“Let’s go find Jayce. I would hate to cause too much trouble before you even get to hang out with my Sir,” he said with a smirk, and the words were enough to stop me from pouncing at him.
I frowned. “Sir?”
Both of their gazes shot to me, and he nodded carefully, eyes guarded. “Jayce is my Sir.”
I thought about my next words seriously. What would someone normal say? I had no idea. I’d barely allowed time to get to know anyone other than my parents and brothers, so I said the first thing I thought would be appropriate. “Jules is my Master.”
His right brow quirked, and he grinned then, and some of the tenseness released from his shoulders. He touched the frames of his glasses, pushing them farther up his nose. “I’m River, by the way. You participate in BDSM?” He pushed on his glasses again, but they were already stuck on his face. “I don’t think I know your name.”
Jules gave River a winning smile and curled his arm around my shoulders, dragging me into his warmth. The move was romantically inclined, and we hadn’t done much together so far, so it was strange to have him this close in front of other people with his arm around me. “This is Ari, my boyfriend, and yeah, we’re into BDSM.”
It was an easy lie for him, and I couldn’t help but appreciate the charm he brought with his words. It was no wonder he succeeded so well in life because he knew exactly what to say and when to say it. He had people eating out of his palm.
The sound of feet on wood met my ears before another man joined River and looked over his shoulder. This one I knew—Jayce—and the moment he saw me, his eyes widened. I didn’t think he recognized me from the crime scene, so maybe it was my age that caused his reaction. At least, I hoped so. Everyone else was older than me.
“Well, bloody hell. Is this your boyfriend, Rogers?” The light British twang nearly made me roll my eyes, but I stayed in character with a smile.
“Ari, this is Jayce. Jayce, Ari.” Jules shoved me forward a little, and I held out my hand, as uncomfortable as it was, and Jayce shook it.
“Nice to meet you. Welcome to our home. I hope River’s not asking you a million questions. He does that sometimes. He gets caught in lawyer mode.”
River sent him a glare over his shoulder. “I do not.” After a quick second and a slap to the ass from Jayce, he added, “Sir.”
Jayce shook his head and waved us inside. “Come on, we’ve got food on the table. I see you brought pizza. You’re my new best friends.”
River rolled his eyes but stepped backward, leading us directly into a living room that had wooden floorboards I thought might be oak, a large maroon sectional couch, and a TV stand nearly the same color as the floor with a wide-screen TV and a PlayStation. A black leather armchair that looked brand-new was shoved off toward one corner. There was also a fireplace with a mantle full of pictures that had my nose scrunching, including framed photos of River and Jayce, and Jayce with another man at a wedding.Hiswedding.
“The other guys are in the dining room,” Jayce said over his shoulder. “When you get Madden near food he’s a monster.”
River snorted out a laugh. “He’s a monster all the time.”
“I heard that!” came a shout from farther in the house.
River and Jayce laughed and led us through into the dining room, where two men sat at a wooden table. I paused, taking the time to assess them carefully. One was big, even bigger than Jayce, with bulging biceps and massive shoulders. He had short dark hair and suspicious blue eyes, which narrowed on me to the point I wondered if he could smell blood. The other was a lot shorter, something I could tell even with him sitting down, and he had a wide grin on his face. His skin was golden, and he had animated brown eyes and a mischievous expression that had me stepping in a little closer to Jules.
“Oh hey, new victims.” The shorter man jumped to his feet and came around the table, and I gave him a once-over, checking out the amazing set of jeans that melded with his legs and the simple blue T-shirt that hugged a muscular chest. He stopped in front of us and shoved out a hand toward me first. “I’m Madden, and that big, scary bear over there is Evan, my person. Don’t worry, he only bites me. Mostly on the ass.”
“Madden,” Evan said sharply, and it only made Madden laugh.
Hesitantly I shook his hand. I wasn’t sure what I thought about all this friendly interaction. I’d never had this much to do with other people and never felt like I’d needed it.
“You brought pizza.” Madden’s eyes lit up and he snatched the box from me, then opened it and took a large whiff. He hummed in delight. “Fuck, that smells good, and you got pepperoni. My favorite.”
Evan chuckled darkly. “Any food is your favorite.”
If Madden heard, he didn’t give Evan the satisfaction of a response because he was too busy shoving a piece of pizza into his mouth and chewing, making lewd noises that had me raising my brows.
“Sounds like you’re having sex,” I said, wincing as the words came out of my mouth.
Madden froze, and I thought I’d said something wrong, but then he laughed so hard that small pieces of pepperoni flew from his mouth. “Oh fuck.”
River rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, staring at Madden, but he didn’t say anything. Jayce, on the other hand, joined in with the laughter as he went to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of white plates.
Madden wiped at his eyes as he dumped the box on the table. “Sex isn’tthisgood.”
“Really?” Evan asked. There was something in his voice, a promise, and I couldn’t help but study them carefully as Madden winked at him.
“You know what would make it as good as pizza?” He waggled his eyebrows, and Evan must’ve known what was coming because he huffed. “Letting me into your ass.”
