Page 77 of Security and Submission
Jennifer huffed, then sighed, running her fingers through her braids and making the beads click against each other as she made a face. “Jensen and Richard are at a soccer game together right now. Richard’s team was down a player, and somehow, Jensen and he got to talking, and all of the sudden, they’re exchanging phone numbers…”
“So, why didn’t you go to the game?” Naomi asked.
“Because I already had book club.” Jennifer crossed her arms over her chest. “Besides, I’m not sure how I feel about the guys I’m dating getting this friendly with each other. Wouldn’t it be weird to be there cheering on both of them? What would people think? Who do I kiss at the end?”
Everyone paused for a moment to think about her questions. Yasmine felt for her. Jennifer was the youngest of this group of women, and she didn’t yet have the confidence that grew with age. She was sure of herself in a lot of ways but not as experienced with the world.
Even though she’d been going to house parties and was familiar with the kink scene, she was still newer to it. Polyamory wasn’t always looked well upon outside of kink circles. Heck, even within them, sometimes people didn’t understand.
“You’re dating both of them, and you’re having trouble choosing between them. Would it be so bad to just be with both of them?” Cassidy asked hesitantly. “We wouldn’t think anything about it or judge you.”
“Nope. Nope, nope, nope.” Jennifer shook her head with each word. “My dad would murder them. And possibly me.”
“That’s not necessarily true,” Claudia said immediately. “Your parents are kinky. They’re open-minded. They know that you’re kinky, even if you avoid the club.”
“You know you don’t have to avoid the club either. I don’t avoid the club even though my brother is a member, and vice versa,” Audrey chimed in. “And David is almost as protective as a dad. He’s more protective than my actual dad for that matter.”
“What would you do if your brother was kinky?” Cassidy asked Claudia. “Would you still go to the same club?”
Claudia made a face. “No, because there’s no way Miguel would go to the club without Ian. I don’t need to watch the two most obnoxious men I know rip through the club submissives. They’re not allowed anyway. I need one space that’s completely safe from them.”
“And Ian’s not even related to her,” Yasmine whispered to Karen and Mary, who wouldn’t know Claudia’s brother or his best friend.
“What if they were the subs?” Brenda asked, brightening up with the idea. “You know, Mick is-“
“Stop it!” Audrey covered her ears with her hands. “Okay, never mind, I see Jen’s point, because if Grandma over here came to the club, I would be out so fast…”
“I don’t just avoid the club because of them, but also because of their friends, who are basically my aunties and uncles.” Jennifer made a face. “But it’s one thing not to care when it’s someone else getting involved with two men. My dad struggles enough with knowing I’m kinky, and he mostly deals with it by pretending he doesn’t know. I’m pretty sure bringing home two actual boyfriends would close his mind real fast.” She snapped her fingers to demonstrate.
Poor Jen. Yasmine felt for her. In comparison, her own situation didn’t feel quite so fraught.
She had just agreed to regularly bang a guy a bunch of her friends wouldn’t approve of if they knew, so she was keeping it a secret from them and their significant others… who all happened to be Zeus’ co-workers. And chances were, everyone was going to be pissed if they ever found out.
Okay. Maybe it was a little more fraught than she wanted to admit.
That didn’t stop her from calling him when she got home and talking to him on the phone until she fell asleep that night. Just because it made her feel a little safer, now that she was back in her own home, even with Hope at her side and the security system on. That’s all. It didn’t mean anything.
Chapter 28
Zeus
Drew’s office was the first place Zeus stopped in on Monday morning, file on Pete James in hand. He hadn’t been able to add much that he hadn’t found on his first look into the man, but he’d put everything in there that he could. There were still a lot of unanswered questions, though.
Had anyone else gotten a visit from Pete?
Did Drew know Yas?
If he did, how would he feel about Zeus and Yas’ arrangement?
Probably best not to mention it. Things with Drew were improving, but if he felt at all protective of Yas—whether because she was connected to Naomi or because she was a member of The Outlands—that could set things back. Plus, who knew what he and Naomi would say to Yas about Zeus?
“Here you go,” he said as he walked into Drew’s office, folder outstretched in his hand. “Everything I could find on Pete James.”
“Thanks, man.” Drew’s expression cleared, turning to relief as he took the folder from Zeus. “I tried to do some digging on my own, but I can already tell you found more than I did.”
“It is kind of my specialty.” He’d been hired by Lincoln for tech stuff, after all.
“Yeah, well, I appreciate it.” Drew shook his head. “The guy seems like an asshole, and I don’t need Naomi worried all the time. I don’t want to be worrying about her, either.”
