Troy chuckled and turned pink. “They’re maligning me, Sir. There was a miscommunication.”
Geoff cackled. “A miscommunication. Trav totally flipped the wrong breaker and fried our cook.”
“I wasn’t trying to kill him…mostly.” Travis tossed a throw pillow at Troy, who caught it and winged it back.
“A little decorum, please, boys.” Doc’s deep voice was soft, but somehow a carried through the room anyway. He caught Doc’s grin. “Don’t consider those two role models of any sort, Ben.”
“No, Master. I won’t.”
Saul caught the wide-eyed, vaguely horrified look Ben gave Troy. Troy winked at the inexperienced sub, gave him a thumbs up.
His boy was a mischief maker. How charming.
“It’s obviously been too long since you had a good spanking, boy. How tempting.” He reached over and laid a hand on Troy’s shoulder.
It would have been worth it, just for the utter shock on everyone’s face, but when he heard the tiny little moan, felt Troy shiver? It was perfect.
He felt a little surge of his own, too. It lifted his shoulders and stroked his ego as he realized he needn’t have doubted himself. He was right where he should be. He stroked a hand over Troy’s bald head and took a swig of his beer.
“Who is that guy?” He heard Kris ask Matt softly.
“He’s the guy I told you ran Carter over on his bike. We’re going to see him at his bike shop later in the week.” Matt kept touching Kris constantly, as if he were soothing a wounded beast. “I want to get us wheels.” Kris opened his mouth, but Matt hushed him with a finger. “Trust me, boy.”
All he could think was thank goodness they had this. Without this level of trust where would Kris be right now? Matt was exactly what the boy needed in this moment.
He looked around as the conversation picked up again, watching all the different ways these guys interacted with each other, with their subs. They were so comfortable and casual, familiar. Fascinating.
David caught his eye. “Troy was very tight-lipped about your date the other night, Saul. But it seems like things went well?”
“We had a very nice evening, thank you.” If Troy wasn’t sharing, he wasn’t going to tell tales either. This was Troy’s turf; these weren’t his friends… yet.
“Sue said you didn’t love her concoction, Troy.” Geoff grinned over. “You didn’t like the peanut butter and mint?”
“That was your fault?”
Geoff fluttered his eyelashes.
Troy shook his head. “I will get you back, man.”
“That was the most disgusting-sounding drink ever, and she handed it to you with a completely straight face? That’s awesome. Geoff, you had to see the look when he took a sip. But he didn’t complain at all. Not a word. On the way out, all he said was ‘too much mint.’ That was a pretty good prank.”
Troy chuckled softly. “Just remember who cooks your lunch five days a week, hmm? I wield mad amounts of power with my spatula. Mad.”
“Mad power? Oh, honey. Let’s remember who your boss is, shall we?” Geoff shot back, looking so smug.
“He never forgets.” Carter joined in the conversation. “And I swear to God, if you two get into another practical joke war, I will beat you both. I still don’t have the superglue off the bedroom ceiling.”
“The ceiling!” Geoff’s eyes went wide, his expression horrified. “Forget the ceiling, I was peeling it off of my shoes for a week.”
Saul just listened to the banter. He had so much to learn about Troy, and how the guy interacted with people was telling.
Doc sighed. “Just cover your ears, boy.”
“But, Master, I was there the night that Troy discovered there was Icy Hot in his lube…”
“Boy.” Doc tried to sound stern but was having a hard time keeping a straight face now too, and the giggles were peppered around the room.
“You’re kidding.” Saul glanced down at Geoff and then back at Troy. “How did that feel?”
“Well, at first it was okay—tingling. Then it stopped being okay. I can tell you that the heat made me clench like a nun’s fist around a ruler.” Troy’s voice was dry as dust. “And it took twenty minutes to pant through it and get the plug out.”
There was no stopping the gasps and the laughter in the room. “Oh. Shit.” Saul tried not to join in, he really did, but he lost it when Geoff spoke up.
“Nobody touches my shoes.”
Even Kris was howling with mirth, and, as they all laughed, Saul felt like he could belong here, with these men.
He meant it when he said Troy needed a spanking though, and he was going to keep a very close eye on Geoff.
8
“So, are you having a good time?”
“Shut up, Geoff.” Troy tossed over a dishcloth. “Dry dishes and be good.”
Geoff caught the cloth and popped him with it. “I am good! Are you going to give him a lift home?”
“I was gonna offer, yeah.” He had felt more…present? He thought that was it. He’d laughed, he’d played, and those random little touches had given him goosebumps. “I sort of was thinking that I’d invite him over for a drink. Bad idea?”
Geoff smiled at him. “No, I don’t think it’s a bad idea at all. But have you thought about why you want to invite him in?”
“I like him.” And Saul seemed to like him. And it had been a long time, right? He wasn’t going to go all cradle-robbing and seduce Saul, after all.
“Yes, I can see that. He likes you too. Do you want him?” Geoff leaned on the counter and looked at him.
“God yes, but…You know how long it’s been since I thought about getting naked with someone?” A long fucking time.
“I’m just saying if you invite him in… he’s what, twenty-five? Tops? Saul’s different, I know, but he is still a young man. He might just assume…”
Troy wasn’t sure what Geoff was warning him off of. “Just speak your mind, honey. Do you think I’m making a mistake?”
“I’m asking you if you plan to fuck him or tell him no. I just think you should know the answer before that drink.”
“I don’t intend to tell him no, if he asks. If he doesn’t want to and if I’ve had a drink or two, I’ll put him in the guest room. Fair enough?” Maybe he’d just take Saul home and go home and jack off in the shower.
“Troy?”
He turned at the sound of his name. “Hey, Kris. You heading home?”
“I am. So, I owe you an apology in a major way.”
He waved the words away. “We all have our moments. No worries.”
“Thanks. This will get better.” Kris gave him a smile. “Your new Master seems like a nice guy. I’m happy for you.”
“Thank you.” He didn’t bother with details. Kris had enough shit to deal with on his own.
“Hey, Kris, let me see you guys out.” Geoff stepped around him and followed Kris down the hall. Saul appeared in the kitchen a second later. He didn’t think that was a coincidence.