Chapter 1
Ricky
“I’m not a stalker.” I thought getting that out first thing was important to establishing innocence just in case it went to court, but the group of guys standing around me all cocked their heads to the side like confused puppies.
They weren’t puppies.
Well, most weren’t.
They were models at Leashes & Lace, an online store that specialized in male lingerie and fetish stuff, and they might’ve been the sexiest men I’d ever seen…and they might’ve been the reason I’d decided I might’ve slid from bi-curious into something else.
“Okay, even I can see he needs a keeper of some sort.” Emerson sat down on the other side of the table and seemed to signal the plan to everyone else because they filed in around us.
I was going to pick a smaller table next time I went to their coffee shop to watch them. This hadn’t turned out like I’d expected at all. They came in. They ordered. They flirted and said dirty stuff. They left. That was how this was supposed to have gone.
Didn’t they know that?
When had the plan changed?
They did the same thing at least three times a week.
“The question is what kind.” As Emerson frowned at me, the other men nodded like he made perfect sense.
Which was scary based on what I knew about him.
He’d been raised by wolves or something and the weirdest stuff came out of his mouth…and not even weird for the internet weird.
“He likes the lingerie and he’d look cute in panties, so maybe he needs a Master?” Lane, one of the lingerie models who worked down the street, frowned and studied me like he was picturing me naked…practical naked not sexy naked.
There seemed to be a difference but I didn’t understand it yet…which was one of the reasons I had to watch them so closely. They just didn’t seem to realize how confusing they were, and that made them even more confusing.
And how was I going to learn things if I didn’t study the topics that were confusing?
“He’s got kind of a willowy look.” Kenton, the only actual pup in the group, nodded slowly, but what he’d actually meant to say was I looked like a stereotypical twink. “He’d look good in nighties and those kinds of things, but it’d need to be a Master who loved sexy stuff.”
Was that something I should say thank you for?
I couldn’t decide if I was being praised or appraised.
Was this one of those confusing BDSM things where both were something I had to thank him for?
“Couldn’t you see him running around with a tail, though?” Ian, the little in the group who seemed to be dating a pup and aDom based on what I’d seen of his online presence, looked like he wanted to smile and bounce. “I think he’d be fun to throw a ball for. What about a Handler?”
Really?
Kenton made tails sound like fun, but I’d never had anything like that in my ass, so I wasn’t sure.
“What do you think?” Lane asked the question like it was all perfectly reasonable.
Was he talking to me?
“That you guys might be more awkward than me and just not know it.” Hmm. “No offense.”
They all went still and just blinked.
“Why would we take offense at something you said?” Emerson looked genuinely confused. “You’re weirder than we are. We’re not stalkers.”
Well.
