The question of the century.
“It’s complicated. I’ve known her my entire life. She’s best friends with Avery. And our entire friend group was already shaken up recently by Avery, Mateo, and Levi. Mateo and Levi are friends with me and my older brother, and we may have overreacted just a bit to the three of them. Specifically Austin overreacted, but I also played a part in that.”
I sighed. We’d mended all the fences there, and I was happy about that. But the way my brother and I had handled finding out Mateo and Levi were with Avery had been bad. I still felt embarrassed by it.
“It was stupid. We were stupid. Everything is great now, though. I just have to grovel once a month for continued forgiveness.”
Madi grinned. “You went all big brother, didn’t you?”
“Unfortunately. Even though Mateo and Levi are two of the best people I’ve ever known.”
“Those three were totally meant for each other. I know I haven’t met them in person yet. But just hearing how happy Avery sounds, they seem perfect together.”
“They are,” I agreed. “You’ll meet them soon, I’m sure. I’m shocked Avery hasn’t knocked down your door yet, but Mateo and Levi have probably been keeping her occupied and reminding her to let you settle in.”
Really, I’d been reminding myself that. More than once, I’d thought about knocking on her door or texting her.
“I’m excited to meet Avery in person. And the other two Mr. Perfects.” Madi regarded me with the same curiosity I’d given her earlier. “So you won’t go after her because of what happened to your friends and sister? But everything ended up fine there, so . . .”
I rubbed my jaw, thinking as I spoke. “I think my hold up is—how would I know it would be like that with her? Even if she were willing to give it a shot.”
God, why was I going on like this?
“You’ll never know unless you try,” Madi said. “Believe me, I’m not the right person to ask. I thought I had someone that loved me the way I wanted to be loved, but I think he may have actually despised me. And god, the way he talks abouther.Part of me is happy for him, you know? I just wish that he would have talked to me instead of things unraveling that way.”
I grimaced. “I’m sorry, Madi. I also realize I’ve literally spent the last few minutes talking about someone else.”
She shook her head. “It’s different. You know that. We’re both being honest about what we want and where we’re at. Wanting someone and having someone are two different things. Maybe really good sex and a friend is what we both need.”
I found myself smiling. “Really good sex and a friend are two things I can make a promise on.”
Madi raised a brow. “We’ll see.”
It was easy to laugh with her. It was easy to talk with her. I bit into my avocado toast as she sipped her coffee, analmostcool breeze tumbling past us and brushing her hair back. I traced the curve of her neck with my gaze, thinking about kissing her there.
“Primal kink,” she reminded me. “Tell me aboutthat.Also you have crumbs in your beard.”
“Oh god,” I laughed, immediately swiping them away. I grabbed a napkin and cleaned myself up. “Next thing I know, you’ll tell me I’ve been drooling.”
She smirked as she sipped her coffee patiently.
Where did I even start with my kink? “There’s a lot about primal sex that I love. The power exchange in particular is something I enjoy.”
“I’m assuming you’re the hunter in this situation.”
“I am very much a hunter.” I shifted in my seat, ignoring the way even talking about this with her flustered me. “I like pushing boundaries between pleasure and pain. I like the physicality of it. Chasing after someone knowing that they’re going to fight me while secretly wanting me turns me on. I love biting and scratching and wrestling and just giving into this wild part of me that is otherwise kept in check.”
“So if I got up right now and ran down the street, would that turn you on?”
I couldn’t keep a stupid smile off my face. “Now, Madi. Why would you go and do that?”
Her laughter melted the longer I looked at her. “You’re not who I expected to meet in a small town like this.”
“I imagine not,” I murmured. “I didn’t expect this either. What would you want to explore? You mentioned there are kinks and desires you never got to.”
She thought about it for a moment. “Well, I’m interested in your primal kink. I’ve always wanted to try . . . overstimulation.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
