Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 82034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
“You didn’t want me here at first,” I remind him. He at least has the grace to look chagrined.
Leaning toward me, Dane gives me an understanding look. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to exclude you. I wasn’t sure it was the right thing for you so soon after breaking up with Jamie, but it appears I was wrong.”
The way my shoulders drop in relaxation, I hadn’t realized I was so tense or how important his answer would be to me. I let out a breath of relief and then admit to Dane, “Andrew’s a little bent out of shape about it.”
Dane nodded. “He is, but I told him to accept it and move on.”
“He swore it wouldn’t change our friendship,” I muse as I run my finger over the top of my wineglass.
“It totally changed the friendship, Av,” Dane says, and I blink in surprise as my eyes come back to his.
“What do you mean?” I ask, the fear in my voice evident. I knew it had changed, but I’m afraid Dane knows something more than I do.
“Relax,” he says soothingly as his hand comes to rest on my shoulder, which is bare except for a tiny spaghetti strap. His warm palm on my skin makes me shiver. “The friendship is intact and strong. But there’s no unseeing what he saw that night.”
My body jerks slightly, and Dane’s hand squeezes my shoulder in return. “He told you the details?”
Dane’s eyes glitter with something I would say was dark amusement and his words cause my belly to flip. “I was watching you both. From a private club within that I belong to.”
The immediate heat that flushes from my chest, up my neck, and into my face warms me from within at the realization that both of my best friends watched me have sex. My heart thuds with the realization that I’m slightly turned on by this fact.
Rather than mull over my embarrassment, I tell Dane what I told Andrew yesterday. “It’s empowering. I liked it, and I’m going to continue to come here. In fact, I bought a membership. I don’t think Andrew has quite reconciled any of this, but I hope you can.”
Dane gives a gallant nod of understanding. “Avril… you are a grown, beautiful woman who has always been empowered. You’re just exploring a part of yourself that maybe you ignored.”
“So, you don’t look down on me? Think this is whorish?”
Throwing his head back to laugh, Dane lets me know he finds that ludicrous. When he captures my eyes again, he shakes his head. “Avril… if I thought women coming here made them whorish, I’d never get laid. I think the women who come here and explore their sexuality is the best fucking thing that ever happened to me. Takes a lot of the hard work out of connecting with someone, you know what I mean?”
I know exactly what he means. It’s why I don’t bother mingling with the people in here. I’m allowed to be a confident woman looking to have an amazing sexual experience, and there are hundreds of likeminded people in here all wanting the same thing.
Dane picks up his whiskey and knocks the rest of it back with a huge swallow. He pushes his glass away and shakes his head at the bartender to indicate he doesn’t want another.
He looks back to me and steps in so we are toe to toe. My head has to tilt back so I can maintain eye contact. “One word of advice, though.”
“What’s that?”
“Compartmentalize,” he says simply.
“Excuse me?”
“Keep this separate from the rest of your life,” he explains. “What you do in here is filled with intimacy by the nature of what you’re doing, but when you walk out those doors, it’s done. The single people in here aren’t looking for relationships. The swinging couples in here aren’t looking for a permanent third. Everything in here is fleeting and temporary, so don’t let your heart get tied up.”
“The last thing in the world I’m looking for is a relationship,” I immediately deny, and that’s the complete truth. One of the things I’ve enjoyed the most about my experiences so far—outside the stellar orgasms the likes of which Jamie never gave me—was that I didn’t have to worry about that person when I left them behind.
“I hear you,” Dane says kindly. “I believe you. But the longer you’re here, the more you’ll start developing a friendship of sorts with some of these people. Just remember that’s all it is. Fucking and friendship.”
“Friends with benefits,” I say dryly. “I think I can master that concept.”
Hell, I’d done that plenty of times before over the years as I never quite had the time or the inclination to devote to a true, committed relationship until I met Jamie.
Dane bends down to peer at me a little more closely, seemingly wanting to make sure I believe what I just said. I stare back at him resolutely.