Page 161 of Masters of Pleasure
“No… I guess I knew, deep down, but I wasn’t sure if you were going to say it.And stop calling me Shirley.”
“Did you just quote Airplane to me?”
There was a pause.
Then a light snore.
She’d fallen asleep.
Chuckling, Nick gathered her closer.His sweet little subbie chef.He’d tired her out.
“I love you,” he whispered into the darkness.
“Mmm.”It wasn’t an audible declaration of feelings, but he knew what she meant.
Feeling happier than he could have ever imagined, Nick closed his eyes, knowing he was exactly where he wanted to be—and for the first time in his life, it had nothing to do with the kitchen.
Avery
Watching Nick, Avery pressed her lips together to hide her smile.He looked frazzled, pacing back and forth, running his hand through his hair.Coming to an abrupt halt, he rolled his eyes.
“Avery, are you listening to me?”Her mom’s voice broke through her amusement, quelling it.It was hard to stay amused at Nick’s reactions dealing with his mom when she had her own mom to deal with.Why had they agreed to call the parents at the same time?Oh, right.Misery loves company.
“Yes?”The word came out as a question, and her mom sighed.
“I asked why you can’t come down for both holidays with him.We’ll just move things around.Celebrate Thanksgiving on Saturday instead of Thursday.”
Avery rubbed her forehead.
“Mom, you know how restaurant work means I only get either Thanksgiving or Christmas day off?Well, Marquis is really, really great and closes for both days, but they’re still open the day before and the day after.”Avery had been over all this with her, but her mom heard what her mom wanted to hear.Before her mom could respond, Avery plowed ahead.“One or the other of us has to be at work the day after the holiday.We’re making an exception for one holiday this year, so we can come down to meet you.We cannot do that for both.It wouldn’t be fair to everyone else in the kitchen.”
There was a long silence, then her mother sighed.
“Sounds like you found someone just like you.”Her tone was accusatory, and Avery had to laugh.
“In some ways,” she admitted.“That’s why we work so well together.”In and out of the kitchen.
There was another moment.
“Fine.We’ll take whichever holiday you can give us, but your father and I are going to come up and spend the week with you as soon as we get the opportunity.Spend some real time with your young man.”
“That sounds great, Mom.”To Avery’s surprise, she realized she meant it.Normally, her parents didn’t visit for more than a few days, which she preferred.She’d spend the entire time stressing over what they thought about her life, her job, her home… This time, she’d have Nick to lean on.Apparently, that made all the difference.
Turning, Nick caught her eye and mouthed, ‘I love you.’
‘Love you, too,’ she mouthed back, grinning at him.Moving here had been the right decision.Giving Nick a chance had been an even better one.Her heart was so full and warm.When they finally managed to get off their phones with their respective parents, Nick opened his arms, and she walked into them for a kiss that curled her toes.
She was home.
Epilogue
Iris
“Iris, do this, Iris, do that,”Iris muttered under her breath.“No, no, it’s fine.I totally wanted to have to take orders from my brother in a kink club.”
Okay, so maybe she was being a little overdramatic since they were on the main floor of Stronghold rather than in the Dungeon.If she’d actually said that out loud to Andrew, he would have been horrified.He already wasn’t thrilled having her here, especially since he had to give her orders and look at her all night.
Looking down at the corset she was wearing, which pushed her boobs up to a generous shelf nearly big enough to play Flip Cup on, Iris smirked.The hot, tiny shorts she was wearing hadn’t made him happy, either, but she had to get her kicks where she could since she was basically grounded.
