Cecil just couldn’t understand it. How was any of that okay? And who the hell would sit back and put up with it? Jack was so far into Benji’s personal space at times that he was practically sitting on his lap. Yet, Benji kept smiling like an idiot and giving Cecil a thumbs up.
At least, Roth had acted like any sane person would. George had stayed put the minute Roth had threatened to tie him to his chair if he didn’t cut it out. Too bad Roth hadn’t threatened anyone else.
Cecil wanted to scream. By the Gods, hadn’t these people ever heard the phrase ‘too much information’? Or just the word oversharing? Why the fuck would he want to know about someone else’s sex habits? What the hell was wrong with them?
Oh, Gods, please, someone, anyone, end this, Cecil thoughtwith desperation. He couldn’t deal with hearing another one of Jack’s sex stories.
Wait…he had finished eating. He also had opened every ridiculous gift they had bought for him. Cecil could leave now, right?
As he stood, the conversations around the table stopped. And now they were all blatantly staring at him—motherfuckers!
Face pinched, he started to sit down again, but shot back up when Sin appeared in the doorway—a way out!
Cecil shuffled over to Sin and tentatively latched onto his shirt. “Sin, hey, big guy. We need to talk.”
“We do?” Sin asked with a grin, his eyes lighting up with humor.
“Yes!” Cecil snapped. He narrowed his eyes, just daring Sin to debate him and ruin his escape plan.
“Ye’re back early,” Roth cut in.
Sin opened his mouth to answer, no doubt to give a long drawn-out explanation as to why, but Cecil stopped him. “Yes, yes, you guys can catch up later. I really need to talk to you, like now,” Cecil said, while he started pushing Sin back out the doorway.
Sin seemed startled by his actions, but went along. And while everyone at the table laughed, they didn’t interfere.
Sin allowed himself to be pushed along, past the first door at the end of the hallway, before moving out of the way of Cecil’s hands. “Cecil, that is quite enough. I have no issue with you using me to escape, however, this is a bit much,” Sin groused.
“I’m sorry,” Cecil said after clearing his throat. “But…they are fucking insane.”
Sin let out an undignified snort, a soundCecil would never in a million years have thought the man was capable of making.
“First, language. Second, they are not insane, they are lively. I suppose, considering what you are used to, they may seem overly friendly. But I assure you, they are all good people,” Sin asserted as he leaned back against the wall.
Crossing his arms, Cecil glared and decided to completely ignore Sin’s reprimand about his swearing. “Good people, my ass! More like perverts! Who the hell tells someone they just met that they like being spanked and tied up? Who the fuck does that?”
Sin straightened away from the wall with a frown. “It appears I must speak to my group about oversharing and proper conversations at the dinner table. I apologize, Cecil, you must have felt very uncomfortable. I want this to be a place where you feel safe, and it seems I am failing in that matter. I really hope you give us another chance.”
Damn, why did the man have to sound so sincere? It made it so much harder for him to stay mad.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Cecil looked away. “Well…I mean…it’s not really your fault. They are the ones who did it.”
“Nonetheless, they are my responsibility, and they should be able to keep a civil tongue. It would be a problem if they talked about such things in front of those who come to us for help. Or in court.”
“I suppose, that’s true,” Cecil muttered.
Sin said nothing after that. While he wasn’t one for chatter, mostly because he usually didn’t have anyone to talk to, the silence between them bothered him. It made him feel awkward—which apparently was an ongoing theme for him today. But what should he talk about?
Well, he could ask about the box Sin was holding…a box Cecil just now noticed because he had been too focused on his plan of escape to actually pay attention to anything else.
“What is that?” He pointed.
Sin blinked, and his gaze followed down to where Cecil was pointing. “Ah, it’s a chocolate French silk pie. I bought it on my way home.”
“I hate to tell you this, but that is not going to feed everyone.”
“I am aware.” The man laughed. “There are six more in the kitchen. Usually, only a few are left at the table by this time. I would have brought all of them to the dining room if I had known everyone was still there.”
Son of a bitch, Cecil thought with a growl. He knew there was no way people could eat that fucking slowly. Those assholes had kept him trapped for hours!
