“Are you ever not frank?”
“You’ve got me there. So here I go. I feel like there is something you want to talk about. Something very deep-seated and dark. But you’re holding back. Am I right?”
I stare at Jett. How the fuck does he do that?
“Kayne told me about his mother,” I divert.
Jett nods. “I figured he would. He told you way sooner than he told me. Took him years.”
“She really just abandoned him like that?”
“Apparently. I’ve tried to talk him into looking for her. See what happened and get some closure, but he doesn’t want anything to with it. That wound is just too deep.”
“It nearly killed me when he told me. To see him hurt that much.” My heart is still stinging.
“Yeah, but being with you is definitely filling a void in him.”
“You think?”
“Definitely. He actually smiles now. Like genuinely smiles. And he isn’t so uptight either. I swear there were times he was so tense, I worried he was going to trigger a natural disaster.”
“That sounds pretty extreme.”
“Yeah, well, Kayne is pretty extreme.” He swings his bare feet.
“Then I guess I haven’t experienced the eye of the storm yet.”
“What do you mean?”
I fiddle with my hair, running my fingers through my low ponytail manically. “You weren’t wrong when you said there was something deep-seated and dark that I wanted to talk about.”
“Go on.” Jett is now tremendously invested in our conversation.
“I just feel like Kayne is holding back.”
“Holding back? His feelings?” Jett raises his eyebrows.
“No, he’s very clear about how he feels, but physically he treats me verydelicately.That’s the best way I can describe it.”
“Delicately,” Jett ponders. “Like, makes sweet love to you?”
“Like he’s suddenly taken a liking to vanilla.”
“Oh.”
“And your tastes have evolved beyond vanilla.”
“Way beyond.” I turn red.
“You want him to dominate you?”
“I want him toownme. The way he used to,” I admit. Is there a hole I can crawl into and die?
“Oh, you are far gone.”
“I’m crazy.” I put my face on my hands.
“No, you’re not. You were exposed to the lifestyle, and you liked it. It’s perfectly normal, and it speaks volumes about how you feel about Kayne and the bond the two of you share.”
