Page 30 of Masters of Control

Sam grabbed half a plate of salad as well as two pieces of pizza. Unlike Morgan, she liked both and knew none of the guys here would be judgmental or rude about her eating choices. Sadly, not something that was universal, but she was in a safe space here, which meant a lot to her. Coming up behind her, Noelle quietly did the same and then followed her to the table. Morgan had sat down next to Mitch, so Sam sat down next to Brian, leaving the spot in the middle for Noelle.

“Are you planning to go out tonight?” Brian asked, looking down the table at Morgan.

She shook her head. “I was going to stay in and unpack, but I have to do Sam’s makeup first.” Morgan looked up from her food and turned her head to beam at Mitch. “She has a date with Q.”

The guys sat up a little, and Sam groaned even as her insides warmed. They’d just gone into ‘protective’ mode. She’d seen it frequently directed at Morgan but never at herself. She’d never wanted it directed at her, yet seeing them get all frowny and protective over her gave her unexpected warm fuzzies.

“A date-date? I thought you two… didn’t get along,” Kincaid said, obviously changing up what he had planned to say mid-sentence.

“You’re topping him for the class, right? So, that puts her in the power position,” Mitch pointed out before Sam could answer.

“Yeah, but he’s a Switch, and he’s already done the Dom stuff.” Zach frowned, his gaze focusing on Sam. “I thought you two were just trying scening at the club because of the class. I didn’t realize it went beyond that.”

“They scened at the club?” Brian jumped on that part of Zach’s statement.

“Who was in charge for that?” Mitch’s question came out as a demand.

“He was,” Zach answered for her.

“Where’s he taking you tonight?” Kincaid’s attention was laser focused on Sam, making her want to squirm in her seat.

Dammit. She was supposed to have a Dominant side to call on, but it was a little hard to feel it when she had not one but four Doms getting all bossy with her. If only she could channel her inner Olivia.

Olivia would never put up with being ignored when the topic of conversation was her own life.

Sam sat up a little straighter and deliberately took a bite of her pizza, chewing slowly as she stared back at Kincaid. Inside, she was quelling, her stomach doing somersaults one after the other, but she didn’t think her nerves showed on the surface. She hoped they didn’t.

To her amazement, Kincaid stared back at her, opened his mouth, then closed it without saying anything. He looked at Zach, Zach looked at Brian, who looked at Mitch.

Mitch looked at her.

She took another bite of pizza, staring back at him and doing her best to channel her inner Olivia.

Holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender, Mitch shook his head.

“Guess it’s not really our business. I’m sure you have him handled.”

Holy crap, it worked, and she hadn’t even had to say a thing.

“I knew you weren’t a sub,” Morgan said happily, taking another bite of her salad. Sam had to laugh. It really was one of the first things Morgan had said to her, and she’d been insulted at the time, but Morgan had been right.

Sam was grateful. She wasn’t sure she would have figured it out without Morgan.

“All hail Mistress Samantha,” Mitch said with a grin.

“So, what does it take to be a Switch?” Noelle asked.

Relieved that the attention was off her, Sam joined in with her two cents, answering Noelle, along with Zach and color commentary from the other guys. All in all, it was a fun way to pass the time before her date.

12

Two Sides to Every Story

Q

“Hey, Iris… so, I have a kind of personal question to ask you, and it’s totally okay if you don’t want to answer.”

Iris blinked at him.