Breathless (The Game 3)

I preferred Tysons. Mclean was a good little town, but everything was overpriced to cater to all the diplomats and government officials who tended to shack up in Mclean McMansions. It wasn’t a coincidence that we’d found a house this big in this area.

“I like Silver Diner,” Shay said. “I usually take my brothers there, because it’s like the only place they both can find something they want.”

River chuckled. “Silver Diner, it is.”

I wanted to know more about Shay’s brothers. It made me happy to hear him mention them, but I felt River and I should put our cards on the table before we prodded any further. It was time. Everything had changed. It was no longer just about protecting a community member from himself.

I brushed my hand over the faint welts on Shay’s back. “So, we’re not staying here all day?”

He narrowed his eyes playfully at my smirk. “We eat, and then we come right back for more naked snuggles.”

I smiled widely and pulled him down for a hard kiss. “It’s a plan.”

“And plans never fail,” River drawled.

Oh, hush. My brother was just too anal.Despite the insanely extensive menu, we’d ordered our drinks and food within five minutes of getting seated in the packed diner. Shay had found it funny when River and I had received a “Welcome back” from our server.

“I guess you come here a lot,” Shay teased.

I side-eyed River with a wry smirk.

“There are three options for me if Reese doesn’t have the time to cook,” River said. “Ramen, the pizza we had the other day, and Silver Diner.”

Shay snickered.

He looked happier. Maybe my brother’s theory would prove to be correct, that Shay was desperate for someone to save him from himself and that it wouldn’t take that much work to achieve it. We’d been on our way to crack that part of the boy open yesterday before River had called the scene off. Shay had sunk too deeply into a vulnerable state that we didn’t want to push further. But I was more determined than ever to get additional chances.

Our sodas arrived, and the server gave Shay’s T-shirt a quick, amused look. He was back in his own clothes that I’d washed, and I supposed the “Masochistic Tendencies is an Understatement” text stood out.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” Shay pinched off the wrapper from his straw and stuck it into his Coke. “Poolside laziness first, obviously. Then what? Can I maybe get a grand tour of the haunted playhouse?”

I’d noticed his curiosity when four kinksters had arrived around the same time we’d left. They knew their way around the place and followed the rules, so we didn’t need to be present.

“You’re welcome to check out the club area,” River allowed. “The playrooms, you can see when we use them.”

I took a swig of my iced tea.

“I should have expected such a sadistic response.” Shay sniffed.

I smiled and gave River’s thigh a squeeze under the table.

“I don’t think we have any other plans for the day.” I returned to the topic. “I have to finish the inventory of cleaning supplies and talk to Ivy about this month’s maid service schedule. That’s about it.”

Today was reserved for aftercare and talking. River and I were giving Shay till this afternoon to bring things up at his own pace, and we’d covered some issues already, like his confusion about Littles. We’d also discussed degradation a bit to make sure the boy didn’t believe any of those terms—that we’d used—outside of playtime. It’d been River’s most pressing worry to tackle.

“Tomorrow will be busier.” River poured a packet of sweetener into his iced tea. Why he didn’t just order it sweetened was beyond me. He didn’t even like artificial sweeteners. “We kinda need your thoughts on the group play we’d planned before taking you hostage. Is that something you’re comfortable with?”

Hell, I needed to ask myself if I was comfortable with it at this point. The short answer was yes, but I wouldn’t mind some boundaries.

Shay rested his forearms on the table and drank from the straw as he thought about it. “It’s a straight-up orgy?”

“More or less.” I shifted in my seat and cracked my knuckles absently. “We hang out at the pool and throw some burgers on the grill, drink, and shoot the shit. Then someone usually does something to deserve a beating, and it snowballs from there.”

“Naturally.” Shay smiled stiffly, only to lighten up with a laugh and a shake of his head. “I’ve never experienced anything like that.”

“It’s pretty chill,” I assured him. “No one does anything they’re not comfortable with.”

He hummed. “Who’s attending?”

I exchanged a glance with River before I responded. “Macklin, Lucian, a partner of his… I think Tate is heading out too.”

“Cam,” River added with a quirk of his brow. “He confirmed this morning.”