“What kind of expectations?” I asked carefully.
Do they think I’m going to fuck something up? Or go and fall in love with them?
I might not have been the smartest guy, but I wasn’t going to get confused and ask them to marry me.
I sucked on my teeth and glanced between them, my muscles tensing defensively.
“Nothing serious,” Rory reassured me. He caught my eye, and a little of the tension faded away. “We just wanted to make a few things clear.”
“Okay,” I answered, then took another drink from my beer.
“First,” Franklin said, “we don’t want this to interfere with your work at all. However things go and whatever you decide for yourself, I’ll be happy to pay you for the rest of the work we have planned. You understand that?”
I nodded. “Yeah, of course.” The idea that I could feel pressured by a sweetheart like Franklin was kind of cute, actually, and I felt weirdly touched that he wanted to clarify that.
Annoying fucking emotions.
“This is a new thing for us to do,” Rory said. “And with Ava in our life, we’re not available for very much.”
“Right,” I said quickly, figuring that was part of this. “Me, too. I mean, I’m just looking to have some fun. Casual, right?” I sucked on my teeth again, just to force myself to stop rambling.
“If that works for you,” Rory said. “That works for us.”
I nodded and tried not to bunch up my shoulders with anxiety.
God, why does talking about this feel so intense? No wonder none of those other guys wanted to do it.
“Does that mean I’m getting laid tonight?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
Rory blurted out a laugh.
“What?” I added. “Direct has worked for me so far, hasn’t it?”
He leaned forward and let his voice fall. “You might get lucky, young man,” he said with a growl. “If you behave yourself.”
My dick got stiff, and I bit down on my bottom lip. “Yes, Sir,” I whispered back, the word feeling forbidden on my lips.
Rory smiled warmly, still holding my eye. “One other thing.”
I cocked my head. “Yeah?”
He turned to Franklin, who set his glass down. “We thought it might be a good idea to stop having dates at our house, at least until we’re more used to having a kid around.”
“Oh, sure,” I said quickly, “that makes sense. No problem.”
Although my gut did tighten. I kind of loved being at their house, and hearing Franklin say that confirmed what I had been feeling.
Side piece it is, I thought.
Not that I minded. It was all I was aiming for in the first place.
We finished our drinks and headed across the street for our reservation. The building was right on the opposite corner, and a gigantic sign had been attached to the side of it to advertise the ride. Franklin got worked up talking about it as we walked in, explaining something about a racing simulator that he had read on the website of the exhibition, but that he didn’t seem to totally understand.
“The car itself isn’t made out of holograms,” Rory said sweetly at one point. “I think you might have read that wrong.”
I grinned and followed along, passing by machine-like displays, moving steel parts and spinning wheels crossing over digital displays of alien landscapes.
It was dizzying, weird, and fucking cool looking.
“Hot shit!” I laughed. “This is going to spin me around, isn’t it?”
“Should I be worried?” Rory asked. “I feel like I shouldn’t have had that beer.”
Franklin laughed, then casually rested his hand on the small of my back as we walked around a corner. I sucked in a breath when I felt his touch, then sighed when he took his hand away.
As we entered the main room, and I saw the futuristic car in front of me, surrounded by screens and projections, I could really only think about one thing.
I was going to bring the daddies home tonight and finally get what I was after.
Chapter Thirteen
Rory
“My sister is out for the night,” Asher said, pushing the door to the apartment open. “It’s her place and pretty much all her stuff. My crap is still in storage in Los Angeles.” He flipped on a light, then gestured. “You get the vibe.”
I chuckled. “I do get the vibe.” Black leather couches, end tables made out of metal and glass, and only minimal decorations, like a few framed photographs and a giant ash tray that looked unused. It was stylish, even if a little bare for my taste.
“You want a drink?” he asked.
“Just water,” Frankie answered.
“I’d take a beer,” I said, “if you have it.”
Asher headed into the kitchen, and I turned to Frankie. Suddenly, what we were doing became much more real.
“I can’t believe we’re actually going through with this,” he said.
“Do you feel good?” I asked him, resting my hand on his bicep. He felt warm to my touch, and a charge of desire shot through my core.
He nodded. “I’m excited.”
We’d had a few occasions to talk about what the whole thing meant to him. A side of Frankie we’d never seen before had opened up when Asher appeared. With me, he was still the same guy, cuddly and submissive and eager to please. And he still got kinky sometimes, indulging some of our shared fantasies.
But with Asher, Frankie became bolder, more dominant. He took control in a way that startled me, almost like those first days after he opened the shop, when a new reserve of confidence had opened up within him.
It was hot.
“Me, too,” I agreed.
Asher returned with the drinks, then took a seat on one of the couches, gesturing for us to do the same.
He looked delectable. He was trying to keep up the cocky act he liked so much, and I could tell from the glint in his eyes that he might still shoot his mouth off at any minute. But from the pink on his cheeks and the way he kept chewing on his puffy lip, I could tell he was nervous, too.
I placed my hands on my knees as I sat and trained my eyes straight on Asher. My cock thickened as he kept my gaze. I remembered when I was first dating Franklin, and I didn’t know all of his kinks yet.
What an endless pleasure it was, discovering them.
Wouldn’t be too hard, I figured, to get Asher talking.
“Now that you have us at your place,” I said evenly, “what do you think is going to happen, Asher?”
Frankie let out a soft growl, and Asher sucked in a fast breath.
Considering we’d already come over, I saw no reason to beat around the bush.
Asher curled his fingers against his black denim pants. I kept him captured in my gaze, holding him steady and feeling the electricity sizzle in the air between us.
“What will you do?” I asked.
Asher licked his lips, then turned his eyes to Frankie. “I think I’m going to do whatever Franklin wants me to do,” he said.
Frankie let out another groan, and I chuckled. “That’s right,” I said. I took a drink of beer, then set the bottle on the coffee table as I rose to my feet. “Good boy.”
Asher’s eyes widened as I stood above him. Frankie rose as well and stood beside me. Beneath us, Asher tightened his hands into fists.