Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
“You want something other than water?” Greer asked.
I came to a stop a few feet away from the short line and shook my head.
“You stay here. I’ll get it,” he said.
I was too out of breath to speak, and I couldn’t shake the unease from our conversation. Worrying for nothing, worrying for nothing. I kept repeating those words to myself, all while wondering why I was being such a stick-in-the-mud. Because even though I’d always been somewhat traditional with my relationship thinkin’, I felt almost rigid now.
But it was Kit. He made the difference. I was literally more than twice his age, and I guessed it brought a bit of worry to think he might change his mind. Which—fucking of course he would. Me at twenty-two was nothing like me at forty-five.
I scrubbed my hands over my face and turned away from the people.
There came a time in every relationship with a significant age difference when the partners had to consider the future more seriously. When someone acknowledged that, when Kit was forty-five, I’d be nearing seventy. And that was just an epic clusterfuck of anxiety that formed a fist around my gut. Christ almighty.
Then I heard Luke’s voice in my head. It was over twenty years till then.
“Fuck,” I exhaled.
I looked up between the trees. Traffic on one side, the river on the other. Yet, we had this sliver of nature in the middle of the city, where children played with a dog and mothers hollered to the kids that their cocoa was getting cold.
In the end, as long as we made it that far… I had to think of the grand scheme of things. If I held Kit back, I might not get to whoop his ass at forty-five.
Fuck, I bet he’d be just as cute then. I could practically picture him. And us. With graying hair and laugh lines, his smile would still be boyish. His eyes would still show mischief.
I cleared my throat and swallowed hard.
I wasn’t gonna worry. It was fucking stupid. I’d done the same with Luke in the beginning, what with me being away on deployments and all. Those two—they were the only ones who had that power over me.
What was even stupider was when I shared some of the fears we’d worked so hard to eliminate with Kit. How many times had I told him to relax and have a little faith? We were gonna make it. We were fantastic together. We loved each other so goddamn hard. And here I was, doubting, worrying…
When, in reality, I wasn’t sure I had anything to worry about at all. Not more than what was okay. The future wasn’t written in stone, and it wasn’t supposed to be. I didn’t want it to be either.
It was true what Luke and I had told Kit. We’d struggled to connect with Littles in the past. We’d had a hard time finding someone we had good chemistry with. But that didn’t mean Luke and I hadn’t been able to let go and have some fun with buddies from time to time, even though it’d been years. Greer wasn’t the only Top whose cock Luke had deep-throated while I’d fucked him from behind. Who’s to say we couldn’t do that now? Particularly if we had a boy curious about exploring group play.
Finally, I got my breathing under control. Heart rate returned to normal.
I felt better by the time Greer appeared with two overpriced bottles of water.
“Don’t tell me what it cost,” I said. “Just take money from my wallet when we get back.”
He chuckled and took a swig of his.
I followed suit, not stopping until I’d chugged half the bottle.
“I’m sorry if I came on too strong earlier, buddy.”
I shook my head and wiped my mouth. “You didn’t. I needed to get my head screwed on right, is all. You have almost ten years with a person, and suddenly you’re a pro at a new relationship with another.”
Unfortunately, life didn’t work that way. I was still a beginner with Kit.
“Easy to get blinded, I bet,” he said. “For what it’s worth, I’ve never gotten the impression that Kit wants to open your relationship.”
Neither had I. Which was why it was extra vital I didn’t hold him back or suffocate him. Especially with rules I didn’t fucking want to apply anyway. Group play could be fucking intoxicating in the best way—provided we trusted the people we played with.
After finishing my water, I threw the bottle in the nearest recycling bin. “So…as a Dom in those situations—when Corey or Archie come to you wantin’a play with someone else, how do you go about it?”
Greer smirked a little. “I check my own interest. If it’s there, I approach the Top of the little one Corey wants to get down and dirty with, and if Colt agrees, that’s what we’ll do.”