Page 13 of Just Past Two

“Nah, not really.” Jack looked around again, but nobody was listening to them. “I mean, there’s some of that. The top floor is the ‘dungeon’”—he put it in air quotes—“where all the kinky shit goes on. The other floors are a little of everything. Some of it’s really chill, like a normal club, people out having a drink and chatting, but people fool around right there in the open. There’re rooms with two-way mirrors, and glory holes, and all the stuff that I seriously never thought existed outside of porn.” He shook his head. “Toys, sex swings, kinky stuff, you name it.”

“Was it weird?” Deshawn asked. “Seeing people fucking all around you?”

“Not as weird as I’d thought,” Jack said. “Mostly I had to get used to all the dicks.”

“Were you nervous?” Sam asked. He’d be nervous, obviously, but Jack probably wouldn’t admit it.

To his surprise, Jack laughed and nodded. “Hell yes. I almost chickened out, but I thought, what are my chances of ever getting to do something like this again? So I said yes.”

“So this was her idea, not yours?” Deshawn asked.

“Hers, definitely. No way I would have thought to ask her to do something like that. But she’s kind of a freak, and said it was always on her bucket list, so hell, why not?” Jack looked just delighted with himself, and his enthusiasm was contagious.

“You think you’ll go back?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe. It’s a cool thing to do once, but I’m not sure if it’s really for me long-term.” Jack rubbed the back of his neck, ducking his head nervously. “I’m not an exhibitionist kind of guy, and Collette just wanted to try it once, I think. I don’t think it was something she’d want to do again, either.”

Out of the group, only Mitchell had been silent, thoughtfully contemplating the whole conversation. Deshawn nudged him. “Nothing to say over there, Mr. Silent?”

Mitchell smiled. “I was just wondering if it’s something I might want to try in the future.”

Well damn, that made Sam look at Mitchell again. The guy was so full of secrets, never letting out anything about his relationship.

“If you’re interested, let me know,” Jack said. “Collette can get in touch with you. Her friend said any friend of ours is a friend of hers, or something like that. Anyway, invite’s open.”

The idea was fully formed in Sam’s mind before he’d consciously thought about it, and he turned back to his beer with a new plan.

By the time he got home that night, after finishing his beer and conversation with the guys, Abby was in the shower. Pottery was a messy endeavor, and on studio nights, she liked to take a long, hot shower to relax and clean up. He opened the door to the bathroom, steam rushing out past him and dissolving in the cooler air of the bedroom as he stepped inside.

“That you?” Abby asked from behind the curtain.

Sam smiled. “Nope. I’m a masked stranger, here to ravish you.”

Abby peeked out at him. Her red hair was pulled up in a messy bun on top of her head to keep it dry, and without her makeup, she looked like she could be college-age again. She gave him a smile. “I don’t know. I’m so tired from all those other masked strangers, I might not have energy to service another one.” She ducked back behind the shower curtain.

“Bummer. I’ll just have to take my first fantasy elsewhere, then.”

Abby reemerged from behind the curtain, pulling it back enough that he could see the curve of one breast. “Your fantasy is a masked stranger fantasy?”

“No. I’ve got something else.” He didn’t want to pitch it like this, though. “I’ll wait until you get out.”

Abby pursed her lips, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Okay. I’ll hurry up.”

“Take your time.” Sam waved her off and returned to the living room.

She came out in record time, wearing pajama pants and a loose tank top, her hair now down from its bun. “All right,” she said before she’d even come all the way into the room. “Let’s hear it. Your first fantasy.” She sat next to him on the couch, one leg folded up beneath her.

He’d been rehearsing different ways to ask or say this, but direct seemed best. “There’s a sex club in Boston, and I want you to go with me.”

Abby blinked. “A sex club?” She tipped her head to the side, uncertainty in her expression. “Like where people go and watch other people fuck? You know a place like that?”

“Yes. Exactly like that.” He had already messaged Collette by way of Jack before driving home. “I know about one, and I can get us onto the guest list.”

Abby was sitting upright, her body posture tense, and studied Sam like she just didn’t know what to make of him. “Do you want to fuck other people?”

“What? No!” Where did she get that idea? “I want to watch other people with you. Maybe do a bit of fooling around of our own, if you’re up for that. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

Abby looked hesitant, and he hadn’t expected that.