Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Oh, that sounded terrible…well, the communication skills part, at least.
“I’m not going to write letters about my feelings.” Brady’s mother had some great ideas and some frustrating ones…and her insistence on us writing letters when we hurt each other’s feelings was a terrible one.
Cash shook his head. “Me neither.”
Downstairs Guy’s lips quirked but he managed not to smile. “Deal. We’ll talk things out so I can reward good boys.”
Rewards?
Ignoring the rest seemed like the best idea, or at the very least the less stressful. “Like Brady gets rewards when he cleans up his toys?”
Downstairs Guy finally smiled again and it looked like he thought we were cute, not actually funny. “I’m thinking something on the more grown-up end of the reward scale, like kisses or special dates or orgasms.”
He said it like it was so…
“But we’re fair, right?” Cash’s question made it sound like Downstairs Guy had broken his brain.
He should’ve been arguing about this.
At least, I thought he should have.
One of us definitely should have been arguing about it.
“Yes.” Downstairs Guy looked very pleased about something, but this time his smile seemed…wicked. “We’re going to keep things fair but that doesn’t mean identical. You might like a reward that Gareth doesn’t. But you’ll both get rewards you enjoy when you’re good boys for me.”
What was he thinking that made him look at us like that?
Had we done something to already earn a reward?
How was that going to work?
How would I know when I’d been good?
If I got rewards for being good, did I get punished for being bad?
What would being punished look like?
If spankings weren’t punishments, would we have to stand in the corner and pout like Brady?
Would Cash even agree to that?
Licking his lips, Cash nodded. “Like communication.”
“That’s right.” Downstairs Guy looked pleased and almost hungry like he wanted to kiss Cash again. “It’s not always easy but it’s important.”
Something passed between the two of them, but it was gone before I could figure it out. I would’ve obsessed over it but I already had a lot to focus on…like why hadn’t Cash figured out the punishments part of the “good and naughty” equation.
What was distracting him so much that he missed out on a very important piece?
“I don’t approve of corporal punishments.” The stupid words popped out before my brain could stop them.
I sounded like Brady spouting off something random because he’d done the first half of the conversation in his head, but Downstairs Guy didn’t seem to think it was weird.
He took it seriously and shook his head. “No, if we’re exploring spankings with you, we won’t use them as punishments. There are a lot of ways to correct a sub’s behavior that aren’t things like corporal punishment. I don’t want you worried about that.”
He didn’t need to worry.
I was going to obsess over the sub comment first.
I wasn’t Brady.
Explaining that seemed harder than it should have, though. Nothing felt quite right and it didn’t make enough sense. I had questions, but nothing I wanted to actually ask, and luckily none of them randomly popped out that time.
“Okay.” Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. “Um, when are we going to hang out?”
Moron.
Wimp.
But I was a moron wimp who’d made the weird neighbor happy?
“I’ve got a ton of studying and some work to do this afternoon or I’d take you out right now, but how about dinner tonight?” He glanced between us, looking curious but still smiling. “We’ll have dinner and do something fun, and it won’t give you too much time to overthink it.”
He really did know us entirely too well.
“Fun is important.” Cash’s random response had me giving up on anything helpful coming out of his mouth.
“It really is.” Downstairs Guy’s wicked grin was back and aimed at both of us.
My body didn’t seem to know what to make of that and was sending weirdly mixed signals between my brain, my dick, and the rest of me. But if my brain was saying Brady would approve and my dick liked his smile, did it really matter that the rest of me was confused?
“I can’t wait.” Downstairs Guy’s smile had me deciding that my brain and my dick were the most important parts. “One more kiss and then the books have to win my attention for the time being.”
With that announcement, he quickly rose and gave both of us another kiss on the cheek, innocent and distracting all at the same time, and then bounced toward the door in long strides. “I’ll be back at six. We’ll just do something casual, but you both have great asses for jeans if you want to distract me.”
And then he was gone…taking nearly all my brain cells with him.
What had happened?
Did I have a date with Downstairs Guy and Cash?
Chapter 3
Cashel
As the whirlwind strode right out the door, the living room felt oddly empty and heavy. I wanted to say something important or at least ask Gareth if he’d realized what he’d agreed to, but that just wouldn’t come out.