Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 103033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Before I returned my attention to Dean, I spotted Macklin and Walker coming out from the kitchen, and based on the disarray of the boy’s hair, I could guess what they’d been up to in the office.
Walker was leaving, whereas Macklin was staying for work. He eased right into Tate, Cam, and Gael’s conversation and poured them more wine. Or a mocktail for Gael, who beamed when he received a Sprite with an umbrella and something that slowly dyed the soda blue.
I smiled to myself and kissed Dean’s shoulder. Sitting side by side, we could watch our boy laugh and chat with his new friends all night long if we wanted. It was nearing nine, and the place was almost packed.
“Did you try this one, cariño?” I put a piece of soft Saint Agur on a honey-walnut cracker for him.
He leaned forward. “Feed me.”
I grinned and brought the snack to his lips.
He chewed and nodded slowly. “Almost as good as that other one—which was it with the clementine preserves?”
“The aged cheddar.” I wasn’t surprised to hear he’d liked the preserves; my Werther’s man had one hell of a sweet tooth. The cheese board came with three kinds, clementine preserves, fig jam, and a black cherry conserve. As if that wasn’t enough, Macklin offered crumbled bacon, grapes, the sweetest pears I’d ever tasted, and four types of crackers to go with the eight cheeses.
“Sorry to intrude, fellas.” Walker came over as he buttoned his coat. “Just thought I’d say goodbye. I have another hour or two of work to look forward to.”
Work at this hour? Hell. But I knew both he and Macklin kept busy. It was a good thing Walker’s office was right across the street.
“You work too much, little brother,” Dean said.
“I’ve never heard that before,” Walker chuckled.
“You could listen for a change,” Dean drawled.
“I’m workin’ on it.” Walker smirked. “I have a couple bigger projects about to start, but things won’t be as busy as they were in Boston. That’s something, right?”
Dean wasn’t impressed.
Walker turned to me instead. “What time are y’all headin’ out to Mclean on Thursday?”
I exchanged a glance with Dean. “We said around five…?”
He inclined his head.
“Around five—we’ll grab an early dinner on the way,” I replied to Walker.
He nodded. “I reckon Macklin and I will be there around then, too.”
Yeah, I was definitely excited to see more of him, preferably pressed up against me. Tonight’s innocent peep show in Macklin’s office had just resulted in a few lingering looks between Walker, Dean, and me—nothing said, nothing acted upon—but I sensed we were all looking forward to the event. I wanted to see Macklin and Gael together, Macklin and Dean and Gael, I wanted to be sandwiched between Dean and Walker, and I wanted…shit, a lot of things. Walker had told me quite a bit about Franklin too. He seemed to be an interesting character.
Unbeknownst to our subs, we’d joined a group chat—it included Macklin since he was putting it all together—and we’d exchanged limits and agreed to the safety measures already.
We had a similar chat for the themed event on Saturday, which would be my first. Mclean House Academy. The plans were underway, everything was ready, and our subs kept asking for details online.
Once Walker had left, Dean and I sank back into our little bubble, and I asked if he had any expert advice on how these events worked. I mean, I sure as hell saw the appeal for the Doms who got to taunt the brats by withholding information, and the banter had reached a new level in the online community the last couple of days. But I didn’t wanna be in a brat’s shoes. I wanted to know everything beforehand.
“It’s actually my first event too,” Dean admitted.
“Really?” That was a surprise. “But you’ve been a member for years, haven’t you?”
“I mean for this Game theme they’re doing,” he amended. “I think they started that in June last year—something like that. Maybe July. Either way, I wasn’t here then. The year before, they did more of a demo theme for twelve monthly events. I participated in a few of those.”
Ah, that made more sense. I knew they liked to switch things up at Mclean, something I’d missed in my previous communities. Granted, we’d had occasional events, much like Mclean still ran event nights outside this Game theme, but we’d lacked an upper management that lived and breathed the lifestyle. Now I was finally a part of something like that, and I couldn’t wait to get more involved.
“Did you see Reese’s latest update for the subjects?” Dean asked.
I nodded and chuckled. “It looks like I’m gonna be a PE coach with Greer and Colt.”
He grinned faintly. “I saw that. And to no one’s surprise, I’m a professor in history.”
Along with Kingsley, yeah. It was going to be fun. Holy hell, were we gonna piss off brats.