual dynamic,” I said. “Where you eased into things slowly.”
He laughed softly. “Me too, Sir. But he’s got some idea now that he has to save me from myself, so…”
I sighed. There was that too. I couldn’t blame Macklin for his intentions. It was his approach that needed some work.
“Either way, I’m gonna talk to Macklin today,” he went on. “If he has a late shift, I should be able to snatch him up before he starts. Then you and him can do your TPE thing tomorrow, and I will join you for the Picture-Perfect event the weekend after.”
That was a solid plan, though I would make sure Lane didn’t feel left out in the meantime. I didn’t want the boys to stop seeing each other. Just—maybe a pause button for the D/s.
“I do hope we see each other before then,” I replied. And then…okay, I wanted to push a little to see where Lane’s mind was at. “Now that Ty is back in town, maybe the four of us could go out for dinner.”
I was met with silence, before he cleared his throat.
“Ty’s back already?”
I smiled to myself. “As of yesterday.”
Despite the wonderful night I’d just spent with Ty, I was itching to witness their reunion. Because if we all had such good chemistry together, we shouldn’t waste it, should we? What if we could twist this into something that worked for us? Macklin and Lane could continue with their relationship, and I could build something extraordinarily vanilla with Ty. Where we went to the movies and my studio and… Fuck, I really wanted that.
“We already said we’d see each other at the Game thing,” Lane said, sounding a bit awkward. “I think it’s best I stay in the background for a while.”
Oh, did he now.
“We’re going to have to disagree on that, pet,” I replied. “We’ll see who gets their way—” I was cut short by another incoming phone call, and I eyed the screen and saw a picture of a smiling Macklin lighting up my display. That gorgeous fucking smile of his. “Macklin is calling me now, Lane. But please send me a message after you’ve talked to him. I’ll be ready. And that goes for you as well—if you need someone to talk to, don’t hesitate.”
“Okay, I won’t. Thank you, Sir. Bye.”
Hmpf. I sensed his relief in wrapping up the conversation early. I’d deal with that later. Regardless of how fast Macklin had moved ahead, Lane’s snail’s pace was no good either.
“Good mornin’, sleepyhead.”
Macklin rushed right into conversation. “Oh my God, I can’t believe I overslept! But I’m also like, hey, I own my restaurant. I make the rules. So if I trade my shift a single time, no one is gonna sue me—so I called in reinforcements, and now I only have to show up for a couple hours. I wanna get back home and finish what I started in the kitchen. It’s gonna look great, Master.” He took a big breath, and I chuckled. “How are you? I read your texts—did you really sleep in Ty’s guest room like some boring dud? When you could’ve gotten freaky with him?”