Page 112 of Masters of Pleasure
Avery
Being home alone meantit was time to do laundry, especially because she only had one clean chef coat left.It was also an opportune time to get some things around the house done because Nick had had to go into work several hours earlier than her.While part of her wanted to be lazy and lie on the couch, she knew she needed to get stuff done.It wouldn’t get done after work.
She’d gotten one day of rest, then the next day, it was like Nick had something to prove.Which she’d thoroughly enjoyed, even if she didn’t know exactly what he’d been trying to prove—that he could give her multiple orgasms without spanking, flogging, or whipping her?Honestly, she’d been a little disappointed when he wouldn’t spank her, explaining he’d be more comfortable doing it for the first time with some supervision, but he made it up to her with his fingers, mouth, and eventually, his cock.
During round two, when she’d been on her hands and knees, he had gotten a couple of swats in, hard enough to make her clench and moan.That had been more than enough to whet her appetite and make her look forward to next Monday’s class.
When her phone rang, she glanced at the screen and grimaced when she saw it was her mom.Not that she didn’t love her mom, but the parental guilt trip about having moved so far away was never-ending and never fun.However, she’d feel even guiltier if she ignored the call when she actually had the time to talk.
Besides, it would be nice to hear her mom’s voice.
“Hey, Mom.”She put the phone on speaker and set it on the coffee table next to where she was sitting on the floor, folding the most recent load of laundry to come out of the dryer.It was still warm, which was one of her favorite things.Sometimes in the winter, she wanted to roll around in it.Sadly, she was an adult, so she resisted, but the impulse remained.
“Hey, honey, how are you?”
“Pretty good.Doing laundry since I don’t have to be at work for a couple hours.”
“Oh, that’s good.You work too hard.”
Yup, dig number one at her job.Avery sighed inwardly and shook her head.That hadn’t even taken a minute.
“Are things still going well at the restaurant?”
It was a perfectly innocuous question, as long as Avery ignored the hopeful note in her mother’s voice—hopeful maybe things weren’t going so well, and Avery would decide to come back home, get married, and give her mom a few more grandbabies.Apparently, she needed at least one from each of her children to be satisfied, whereas Avery wasn’t even sure she wanted babies.
“Yeah, it’s going great.It’s one of the best places I’ve worked.”It was true, although there wasn’t much to talk about when it came to the restaurant.“I got to go out on Monday.I went to a local meadery with a couple of friends.”
“A meadery?That must have been fun.”
“It was.”Avery elected to ignore the note of disappointment in her mom’s voice, but the guilt still simmered just below the surface.Maybe she should throw her mom a bone.“Um, so I’ve started seeing someone.”
“You have?You’re dating?”Surprise warred with happiness, then warred with more disappointment.Avery was sure her mom would rather she came home and met someone, but apparently, dating anyone was enough to perk her mom up, which was what she was hoping.
“Yeah, his name is Nick.He’s a chef, too.”She decided not to mention he was the executive chef, aka her boss, at the same restaurant.
“I guess that means he understands your schedule.”Her mom’s laugh was only a little forced.
“He does.He’s at work right now.”She smiled ruefully at the noncommittal noise her mom made.“He’s even better in the kitchen than I am.”
“Well, I doubt that.”Her mom sniffed, sounding offended on Avery’s behalf, which made her chuckle.She never doubted her parents were proud of her, even if they didn’t particularly like her decisions.“When do we get to meet him?”
“We just started dating.”She barely got the words out before her mom was already throwing another loaded question at her.
“Do you want to bring him home for the holidays?”
“Thanksgiving isn’t for another couple of months?—”
“Have you asked him about it?Does he celebrate with his family?”The questions were coming rapid fire, and Avery very much wished she hadn’t brought Nick up.It was freaking September!Who asked about Thanksgiving now?
“I… no… We’re not serious yet.”
“Not serious?Avery, you are getting too old to be in a relationship that’s ‘not serious.’If you aren’t going to be serious about someone, there’s no point in wasting more time with them.Not at your age.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
“Mo-om.Sto-op.”She drew out the words the same way she had as a teenager.In fact, she was feeling very much like a teenager right now.What was it about her mom that made her regress?“We’re serious in that we’re only see each other, but we’re not serious in that we haven’t been together for that long.I’ll ask him about Thanksgiving by Halloween.Okay?”
The huffy sigh on the other end of the line indicated it wasn’t okay, but at least her mom would compromise.
