Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 55099 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55099 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 275(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
“Nashville crew?” Shay cocked his head.
Reese answered. “August, Anthony, and Camden.” He glanced my way. “We have two Augusts in our circle now, so we dubbed the newcomers the Nashville crew. It’s where they spend most of their time.”
“Plus, Ivy’s trying to make Auggie a thing with our original August,” Penelope laughed.
“That ain’t happenin,” River chuckled. “We have one August, and the new one is just King.”
“His last name,” Penelope supplied to me.
I nodded, having met Camden, the Little in their triad—and I’d talked to him online too. August King was a famous chef, and it was possible I had downloaded a couple of his cookbooks. My parents loved Southern cooking.
Camden was one of those guys who looked much younger than he was. I’d guessed not a day over eighteen when we’d met, and then I’d heard he was around thirty.
“So who’s in charge of this next Game?” Shay asked. “I want spoilers.”
“Your Daddy, me, Jack, and August—King,” Penelope clarified.
“And there’ll be no spoilers, slave,” Reese said with a smirk.
Shay scowled.
I snickered. “That’s gonna be so weird. I’ve never attended a TPE event before.”
I’d seen plenty of scenes at play parties, participated in a few too, and I’d observed TPE dynamics, but a whole event revolving around it…?
“What was the primary kink over at Old Town?” River asked me, referring to my previous community.
“Sadomasochism and D/s,” I answered. “Plenty of Bigs and Littles too.”
Reese glanced at me. “But their pain play is different, innit?”
I nodded. “Yes, Sir. There’s no room for primal play, so it’s attracted more Sadists and masochists who get off on regular beatings. Like, strap someone to a cross and so on.”
Reese nodded and looked down as he tinkered on a new song. “Max and Reid are good guys. They should join us here.”
Best idea ever. Toward the end, Lane and I had mostly stayed because of Max and Reid and a couple others.
“Lane said there’s always drama at Old Town,” Shay mentioned.
“All the fucking time,” I confirmed. “We never had a fancy online forum like you guys—Old Town has a Discord server that’s filled with shit-talk, memes, and passive-aggressive digs.”
River sat up a little straighter and gestured his drink at me. “I know how you can contribute to our fancy forum. You can post a recipe for a Swedish gravy we like—it’s unhelpfully called brown sauce.”
I spluttered a laugh. What the fuck?
“Oh yeah, the one we buy at IKEA,” Shay said. “It’s delicious.”
Reese leaned forward and eyed his brother. “The fuck’re you gonna do with a recipe, Riv?”
“Hand it to you.” River didn’t miss a beat.
Penelope and I laughed.
Undeterred, River returned his attention to me. “Have you heard of that sauce?”
“Yes, Sir,” I chuckled. “It’s a staple—and very easy to make. I can get you a recipe.”
River sat back again, pleased as punch. “Fantastic.”
Penelope shifted in her seat, facing me better, and smiled curiously. “Where in Sweden are you from? And before you answer, I should mention I’ve only heard of Stockholm and…I wanna say Lund? I went to grad school with someone from there.”
Huh. That was interesting. “Okay, so both Stockholm and Lund are part of the bottom third of the country—the populated part.” Half a joke. “I’m from there too. I grew up in three towns, first Linköping, then Uppsala, then Ronneby. You may forget the names now.”
She grinned. “Already did.”
I caught River throwing me a pensive expression in the background.
He cleared his throat. “I don’t know a whole lot about Sweden either, but those are military towns, aren’t they?”
If he knew that about Sweden, he might know more than most Swedes did. “Um, sort of,” I answered, nodding slowly. Technically, we didn’t have military towns like the US did, but yes, he was correct in a way. “Uppsala is more known as a university town, but there’s also an Air Force flight school—which is pretty much how you can track my upbringing. We went wherever they sent my dad until he left the service. He’s an engineer.”
Was River military or something? More than that, had he been to Sweden or worked with someone from my country? Otherwise, I couldn’t see why he’d know that.
“Then you’re in good hands at Mclean,” Reese said firmly, pressing a kiss to Shay’s temple. “We love our engineers. Especially if we get to call them slaves and hunt them down.”
I lifted my brows. “I’ll make sure to tell my dad that.”
Penelope cracked up, Shay snickered, and River rumbled a laugh that made him cough around a mouthful of whiskey.
I beamed.
Reese shook his head in amusement. “Definitely a brat. I’ll have a word with Ash before the Game.”
Um, why? “Why would you talk to him?”
“He’ll be your Top for the event, won’t he?”
I nodded.
“So I can make you suffer through him.” He smiled.
I dropped my jaw.
What. The. Fuck?
Penelope smiled too. “Welcome to Mclean House, Nora.”