Books.That’s where this had all led from.
“Anyway, since you’ll be reading books with kink and around people who are kinky, the only other thing you should probably know about is that the main rules are Consent is King and kink-shaming is deeply frowned upon.”
Audrey’s smile had faded, too.He hated to see it go, but it was for the best.If she kept smiling at him, he wasn’t going to be able to stop smiling at her.
“Well, I know what consent is, and I know what shame is, but I feel like you mean something specific by kink-shaming.”
“Yeah, it’s nothing too complicated.Just as long as everyone involved is a consenting adult, we don’t shame people for what they want to experience.It’s very much ‘well, that’s not for me, but you have a good time’.Or just not commenting at all if it’s not something you’re interested in because there’s no reason to bring down someone else’s enjoyment.”
“Ooh.”Audrey’s eyes lit up.“I like that.Instead of saying ‘why would someone want to do that’ or ‘I would never do that’?”
“Exactly.”He nodded.Not that he thought Audrey would have had a problem with that.She seemed like the type to err on not hurting anyone’s feelings.But there were people in the world whose intentions were fine, but they spoke thoughtlessly.The number of people who felt like it was okay to be derogatory about something they weren’t interested in to someone who was obviously finding enjoyment in that thing always boggled his mind.It was best to say it explicitly, just in case, since she was new to the scene.
“No!I’m leaving!”
Both of them jumped as a woman’s voice echoed around the room.Noelle went stomping by, Zeus following quickly after her, heading for the front door.
“Noelle—”
“No, I’m not going to stand here and be humiliated by you!You can’t boss me around outside of the club.You’re a fucking jerk!”She darted out the front door as her words stopped Zeus in his tracks, as if he couldn’t believe she’d said that to him.
All the rooms were dead silent, watching him, waiting for his reaction to his submissive cursing at him and name-calling.Mason wasn’t sure what had just happened, but he would bet money that Zeus hadn’t done anything that violated what he and Noelle had negotiated.That this was Noelle’s reaction to being scolded about talking club stuff in front of a newcomer.
Did everyone else realize that?
Shit.
Mason stepped away from Audrey.It might be rude to leave her alone, but Zeus was already struggling to fit into the team.This was only going to make things harder on him, especially if they believed he was being a jerk to his girlfriend.
“Hey, Juniper, you okay?”he asked, clapping Zeus on the shoulder.He deliberately used a spice to address Zeus, so that the other man would know nothing had changed in how Mason saw him, keeping him part of the team.Zeus jerked in reaction.Clearly, he hadn’t realized Mason was coming up behind him, which showed how distracted he was.
Zeus let out a long, slow breath, and Mason could actually watch him regaining his usually centered, calm demeanor.
“Yeah.She didn’t like being told that she can’t just talk about club stuff in front of people that aren’t part of the club—” Before he could continue speaking, the front door opened again and Noelle reentered.
She was sniffling, shoulders hunched in, an expression of regretful contriteness on her face.
“I’m sorry I freaked out like that,” she said immediately, looking directly at Zeus, holding out her hands as she walked toward him.He immediately opened his arms for her to walk into them.“I just… you know my past.I get so triggered when people say I did something wrong.I’m afraid of being kicked out again.”Now she tearfully turned her attention to Mason.
“The last club I was part of, my best friend—my ex-best friend now, I guess—spread the most awful rumors about me in the club, and when I tried to defend myself, they kicked me out.I really didn’t mean to do something wrong, it just slipped out, but I freaked out, feeling like I was going through that all over again.”
Everything she said made a kind of sense.Everything in her demeanor said she was sincere.Conversation began behind him again, people getting back to whatever they’d been talking about before Noelle’s outburst.
“I get it,” Zeus said, stroking his hand over her hair.“Come on, let’s go home.We can talk more there.”
“Okay.”She sniffled again and looked at Mason with big eyes.“Bye, Mason.I’m so sorry.Again.Please pass my apologies on to everyone.”
“I will,” he reassured her.But as he watched them leave, a feeling of foreboding settled over him.
ChapterSeven
Audrey
Watching the interplay between Zeus, Noelle, and Mason, Audrey couldn’t deny that she was more than a little disturbed.She drifted to where Cassidy and David were.Both of them were frowning at the trio near the front door and talking quietly, and she wanted to know what they were saying.
Yeah, she was nosy like that.
Both of them looked up when they saw her coming.
