retreated. There was little doubt the carrot William had dangled in front of me would consume my
thoughts until I figured out what to do about him.
5
WILLIAM
WE WERE DAYS AWAY FROM OPENING THE DOORS TO THE NEW PLAYROOM AND THERE WAS A TON LEFT
to be done. While Sam’s original concept was strong, he realized he’d gotten in over his head and
called me for help a few days ago. That was a sign of a strong leader, and I made sure to praise him
regularly for knowing his limitations.
I pretended to not notice the rising tension in the air when Corey came in, weighed down by
bulging reusable shopping bags in both hands. Things had been strained between us since the night I
pushed him to admit he wasn’t as vanilla as he seemed. I’d given him a wide berth, not willing to risk
doing anything that could be perceived as crossing the ultra-professional line he’d drawn.
“What’s all that?” I asked Sam, who didn’t seem nearly as confused as I was about Corey’s
bounty.
“We’re going to try something a little different through the weekend.” Sam giggled at the play on
words. Seriously, the kid didn’t realize how adorable he was. He was the type of boy I’d pick for
myself out of a kinky catalog, but he’d either not noticed or had completely ignored the few times I
tried expressing my interest to him.
Or maybe he heard from Corey about how pushy you can be, and it scared him off.
Whatever. I was too damn old to worry about petty gossip bullshit.
“Oh?” I unpacked another box of toys. These would eventually migrate to the playroom, but for
now, we were sprinkling them throughout the bar. As Sam put it, tonight’s theme was letting people
know this was the place to be if you wanted to explore your little side, and he’d decided the best way
to do that was to normalize the lifestyle rather than shining a spotlight on it. “Care to share?”
“Corey suggested getting some new snacks and drinks for the bar,” Sam explained. “If you think
about it, he’s not wrong.”
“That depends on what he said that you agreed with,” I pointed out. For as detail oriented as Sam
could be at times, he sometimes forgot not everyone could hear the thoughts playing on a continuous
loop in his mind.
Sam sent a stuffed dinosaur sailing past my head. “Quit picking on me. I have a lot going on right
