Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 58090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 290(@200wpm)___ 232(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
“Are you nervous?” I ask him because I certainly am.
He glances over at me. “I don’t get nervous.”
“That can’t be true. I’m sure you get nervous about some things. Remember the senior play? You were nervous before performing.”
He shakes his head. “I hated that Coach made us perform in Romeo and Juliet. I seriously didn’t want to be in it.”
“You were a phenomenal Friar Laurence.”
He rolls his green eyes playfully. “Yeah, sure. And to answer your question, yes, I remember, and no, I wasn’t nervous.”
“Liar.”
He must have been nervous. I had only a small part as Lady Montague, and I couldn’t stop shaking before the performance.
We draw nearer to the large gazebo at the back of the park, and I spy people sitting at the picnic tables. They all look…normal. Not a gimp suit in sight.
There are two men in button-down dress shirts and black pants talking to a woman in a shirt that says Mom’s Off Duty.
A few other people mingle around the table, all dressed in regular clothing. I’m the only person who looks like something out of Halloween.
“Let’s go back to your Jeep.” I stop walking.
Paxton halts his steps and twines his fingers with mine, his green eyes shining in the sun’s light. “Hart, you’re going to be fine. Where’s your notebook?”
I glance back at the vehicles in the lot. “Oh, I left it in the Jeep.”
“I’ll run back and get it. Go save us a seat.” He drops my hand and takes off for his Jeep.
Before I can sprint after him, a feminine voice says, “He’s cute,” from behind me.
I spin around and spot a brunette with big blue eyes.
“Is he your boyfriend?” she asks.
I shake my head, but I don’t want her to think Paxton is available to do BDSM activities with her. One thing Google said about community munches is this is a place where people meet to perform BDSM scenes with. It’s also a place for like minded folk to meet and discuss BDSM. “He’s with me, yes.” There. I didn’t lie.
She holds out her hand. “I’m Natalie. Is this your first munch?”
I visibly relax. “Yes, I’m quite nervous.”
She pushes her black-rimmed glasses further up her nose with a sweet smile. “Oh, don’t be. We don’t bite,” she leans closer, “unless you want us to.” She winks and walks off toward the gazebo.
I don’t want to draw attention to myself by standing here rooted to the grass, so I follow her and take a seat at an empty picnic table. Most days, I hate peopling, but I need to put that aside and be friendly to learn all I can about this lifestyle. If I could do some interviews that would also be a big help too.
Thankfully, I don’t have to people alone because Paxton returns. He settles in next to me and places my composition notebook and pen in front of me.
I open the book to the first page and write Community Munch at the top. “I’m ready.”
“You’re so cute,” Paxton says. “It’s like we’re in high school English class all over again and you’re ready to take notes on Beowulf.”
“And just like in English class, you can copy my notes later.”
“I was never good with poetry.”
“I’m surprised you remember Beowulf is a poem.”
He offers a quick burst of laughter. “Oh, is it? I was just guessing.” Paxton smiles at me, and then focuses his attention on a man in a suit with dark hair who sits across from us.
“Do you know him?”
Paxton shakes his head. “No, but I don’t like the way he’s looking at you. It’s like you’re on his menu and he wants to gobble you up.”
I glance at the man in a suit. “I don’t think he’s looking at me.” I can literally see the man’s eyeballs fixed on Natalie.
“Not right now, but he was. If he does it again, I might go over there and punch him.”
My jaw drops. “Paxton, you can’t do that.”
Paxton shifts and a scowl replaces his smile from earlier. “Watch me.”
I place my hand on his arm. “You can’t go around punching people.”
“Well, he better not look at you again.”
A warm and fuzzy feeling spreads throughout me from Paxton’s possessiveness. I’m sure I wouldn’t be feeling this way if he got up and punched the man in his face, but I know Paxton and I know he wouldn’t do that. At least, I hope he won't.
“Hi,” an older man with blond hair says. “I’m Woody Davies, one of the organizers here today. Are you Hartford?”
“Yes, I am,” I say, breathing a sigh of relief. “I called the organizer before coming,” I say to Paxton. I shake Woody’s hand and feel instantly better about being here. You know how you can just tell somebody’s a good person when you meet them? I instantly get a good feeling about this man.