Page 8 of Shifted Desire

Take that, anyone attempting to psychoanalyze my kink forays last night—there are no daddy issues ‘round these parts.

If I had any complaints about my father, they’d be that I wish he’d given me more magic. Max got cool shadow powers, Claire got the ability to soothe people with her magic, and even Maggie claims to have matchmaking clairvoyance. All I got was his nose, his long limbs, and a penchant for fiddling with small objects. Oh, and anxiety.

Not that I let anyone know about that last one. I’m already busy being the bitch of the family. Max can be the anxious one.

Speaking of my little brother, I hear Mom greeting him in the entryway with an exclamation of how good he looks, so I give Dad a pat and step away.

“Thanks for the coffee,” I say, grabbing the thermos and heading toward the sound of laughter. Mom and Mona’s, not Max’s.

My brother’s cheeks are flushed red to match his shaggy hair, no doubt embarrassed at something Mom said. His fiancée Mona holds his hand, looking amused.

My stomach clenches at seeing her here.

It’s not that I don’t like Mona. She’s amazing! I wish I’d met her before Max did, but they’re perfect for each other, as much as I like to tease that he’s not good enough for her.

It’s just, I thought Mona was busy today, and that’s why I was going to the tasting with Max. Now I’m going to be an annoying third wheel to their lovey-dovey wedding preparation excitement.

Masking my disappointment, I spread my arms wide as I approach them. “Mona! Gods, you look as beautiful as ever. Are you sure you’re set on marrying this loser?”

She laughs, and Max rolls his eyes as I hug his buxom fiancée, waggling my eyebrows over her shoulder at him.

“Yeah, he’s stuck with me,” she says, giving him a fond smile that has him lighting up like she’s the sun and he’s basking in her glow.

Ugh, they’re too cute together.

“You ready to go?” Max asks, checking his watch.

“Yep! Unless you’d rather I not come. It’s fine if you’d rather just go with Mona. I was only coming as a favor, anyway.”

Shit, why did I say that? It’s not a favor. I’ve been pathetically looking towards this since he asked me to come, because Max is my best friend. And now I’m being a jerk.

“I can stay here and help with dinner instead. I don’t mind,” Mona offers, and now I feel like even more of a bitch.

“What? Don’t be silly. It’s your wedding. I’ll stay home.”

My brother scowls at me. “Quit being weird. You’re coming.”

I let out an exaggerated sigh, even as I secretly want to give him a hug for seeing through my defensive bullshit. “Fine, if you insist.”

He rolls his eyes at me, and I wink at Mona, hoping she understands I don’t have a problem with her. That I’m the problem, as usual.

When we get to the car, Mona insists on sitting in the back, which I argue with, so we end up both sitting in the back like Max is our chauffeur. He pretends to grumble, but I doubt he actually minds. He’d do anything for Mona, and even though we drive each other crazy, for me.

“So…” Mona says, voice low. “How was the event?”

Max turns up the radio, pointedly paying attention to the road. We’ve come to a truce regarding our shared interest in kink, and visiting the area’s kink club that boasts a large monster clientele. It’s weird, but we have a shared calendar to make sure that on the nights he and Mona are there, I’m not, and vice versa.

I’d feel bad that they weren’t able to go to the masked party because of me, but I needed it more. They can fuck and play their kinky games whenever they want.

A small thrill washes over me at the memory of that mysterious man in the chair, whose energy matched mine in a way that rarely happens. Daddy was great, too. “It was good.”

Mona nods, and I can tell she wants more details about the event but is being polite.

“The masked element made it pretty fun,” I add.

Her eyes light up. “I bet! Did you meet anyone interesting?”

“Can you really call fucking masked strangers meeting them?” I reply, and Max grimaces, the music clearly not loud enough.