Page 95 of Bleed

“You need clear expectations going in,” Taylor says, her gaze dropping back to the addendum. “Then nobody gets blindsided. Honestly, I wish James and I had talked through ours more before I signed…” she trails off mid-sentence, blinking at the screen before slowly looking up at me. “Uh, Bex?”

“What?”

“You do realize there’s an exclusivity clause in here, right?”

I frown. “What do you mean?”

She turns the phone toward me. “This.”

I lean over the table, squinting at the text. “Neither party shall engage in sexual activity with any third party unless both contracting parties are physically present and provide consent,” I read aloud before looking back up at her and shrugging. “Yeah, so?”

“Bex.” She gives me a loaded look. “You’re not exactly known for monogamy.”

“Says who?” I scoff.

She doesn’t answer– just raises a skeptical brow.

I hold her gaze for all of three seconds before I start laughing.

“Okay, okay. That’s fair. But it’s not like I’ve had many opportunities for hookups since I moved in with Elliott.”

“What about last night?” she counters.

I wave a dismissive hand. “That doesn’t count. Besides, it was his idea.”

“Well it’s another thing you’ll want to clarify,” she says, turning the screen back toward herself, fingers swiping. “There, I highlighted it for you.”

She flips the phone back around, a bright yellow highlight now marking the exclusivity clause.

I nod approvingly. “Fine. Highlight the no feeding thing too.”

She glances up.

A devious grin stretches my lips. “I want some biting with my fucking.”

Taylor snorts, shaking her head as she scrolls farther down the page. “Did you ever find out what his deal was with that?”

“Just that he prefers not to,” I mutter, licking salt from the rim of my glass. “Dude has so many bizarre quirks that the blood thing isn’t even in the top three anymore.”

She arches a curious brow, but doesn’t ask. Instead, she scrolls to the top of the document and starts reading again.

We order another round of margaritas, then spend the next half hour dissecting the addendum line by line, Taylor highlighting sections she thinks deserve follow-up. She asks how I feel about different kinks, and I answer with complete honesty and zero shame.

Some of them are easy.

Some pique my curiosity.

Some make me blush harder than I’d like to admit.

“So,” she says eventually, saving the document before looking back up at me. “You really think you can commit to letting him be in control every time?”

I swirl my drink thoughtfully. “Sure, why not?”

“You hate being bossed around.”

“Depends on the context.” I drain the last sip from my glass. “When it comes to sex, it’s kinda nice not having to think. Last night I got to shut off my brain and just feel.”

“And you liked it?”