“That’s exactly what I’ve seen as I watched the two of you together.” As Corey approached, Edward pulled out his credit card before I could get my fingers around my wallet. “I’m looking forward to him explaining more about this place. He’s been cagey about what he’s been doing. Made it sound like it was just some sort of dive bar he was running, but that’s not the reality of it, is it?”
“No, Sir.” I chuckled. The Lodge was the furthest you could get from a dive. Jack busted his ass to create a classy club, and now he had Sam there to help him take things to the next level. “We won’t be able to show you the back deck, but I’m not sure Sam would be up for that even if you were interested in seeing it.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah.” I glared at Corey, wishing he’d hurry the fuck up. “Jack, the owner, split the club into two sections. This part is The Lodge, which was originally strictly vanilla but has recently dipped into a bit of kink. The Back Deck is more typical of what most people associate with a kink club. It’s a BDSM dungeon, although Jack would kick my ass if he heard me call it that.”
“Semantics.” Edward waved a hand in the air dismissively. “I know my son would be uncomfortable hearing me say it, but I’m happy places like this exist. Maybe it will eventually mean people have a safe space to explore themselves.”
Yeah, that would definitely not ease Sam’s anxiety, but Edward wasn’t wrong. Without ever having met the man, he’d pegged Jack’s mission statement. The younger generation might never understand how hard it was for those of us who had reached a certain age to explore.
“And it’s not an issue that we’re here?” Edward asked as he looked around. Yes, the clientele was primarily gay men, but I knew for a fact there were more women in the back. “April’s a tough girl, but I don’t want her to feel out of place. We could have come down when the club wasn’t open.”
“No, you’re fine,” I reassured him. “Just…maybe… Look, this is awkward as fuck, but if you really want to see the rest of the club, let me know. I’ll get you clearance for a night when Sam’s not working, and I’ll keep him far away from here.”
“That obvious?” I resisted the urge to laugh. I might be gay, but I’d still picked up on the kink vibes radiating off Edward and his wife. The man looked like he’d walked into a fantasy, but he couldn’t do anything about it because his son was one of the managers of the club.
“A little bit,” I hedged. In all the scenarios Sam’s mind had conjured about how this weekend could go wrong, learning about his parents’ kinky tendencies was never on the list of possibilities. “But I mean it. Jack runs a great club. Even if you ran into people you meet tonight, they’d never tell Sam about it if you choose to come back another weekend.”
“I’ll have to remember that.”
I could have jumped over the bar and kissed Corey when hefinallycame over to take our orders. When Edward handed over his card, I said, “Corey, this is Sam’s dad. His parents are in town for Sam’s birthday and they wanted to see where he worked.”
To his credit, Corey understood what I was carefully not saying. He gave me a quick nod before turning to Edward. “It’s nice to meet you. Sam’s a great guy. You should see what he’s done with the playroom. Half the people in here tonight are here so they can play in there later.”
I nearly choked on the water Corey had set in front of me. The playroom was something that would forever be associated with Sam. I hadn’t even considered what it would be like to escort his parents into the space where we’d met. It was the sort of hallowed ground I couldn’t imagine sharing with them.
“Well, we’ll have to take a look,” Edward said. He was either ignoring my discomfort or completely oblivious. From the little I knew of him so far, my money was on the former.
We ordered our drinks and conversation ebbed as we waited for Corey to fill our order. This was, without a doubt, the oddest interaction I’d had with a partner’s family, not that there had been many.
We joined April and Sam at the lounge area they’d commandeered for our group. Sam was busy talking with some regulars who were asking about the currently vacant space and April was watching, proud as could be with her son who held such an important position.
I understood how she was feeling. I experienced the same emotions most nights I was here waiting for Sam to finish. He didn’t understand how much everyone who frequented The Lodge valued him. It was Sam they sought out when they had an issue, not Jack. Some bosses would be frustrated to be circumvented that way, but Jack was learning the value of having a second-in-command who the customers and employees respected.
After tonight, I only hoped Sam would see how everyone else saw him.
