Page 57 of Edging Coach
He laughed, which lit up the whole room and… really should have made my heart flutter. But it didn’t.
Come on, enthusiasm. Where are you?
Unaware of my stupid thoughts, he shrugged. “Can’t really control the weather, can you?”
“My life would be a lot easier if I could.”
“You and me both.” He gestured at the counter. “Let me buy you a coffee.”
His statement, rather than asking if he could buy me a coffee, tripped me up, but only for a second. It was a Dom thing, I’d read. Made sense, and it was a pretty minor thing, so I nodded and thanked him.
But I also felt weird about it and I didn’t know why. I wanted a Dom. I liked Sanjay. Why shouldn’t something like this sit right?
And why was I so sure I’d have a very different reaction to Devon doing the same thing?
I rolled my shoulders to mask a shiver. I was here to meet another Dom and move on from Devon. I was doing?—
My breath hitched so suddenly I nearly squeaked.
I was doing what Devon told me to do.
Fucking hell.
“Jack?” Sanjay gestured at the barista, who was watching us expectantly. “What would you like?”
“Oh.” I shook myself and requested a latte.
As she started making the drinks, Sanjay nodded toward a table by the windows. “I’ll bring everything over.”
I was halfway across the coffee shop before I realized he’d tacitly ordered me to take a seat and wait for him.
And I was pulling out the chair when I realized why that made me queasy.
It doesn’t feel right taking orders from someone who isn’t Devon.
God, that was stupid.Iwas stupid. This was why I was here—because Devon was right that I was latching on to the first Dom who’d made me submit. Once I realized other Doms could fill that role, I’d be able to move forward and stop thinking fireable thoughts about a hockey player.
Maybe the longer I spent with Sanjay, the more right this would feel. I’d already obeyed him twice without much thought; the more he gently asserted his dominance, the more I would slide into the role of his submissive. The less it would feel like taking orders from the other team’s coach. Or something. Whatever. It wasn’t like any of this made sense, so why start now?
Sanjay appeared and put a latte down in front me of me. He took the other seat, and he pulled a teabag from his own cup and put it on the saucer.
“So.” He met my gaze. “I’m curious about some things on your profile. Now that we’re face-to-face.”
“Oh. Uh. Okay. Sure.” Right to the chase, apparently. I usually hated small talk, so I should’ve been relieved, but I was so nervous and off-balance right now, I kind of wanted the small talk. Just something to let my brain buffer and settle into meeting this new man. Thisnew Dom.
Devon ordered me to kiss him when we both knew I shouldn’t, and I did.
Sanjay told me to let him buy me a coffee, and I was an overthinking mess.
Jesus Christ. What was wrong with me?
Mercifully oblivious to my ridiculous brain, Sanjay sipped his tea. “Your profile says bondage is off the table.”
Fresh nervousness crackled along the length of my spine. “Yes. It is. It’s, a, um…” I squirmed uncomfortably in the chair. “It’s a hard limit.”
“Is that something you’d mind talking about?” He inclined his head. “I won’t push your limits, but I’d like to know why they’re there.”
I stared into my latte. The words lodged somewhere in my throat as heat rose in my face.
