Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 114284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
I laughed. That was definitely true. They were so strapped for time, and they handled our community without much outside help. More often than not, we ended up with a regular play party that required minimal planning. And in a community packed with Sadists and masos, kinksters like Nora didn’t get much space for their core fetishes.
“Well, I’ll definitely talk to Macklin tonight,” I promised.
I had to present my stupid “homework” to him anyway.
Nora and I finished our workout half an hour later, and I threw my towel around my shoulders and grabbed my water bottle. Then we took the elevator up to the ground floor where I walked her out.
This was our thing. She came to my building a couple times a week for a free workout at our gym, and she hooked me up with free food for my snakes. Win-win.
“What’s your name on the Mclean site?” I asked, holding the door open for her. Jesus, it was fucking frigid outside.
She stepped out and aimed her key fob at her car to unlock it. “NoraOfTheNorth, one word.”
I grinned. “I’ll add you later.”
“Cool beans. Have fun with your hot Dom tonight.” She smirked and started walking backward to her car. “And his husband? And the guy you can’t stop thinking about from Florida? Will he be there too?”
I groaned internally. “I never should’ve told you about either of them.”
“But you did.” She did the dorkiest thing; she grinned cheekily and gave me fucking finger guns.
I just shook my head.
A moment later, I was back in the elevator on my way up to my floor, and I focused intensely on work so that my mind didn’t wander to Ty. Or Macklin and Walker, for that matter. Work, work, work. I was expecting seven new comic strips from Corey by the end of the day for next week’s updates, I had to run some Instagram ads, and I had to go out to Fairfax to accept a delivery and do some inventory.
Most of the merchandise I sold with Corey’s designs was print-on-demand and required zero work from us—other than uploading the designs. But he did have a website with a shop too, and that one needed an update. Many of the items had been sold out before the holidays.
At some point, Corey and I needed to sit down and discuss our next step too. I’d lost count of the schools and organizations that wanted Corey to visit, whether it was because neurodiverse students wanted to meet him or for some event-type thing, but I knew my cousin. What was best for the growth of our business wasn’t necessarily best for his well-being. Or mine.
On the other hand, branching out a little might be the investment we needed in order to secure our immediate future. Because if Corey’s followers lost interest and moved on to other things, we’d be out of jobs. And let’s face it, I’d grown very comfortable with my position. The money was good too.
We didn’t have anything to worry about right now. He was still gaining hundreds of new followers every day, and we had plans to introduce a new comic strip on his Twitter in a few months. He just had to convince me to be the co-writer first. I was on the fence. I wasn’t a fucking writer.
Leaving the elevator, I dug out my keys and—
“Well, well, well.”
Fuck.
I suppressed a sigh and spotted Corey outside my door.
“Look who got a tan and fucked Ty Madison,” he taunted.
I’d been hoping to avoid this for a while longer…
“To be fair, he did the fucking.” I unlocked the door and stepped inside, and Corey followed. “I’m surprised you’re in town.”
“I’m only packing a new bag.” He smiled goofily. “Greer’s picking me up after work.”
I checked the time. After work—and it was lunchtime now. Safe to say, Corey wasn’t returning to his new kinky farm until he’d gotten his answers.
“Where are Greer, Sloan, and Archie when I need them?” I mused. They should be here right now to swoop Corey away.
“Greer and Sloan are at work, and Archie’s at home,” he responded frankly.
At home.
I smiled to myself and trailed into the kitchen. He really did view Winchester as his home now. That made me happy. Unlike me, he’d never turned his condo in this building into something he loved. He had books piled on the floor, nothing on the walls, and very little furniture.
My home was my haven. Even more so now that my sister had moved out, leaving me one entire room for my pets. My little jungle escape with clinging vines, succulents, terrariums, one fish tank, and comfortable lighting. I had one comfy chair in there too, where I spent more time than I did in the living room.
“Sooo…shall we start from the beginning?” Corey asked.
First things first. I held up a food container. “You eating here?”