I shook my head. “You’d be right.”
Gabby sighed and, after a moment, her demeanor switched. She and her brother, Teddy were into the lifestyle. Whereas Teddy was a switch, Gabby was a dominant fortunate to have found the sweetest submissive in her wife, Belle. Although Belle wasn’t into playing with pain, Gabby understood when a submissive wasn’t having their needs met. “There’s something else on your mind. Am I right?”
“How do all dominants do that?” I groused. “You think you fucking know everything.”
“Because the good dominants do,” Gabby retorted smugly. “And we also look out for our submissives. With that in mind, we’re taking a few minutes to enjoy the scenery and nourish ourselves. You’ve lost weight and need to eat, or I’ll get Mama Cattaneo after you.”
I snorted. Gabby might’ve looked like her dad but her bold, unapologetic manner was all from her mother. In answer, I took a big bite from my burrito, causing Gabby to chuckle.
“That’s a good boy,” she said, teasing.
For the next however long, Gabby and I shared our meal in a combination of mutual quiet and idle remarks about the good food and the people sitting among us. When I swallowed the last bite, washing it down with the remainder of my coffee, I took our trash to a nearby garbage can.
Gabby looked into the distance momentarily, her long legs stretched out. “Are you ready to talk? And then I want to know how I can help. But first things first.”
I knew Gabby appreciated me being straightforward, so I was. “I met a priest.”
Gabby turned her head slowly until she was facing me. “Honey, give me the deets. I can’t work with one cryptic statement.”
I explained how I’d unexpectedly gone inside the church to check it out, and how when Father Jude stopped at the pew and our gazes met, I left because he unnerved me. “But then later that evening after I’d met with Hawk, I had a meltdown and a screaming hissy fit in my truck.”
Gabby was animated when she said, “I’m so fucking glad you called me this morning. Okay, go on…”
“Much later I was coming out of the bookstore, as I crossed the street, I felt someone staring at me. I turned around and Gabby, it was him…” I paused at that point in the story. “I never would have recognized him in sweatpants with his face in the shadows of his hood. But he looked directly at me and pushed the hood away from his face. We… connected. A sizzling connection from across the street.”
“Who turned away first?”
“I did,” I admitted. “I ran away because of my intense reaction to him. He’s a priest for fuck’s sake.”
“And yet, he was the one to reveal his identity,” Gabby said, giddy with curiosity. “There’s definitely a story there.”
I repositioned so we were sitting cross-legged again. Gabby braced her hands on my knees and asked, “Then what?”
“Last night, I had to almost handcuff myself to not use the flogger. And this morning, I kinda…”
“Kind of what? Don’t stop now,” Gabby’s voice rose, and she had to quickly modulate it before the people around us didn’t think we were arguing.
“I went to confession,” I admitted. “Well, not really confession. I introduced myself like a goddamn idiot.”
Gabby broke into laughter and fell back on her hands. She was still shaking with giggles as she uncrossed her legs and straightened.
All the while I stared incredulously at her reaction. Jumping to my feet, I stood with my hands firmly on my hips. “What the fuck, Gabby? This is not Comedy Central.”
“Oh, come on, honey.” Reaching up, she grabbed my wrist and pulled me back down. “It’s also sexy as fuck. But, not going there,” she said and winked. “Finish telling me.”
“What’s next will be a letdown for your slutty brain. After we exchanged names…” I paused for a moment and decided to leave out about wanting someone to talk to confidentially.
“What’s his name?” Gabby interrupted as she took her phone out of her pocket and brought up St. Michael the Archangel.
At the same moment as I said, “Father Jude,” she brought up his photo.
“Even with the clerical collar on, he’s gorgeous,” she said, practically swooning.
“If you’re finished drooling…”
“Yeah, go ahead,” Gabby said and put her phone down.
“Well, actually, there’s not much else. I told him that maybe it was a mistake, and I ran out.”
