I bent forward at the waist, wringing my hands through my hair. God, what was it with everyone thinking they knew what I thought and felt?
Jordan started rubbing my back. “Relax, Slade. You put up all these walls to try and keep everybody out because you think it's easier that way. The man who stood on that stage, flirting with bars full of people, wasn't the real you.”
“Then who in the hell am I?” Everything I thought I’d known about myself had vanished over the past few months, and now Jordan was implying that wasn’t me at all. That was a hard pill to swallow.
“Don't you think it's about time you find out?” Jordan and I might have been the same age, but sometimes it seemed like he was much older and wiser than I was. Maybe that was the result of him not being emotionally stunted, despite the string of failed relationships he had before he finally found one that worked for him.
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“For starters, we’re going down to The Dandy Ginger, no matter how much you think it's a bad idea,” Jordan informed me. “You're going to take a seat at the bar, and you'll see Rusty. That much is inevitable. But if I know you half as well as I think I do, you aren't even going to be tempted to flirt with him. You know damn well that you’ve got a good thing going with Jack. Hiding from the rest of the world isn't going to help you preserve that relationship. The only thing you can do is go out there and pass every test you face.”
“Fine, but if I start doing anything stupid, you have to promise me you'll yank me out of there.”
Jordan gathered my hair, twisting it around his hand. I winced when he gave it a playful, sharp yank. My scalp was still tender from last night, when Jack used my hair as leverage while he fucked my face. “You don’t even have to ask. I’ve been keeping you from getting into trouble since we were kids. And, seeing as you’re dating a guy who’s like family to me, you can bet I won’t let you screw up.”
I leaned my head on Jordan’s shoulder. “Thanks, man. I probably don’t say it as often as I should, but I appreciate you.”
“No thanks needed.” Jordan picked up my phone and handed it to me. “Text him. The only way he's ever going to know what you need is if you show him.”
“And you promise it doesn't make me pathetic to ask him permission to go out for the night?”
“Hell no! I love it when Doug and Eli boss me around. I think you do, too.”
“No, Eli telling me what to do is annoying as hell,” I quipped. Jordan rolled his eyes. “Fine, maybe I get what you're saying.”
I tapped out a quick message to Jack.
Jordan wants to head down to The Dandy Ginger for a drink. Is that okay with you?
I stared at the phone while I waited for Jack's response. What would I do if he had left the phone in his office and he was busy dealing with something at work? Now that I had asked him for permission, it didn't seem right to leave my apartment without his blessing. The minutes dragged by and I grew uneasy. What if he wasn't responding because he didn't want this level of control over me? What if our power exchange was something he preferred to keep confined to private spaces?
That's fine, Princess.
I couldn't help but smile when his response finally came through. Jordan leaned over, trying to see Jack’s response, and I turned the display away from him. I didn't want him knowing that I allowed Jack to call me Princess, when I would have kicked the shit out of anyone else for doing the same. Then, another text message came through.
I want you to make sure you limit yourself to three drinks.
Before I could even read his response, two more appeared.
And I expect you to be home and in bed by midnight.
I shouldn't have to stay here too late. Will you be a good boy for me?
And now I was supposed to head out for the night with my dick pressing against the front of my jeans. It would be wrong to ask Jordan to give me a few minutes so I could rub one out quick, right? Right.
Besides, Jack hadn't given me permission to touch myself, so there was nothing for me to do but hope and pray this erection wouldn't last the entire night. We were almost to the front door when I realized I had never responded to Jack's last message. As we walked down to Jordan's car, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and tapped out a quick message.
I'm always a good boy, Daddy. It just depends on if you catch me or not.
I stowed my phone after that, committed to giving Jordan my attention tonight.
There was so much the two of us needed to catch up on. It seemed like ever since I'd started working at Club 83, we hadn't spent much time outside of work together. There wasn't the same need to connect with him because we saw one another several nights a week, but, at the same time, we couldn't hang out while we were on the clock.
“Things still going well with the three of you?” I asked as Jordan maneuvered his way through remnants of rush hour. For some reason, traffic never seemed to die down until after eight o'clock at night, probably because so many people commuted from Annandale into the city.
“Yeah,” Jordan responded with a dopey grin on his face. “I know you don't understand it, but the three of us are good together. It's not something I ever would've imagined for myself, but now that I have the two of them, I can't imagine my life any other way. Part of me thinks the reason my past relationships failed was that I was never meant to be with just one person.”
“No, your other relationships failed because you have horrible taste in men,” I teased him.
