Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 72494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“The first time I came here was long before anyone should’ve let me in, and my first impression was this place on a Saturday night packed wall-to-wall with bikers and roughnecks. Two of them had pups on leashes and one had a little in his lap. It felt like I’d landed in Oz.”
And I’d loved it.
Payton went back to his cartoon face and his mouth dropped open. “Really?”
Nodding, I raised my hand. “I’ll swear on a stack of dirty magazines if you want.”
That got another laugh as he shook his head. “You’re trying to make me squirm.”
“That’s just a fun side benefit.” My honesty had him blushing again, but I did my best to ignore it, even if it was the cutest sight I’d ever seen. “Honestly, it was the craziest place I’d ever been to. I was tall and looked older than I was but no one questioned me, probably because I looked so pissed.”
Payton let out a breath and scrunched up his face. He knew exactly who’d made me so mad, so I nodded and continued the story. “I’d just had a knock-down, drag-out with my father and I’d decided to go blow off some steam. I’d heard about BJ’s but I’d never had the courage to try to get in until that point.”
At some point I was going to love pointing out to my dad that his being a dick about my love life had pushed me to really explore what I wanted in a partner.
His head would explode but it’d be worth it.
“You must’ve been…very confident.” He’d probably wanted to say something stronger, so I helped.
“I was stupid. I was sixteen and green as grass. It could’ve gone a dozen different kinds of wrong in another establishment but they were great guys for the most part. They answered my questions and pretended not to notice how scared and confused I was, and they didn’t let me get in too much trouble.”
It’d been just enough to keep me coming back for more.
Payton was shaking his head. “I can’t imagine. At that age I was still trying to figure out if I was gay or not. I just…”
His words trailed off as his brain seemed to kick into gear again and completely sidetracked the conversation. “So the ladies were right?”
My scoff had him trying not to laugh. “Those old ladies are dirty birds and worse than any man in here. I have no idea what they think they know or how they know it.”
He shrugged, looking sheepish but not as nervous as he had been. “Um, the consensus is that you’re a…you’re a Dom and…and you like puppy play.”
It took some effort on his part to get the sentence out, but I pretended not to notice and just groaned, giving him a bit of drama as I scrubbed my hands over my face to make him laugh again. “How does the whole fucking neighborhood know that?”
Payton shrugged but managed to answer some of my question. “Um, they saw something in a duffel bag?”
“God.” My head fell back as I let out a breath. “I picked up some gear for a buddy of mine who wanted to surprise his pup with new toys. But the nosy little bugger always finds presents first, so I kept it all until it was time to bring it over to their place.”
Fuck, there were several interesting things in that stash that I’d never used on a sub.
Payton managed to get his delight under control after a moment and actually leaned over to pat my arm before he realized what he was doing and jerked his hand back. “If it’s any consolation, they don’t seem to have told your parents or the rest of the neighborhood. I think they seem to be under the delusion that they’re being subtle.”
That did not help.
As I leaned back in the seat and tried not to pout, because Doms didn’t pout, I let out a deep breath. “They’re trying to make me crazy, aren’t they? That’s the only reason I can think of for all this ridiculousness. I’m being punished.”
The guilty look that flashed over his face said he knew more about that than he was letting on. “You know. What did they say? God, I’m going to banish them from the bookstore as well as the bakery.”
He flashed me a quick grin before waving his hands. “Don’t get me distracted. Clearly, you haven’t talked to Amanda today.”
God, now what had they done?
“Yeah, it was…” He shrugged. “Sorry. But that’s for later. Um, they seem to think they’re trying to fix you up. Romantically. They think your parents are keeping you from living life to the fullest or something to that effect and they know…well, they know you and Amanda are only friends.”
Someone needed to shoot me.
Nodding slowly as I took it all in, I decided he wouldn’t get any more comfortable and took a chance turning the conversation a bit. “And that fun information has been part of why you’ve been avoiding me?”