Breathless (The Game 3)

That was interesting.

“That’ll be something to keep an eye on.” I scratched my forehead, hoping there wouldn’t be drama. “Oh, and a buddy of ours from the community who hosts the White Rose parties. Everyone calls him Santiago.”

Shay coughed around a mouthful of soda and reached for a napkin.

My radar went off at the first sight of…something…in his eyes. Something akin to embarrassment or awkwardness.

River tilted his head. “Do you know him, pup?”

“No.” Shay wiped his mouth and the small spill he’d made on the table. “I know who he is, I guess. The night I talked to you—I was gonna approach him if y’all weren’t interested.”

I see. There was a twinge of discomfort in my chest, but it faded quickly.

“If wax play is your thing, you should talk to him,” River said.

I shot him an irritated look. Why was he giving away our boy before he was even ours? Couldn’t we establish a goddamn dynamic first?

I couldn’t stay silent. “Before you make any decisions on tomorrow,” I told Shay, “I’d like to talk about the three of us establishing an arrangement. Otherwise, I won’t be able to relax tomorrow.”

The surprised but sweetly shy look in Shay’s eyes was a good sign, but River’s fingers suddenly digging into my thigh weren’t.

“What?” I frowned at him.

River gave me a pointed look that, for once, I couldn’t read.

“Um, our food is here,” Shay said.

Perfect timing, because while he focused on being polite to the server, River could lean in and speak for only me to hear.

“Wise up, Reese. We can’t start anything before we’ve come clean.”

Goddammit.

He was right.

A burst of frustration bolted through me, because suddenly everything felt like it had been handled in the wrong order. My MO was to spit it all out and go from there, but we were in a crowded diner, and Shay was a flight risk. On the other hand, I wanted to believe he would see things from our side too.

After the server left, I stared at my burger plate and listened with one ear as Shay circled back to the topic of tomorrow and admitted that he was interested. It sounded hot, he said. And then he confessed that while he wouldn’t mind exploring with others, he wanted something that was just “ours,” and I probably shouldn’t find such a confession sweet as hell, but I fucking did. It gave me hope and made me want.

I wanted to own that boy.

There was an insane chemistry between us; Shay had to feel it. As did River. Or they were both fucking blind.

“I like that,” River admitted with a nod. “We can relax and have fun, but we’ll save something that’ll only be ours.”

“Are you sure?” Shay bit his lip. “I don’t want y’all to feel restricted by me.”

“We wouldn’t—we won’t.” The words tumbled out of me, and part of me wanted to slide out of this side of the booth and join his. Jesus fucking Christ, I didn’t know how to act anymore. I’d known I was a Daddy Dom for over fifteen years, yet this young man drew it out of me in a way I couldn’t describe.

“Reese.” There was a hint of warning in River’s tone.

I didn’t care. He knew I couldn’t hold back. He knew I was going to open my big mouth.

I knew just where to begin too. “Shay, do you remember yesterday during the scene when we told you we knew about your family?”

River sighed.

Shay furrowed his brow and picked up his burger. “Um…I think so. It rings a bell.” He bit into his burger, then cocked his head. “How do you know about them?”

We’d been expecting that question yesterday. When it hadn’t arrived, we’d known he was too far gone.

“We looked you up,” I replied honestly. His chewing slowed down, and I went back to the beginning. “As the heads of our community, we have a responsibility. Our options were to exclude you to protect our members, or to help you and—hopefully—protect you too. We chose the latter.” I cleared my throat and leaned back in my seat. “The fire where you lost your parents and sister was one of the first things we came across in our search.”

He dropped his gaze to the table and set down his burger.

“I didn’t dig any deeper than that,” River went on. “I noticed that you didn’t have many friends listed on your social media accounts and that your activity ceased almost overnight two years ago.”

Shay flinched, and his jaw ticked with tension.

It was to be expected, but it didn’t stop me from worrying. A rock of unease fell into the pit of my stomach.

“You, uh…” River made a face. “You have a very Google-friendly name. The articles about the fire popped up right away.”

“I understand this might sound unbelievable right now, Shay,” I said, “but we tried to be mindful of your privacy. We didn’t extract any of the information you gave us when you signed up to be a member.” Not only because it was illegal. “We just used your name, and our only goal was to see if we could get a glimpse of why you would seek out pain for the wrong reasons.”