Page 157 of Masters of Pleasure
“Yeah.Luke was the one who was never sure if he wanted kids.I always wanted at least one, more like two.”
“Two is a good number.”She didn’t lift her head from his shoulder, barely daring to breathe.
“Seriously, though, think about it.Your family is in Georgia, right?Maybe we could do one for Thanksgiving and the other for Christmas or something.”He yawned as if he hadn’t just knocked the breath out of her.
Yeah, she’d been having ‘moving in’ thoughts, but that had all been in her head.She hadn’t said it aloud.Somehow, it had been easier to imagine moving in together than meeting each other’s families.
“Want to watch some Great British Baking show?”
“Yeah, sure,” she answered automatically, thankful for the reprieve from the conversation that had thrown her so badly.
Think about it.
She could hardly think about anything else that night, curled up in Nick’s arms, eyes wide open while she thought about it.They hadn’t said they loved each other, but sometimes, actions spoke louder than words.
He wanted her to meet his family.Wanted to meet hers.That was a big deal, right?Something people did when they imagined a future together.She loved him.He obviously felt something deep for her, even if he hadn’t said it yet.Maybe that was enough for right now.
ChapterThirty-Three
Nick
Avery was acting weird.They hadn’t had much of a chance to talk this morning before leaving for work.Both of them had slept in pretty late.
Shit.
Had he really thrown her that much, asking about the holidays?He’d tried to keep it casual with his phrasing, alert for any indication she thought he was pushing things too fast.It didn’t feel fast to him, though.It felt right.They’d known each other for a lot longer than they’d been dating, and they were good together.They fit together in every way, the way he hadn’t with anyone else.
He could imagine spending the rest of his life with her.The thought didn’t scare him at all.
“What’d you do?”George muttered under his breath to Nick, though his eyes were on Avery.
“I didn’t think I did anything,” he muttered back, passing a plate to George to garnish.They were shorthanded in the kitchen because he still hadn’t found someone to replace Chad’s, which meant occasionally, he and Avery had to step in for the fry station.They’d have someone soon.There had been a few promising interviews.“I told her my mom wants to meet her.”
“And you think you didn’t do anything.”George snorted.“Meeting your ma is the scariest thing you could ask her to do.”
Nick almost muttered that George didn’t know what he asked Avery to do, but since he was pretty sure everyone had a fair idea of what they got up to at Marquis, it might not be entirely true.His ass still felt a bit odd today, although he was walking and sitting normally.
Besides, George had a point.Meeting the family was a big deal, which was probably why he’d instinctively tried to make it not a big deal when he’d mentioned it to Avery.Maybe he should have made a big deal out of it?
He was distracted from his thoughts when he noticed George had suddenly disappeared from his side.Turning around to look for him, he saw the man standing by a certain redheaded server he’d been pining after.Nick raised his eyebrows at their flirtatious stances.When Alanna hurried back into the dining room, she glanced back at George, who was grinning like a fool when he got back in his expo position.
“You and Alanna, huh?”Nick murmured, keeping his voice down.Not that they were discreet, but he didn’t want to be the one to draw attention to them.“Kind of soon, isn’t it?Aren’t you worried about being a rebound?”
“It might be soon, but I’m the right guy.”George grinned, brimming with confidence.“Alanna would be worth waiting for, but when you know it’s right, why wait?”
When you know it’s right, why wait?
“That’s a very good point.”Nick’s eyes darted to Avery, who was still oblivious to everything happening behind her, her focus entirely on the food she was making.
Avery
Nick was acting weird.Maybe because it was the final day of class, but more than that, he seemed almost jittery.Far more nervous than she would have thought the last day of class would make him feel.
All the submissives were standing by the side of the person they were working with that evening.Avery was with Nick, of course, and Freddy was standing beside Sam.Morgan had taken a place next to Connor and had a hand on his back as though she was encouraging him, which was a funny visual—she was tall, but next to Connor, she looked tiny.Iris and Q were standing beside each other, clearly friendly, but Avery didn’t see a romantic spark between them or even the deeper friendship Morgan and Connor seemed to have formed.
Definitely not Iris’ ideal man, but maybe she’d find someone when she was serving at Stronghold.That was a pretty devious maneuver on Master Patrick’s part.Not only would he get free labor, but it would be a good way for Iris to meet a lot of the club members.For all her bravado and the many people she knew, Iris didn’t go out of her way to meet anyone new.She was happy in her comfort zone.
Shifting by her side, Nick drew her attention back to him, where he was practically jigging in place.Normally, he had no problem standing still in one place, so his constant movement made her even more nervous.Did he know something that she didn’t about tonight?
