I was about to check the phone to see if the call had been dropped when Caine finally spoke. “I’m sorry, I needed to get somewhere private because I need to know that I understand what you mean. Are you saying that you’re willing to do this, but do you mean that-” he paused, clearing his throat.
“I mean that whether behind closed doors or in public, we’re boyfriends in every sense of the word. If we aren’t compatible, we’ll walk away knowing that we gave it a shot. You get what you want, and I don’t feel like I’m being used.”
“Okay. I, um, you know about my kinks, right?”
I laughed. It was hard not to. I’d reduced Caine to a stuttering mess, which was so out of character for him. It felt good to throw him off his footing. Usually he had that effect on me. “Caine, everyone knows you’re into BDSM. It’s the twenty-first century. Being kinky isn’t as taboo as it was in your day.”
This time, he was the one that laughed. “Couldn’t help getting that dig in, could you?” he teased. “All right. I can agree to that. But you have to let me know if things are too much for you. I know it doesn’t seem like it after how I brought everything up, but I care about you. If you’re overwhelmed, just say so. Promise?”
“I will,” I promised. I turned the key in the door and let myself into my apartment. “So, now that we have that settled, I think we need a redo on that first date.”
“The night is young,” he said. “Have you eaten dinner?”
“I have not, but I have had a few drinks.”
“I’ll pick you up.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Something a little out of the ordinary. Dress comfortably.”
“You mean, I don’t have to wear something from this formal ass wardrobe Alex had sent over?”
“No,” he laughed. “Tonight we’re going to let loose and have fun. We’ll save the formal dinner wear for another time.”
By the Caine pulled up in front of my apartment, my buzz was fading and I was almost shocked at how daring I’d been just an hour earlier. But I’d been honest about my feelings, and I wasn’t about to apologize for standing up for myself. If Caine was going to be with me, he was going to have me at my best and my boldest.
He smiled when I slid into the passenger seat beside him. “You look good,” he said as he pulled onto the street and headed out of the city.
“Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise, but I think you’ll like it. It’s a new place, invitation only.”
I looked down at my jeans and tennis shoes. “Am I underdressed?”
“Not at all.” He indicated his own khakis.
“I think khakis and a nice shirt is a little bit better than jeans and a t-shirt,” I muttered, but I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. I hadn’t ever seen this side of him before.
“You’ll be fine,” he said.
It startled me when he reached across the center console and took my hand. I looked at him, grinning shyly when he made eye contact, then he turned his attention back to the road.
We arrived too soon, and there was no graceful way to exit the car through his side, so I let go of his hand and got out quickly. When I met him on the other side of the car, we held hands again, and walked into the two-story building in the middle of nowhere with a simple sign announcing its name.
“Night Shade?” I said, puzzled.
He opened the door and I was overwhelmed by the lights and riotous sounds. “They couldn’t very well put ‘playground’ in the title. But you’ll see.”
He was right, playground would’ve been a more apt name, but it was better than that.
The place was filled with laughing couples running from place to place, playing arcade games, laser tag, bowling and everything else imaginable. “It’s like one of those kids pizza places,” I said.
“But better,” he countered. He grabbed my hand and tugged me forward, buzzing with energy as we waited in line.
Instead of a cup of tokens, we each got a wristband. We could play any game we liked for two hours. Excited, I led Caine right to the laser tag court, suiting up in blue while he chose the red team. We entered through separate doors, and I was already planning my strategy. If Caine didn’t know that being ultra-competitive was a quirk of mine, he was about to find out.
The room was dark, staged like a fog-filled swamp with fake trees covered in what looked like Spanish moss, and large boulders to hide behind. I found the rest of the blue team quickly, and together, we made our way through the mock forest, shooting members of the red team that dared step out of their hiding places.
When I saw Caine crouched behind a tree, I held my hand out to my teammate, then pointed to myself. He nodded, backing away and heading, with the three guys that had survived this far into the course, in search of more red team members and the finish line.
I circled around until I was behind Caine, then I put the laser gun into his back and pulled the trigger.
When his lights flashed then died, he turned and put his hands in the air in defeat. His mouth spread in a huge smile when he realized it was me. “You caught me,” he teased, then he reached out and cupped my cheek in the darkness.
His hand was warm against my skin, the fog swirling around us and muting the sounds that bled through the walls from the arcade beyond. It was surreal and for a moment, I felt like I was underwater. When his lips grazed mine I gasped, but then he pulled me closer, and deepened the kiss. His mouth was hot, his arms strong around me. The kiss was quick, almost tentative, and when he pulled away, I melted into his embrace. My lips tingled and my heart beat wildly in my ears.
A red team member appeared out of nowhere, shrugged when he saw us, then blasted me away before he ran off to find the others. I laughed and we made our way to the finish line.
“Looks like we tied,” Caine teased me when we left the laser tag area.
My grin was wide and wicked. “That tie won’t last for long.” Then I grabbed his hand and we hurried to the arcade, where I spent the next hour slaughtering him on everything from skee-ball to bumper cars. By the time we left, we were both exhausted and I was feeling a renewed sense of hope. The day before still weighed heavy on my heart but seeing Caine out of his element was like a breath of fresh air. I still worried that my brother would turn out to be right, but I pushed that aside. As long as I focused on having fun, it kept the doubts at bay.
I just wondered if Caine was feeling the same way I was.
9
Caine
It was almost lunchtime the next day when I called Shelton, eager to give him the news. He sounded groggy when he answered, which made me chuckle. “I thought I was the older one,” I teased. “Did I wear you out last night?”
A soft laugh then a hiss of pain. “I’m a little hungover,” he muttered. “And you’re a little peppy.”
I laughed. He was right. I was excited. Too excited to wait any longer to tell him what I’d read. “I’ll bet. Listen, I’ll let you get back to sleep, but I wondered if you saw it?”
“Saw what?”
“The article.”