“Okay…” I help myself to an oyster with a spoonful of mignonette sauce, then face Mo as she does the same, knowing she’ll explain whatever this is when she’s ready.
She swallows her oyster, then leans forward. “So, you know how I’ve been kind of toying with the idea that I want to, like, I don’t know, expand my experiences.” She saysexperiencespointedly, then looks around, leans in, and whispers, “Mysexualexperiences?”
I snort, then nod. “Yeah, you’ve mentioned that a time or two.”
I’m starting to understand where this is going and why those words were printed across the center of the invitation. Discretion, masks…
Secrecy, yes, but more important,privacy.
“It’s a bondage thing? Like… a club? Or… or swingers?”
Mo’s eyes flick around us at our neighbors, then she leans in and lowers her voice. “It’s an exclusive underground club, Sutton. BDSM and…” She shrugs. “Well, I’m not really sure what else.”
“You’re really selling it.” I huff out a laugh and slip the invitation back into the envelope. As much as I love reading about the things she’s mentioned, I have my doubts that they’d live up to the fantasy in real life. “Sounds like a good way to be trafficked.”
Mo huffs. “We listen and we don’t judge.”
“I’m notjudging, I just…” Shaking my head, I take another pull from my cocktail. “We’re nearly forty years old. Don’t you think we’re a little old to try new things like this?”
“Okay,ew.”Mo scoffs. “We’re notold, and even if we were, I don’t think you’re ever too old to try new things. When you stop living—”
“You stop living,” I finish for her, well-versed in my best friend’s life motto. “I know, I know.”
“Besides, you probablyaretoo old to be trafficked. No offense.”
“Nice.” I snort, then help myself to another oyster.
The bartender returns and takes our lunch orders, then I turn toward my friend. “I just don’t think this kind of thing is my scene.”
Pursing her lips thoughtfully, Mo searches my gaze. “But what if it’s mine?”
The sudden shift in tone makes me swivel my chair to fully face my friend.
“Don’t make me go alone.”
With a deep sigh, I cross my arms and lean back in my seat. “Tell me more about it.”
Mo beams at me because we both know I’m not going to say no to her. When we were kids, this girl talked me into more questionable situations than I care to count.
Apparently not much has changed between us.
At least this excursion won’t include an open field and illegal substances purchased from some dude namedClutch. With a medical-grade nitrous tank sticking out of the trunk of his Honda Civic.
Hopefully.
“Okay, so, I found this website, and, I don’t know, it sounded kind of cool, and the pictures were really sexy—”
“There arepictures?” I whisper.
She shrugs as she loads up another oyster with mignonette. “Yeah, but like, super elegant and discreet.” She giggles, then adds, “Well, notallof them, but they didn’t show faces. They’re really big on privacy.”
“And yet… pictures.”
She shushes me. “I saw that there was an event coming up, one of the masked balls they hold for prospective new members… so…”
“So?” I nudge her knee with my own.
“So I applied.”
