Page 9 of Masters of Control

“We were dumb teenagers.” He shrugged. “Besides, if things hadn’t gone down the way they had, I would have never known that someone could Post-it an entire car.”

Sam snickered at his mention of the prank. She’d had help, but she and two of the submissives from Stronghold—one of whom was good friends with Q—had literally covered his car in Post-it notes while he was in the club. It had been hilarious watching the security feed when he went outside and just stood there, staring at his car, unmoving, for five long minutes.

“I only did that because you changed the ring tone on my phone.”

“I know. It was pretty hilarious. Makes me a little scared to tempt fate and see what else you have up your sleeve.”

Rather than answer him, Samantha smiled enigmatically. The truth was she had a few more ideas. Including some she wasn’t sure how to implement since Master Patrick, the main owner for Stronghold and Marquis, had forbidden anything to do with glitter in the clubs.

It seemed like she and Q had called a truce, anyway.

They chatted about everything they’d been up to since graduating high school. She told him how she’d decided to go into occupational therapy because she didn’t think she could afford the bills to become a surgeon like she wanted, then discovered that she loved being an OT. He told her about how he’d been a proposal writer until one of his friends had got him a job working with video games at StormCloud in Bethesda.

Shane came by, and they ordered a second drink before Q got up to take a bathroom break. Sitting at the bar, smiling into the nothingness while she waited for him to return, Sam jumped a little when Noelle appeared at her elbow.

“Hi again! I was on my way out and saw you sitting here,” Noelle said, glancing at Q’s empty glass.

“Q and I decided to get a drink to keep talking things through,” Sam said, answering the unasked question.

“Oh, I guess you two will be paired together? That makes sense. I wish I knew who I was going to be paired with.” Noelle smiled, but the way she was staring at her made Sam feel a little uncomfortable, as though she was accusing Sam of having insider knowledge. Then again, she guessed she did, but only for herself.

“They asked us before the class if we’d be okay with being paired with each other since we, um, have a bit of past history. We knew each other in high school.” The words kept coming as Noelle stared at her. Finally, the other woman nodded, her eyes brightening with understanding.

“Okay, got it.” She sighed. “I guess I’ll have to wait till next week to find out my partner. I can’t wait though. I think this is going to be a lot of fun.”

Noelle seemed a little awkward, but maybe Sam was projecting. Maybe this was why she had no friends other than Morgan, who was more of a very friendly acquaintance. Sam didn’t know how to relate to people. Maybe Noelle came off as a little too friendly because Sam was too unfriendly.

Maybe she needed to try harder.

“I have a lot of fun with it,” she offered. “I wasn’t sure when I first started coming to Stronghold, but it’s really satisfied something inside me.”

She’d first signed up for classes because she’d been reading a lot of romances, which led to her looking for local clubs online. She’d done a ton of research and determined Stronghold was the one she wanted to go to, then found their introduction class, which happened to be at its sister club, Marquis. The idea of a classroom setting had made her feel more comfortable, though she’d quickly discovered it wasn’t at all like being in a conventional classroom.

But she’d enjoyed it.

She enjoyed kink and liked having somewhere to go on the weekends where people were friendly, even if she wasn’t really friends with any of them.

“I can’t wait. I have to get going but maybe we could get together before class next week? Have a drink ahead of time?” Noelle smiled expectantly.

Samantha mentally pulled up her calendar. Mondays she only worked till five, so that should be fine.

“Sure, that’d be great.”

Maybe she was getting better at this making-friends thing.

Q

Coming out of the bathroom, Q ran into Law, who had just exited the stairway at the back of the hall and was headed to the main dining room. The back stairs were right next to the back entrance of Marquis, which was for members only, and tucked around the corner from the hallway where Q was standing.

“Hey, how was your first night?” Law asked. “You and Sam seem to be getting along better.”

“It was good,” Q said, bemused. “Did you come all the way down to check on me?”

“Yeah. Shane texted that you were at the bar with Sam.”

Q shot a dirty look toward the bar, not that Shane noticed. He frowned when he realized Sam wasn’t alone, and who she was with.

“Hey, so… Noelle…” He let his voice trail off, turning his head slightly so he could see Law. The other man’s jaw tightened with seeming annoyance.