“Sam, why don’t you head over to grab us a spot to sit,” I suggested. His mom followed, leaving
me on my own with his dad for the first time since they’d arrived.
“You’re good for him,” his dad observed as we were waiting for Corey to notice us and take out
drink orders. “We worried about him being so far from home, but he insisted he needed a fresh start.”
“I can understand your fears,” I assured him. “He wasn’t at all what I expected, but I promise,
he’s had everyone here at the club looking out for him until we met. And now, I’d lay down my life if
anyone threatened him.”
“I have no doubt you would.” Edward patted my shoulder. “I was worried when I first saw you. A
lot of men out there would try to take advantage of him. But I held judgment and watched the two of
you today.”
“And now?” Corey and I made eye contact. He waved and pointed to the customers he needed to
help before us. “Again, I don’t blame you for worrying about Sam. He has a kind heart and that could
be dangerous in the wrong hands. But I promise, I only want the best for him.”
“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
