Page 60 of The Roommate Subtext

It made sense for her to research him, given what she’d told him about having a hard time trusting … and she did pick the name “Curious Rose.”

The secret identity was only for fun at first. Lots of people go by nicknames in those spaces. When picking that identity at his first play party, he had no idea that it would eventually become a full online persona. He’d just picked the name of his favorite plant.

I know you don’t play in person anymore. You told me it was the price of anonymity. What did you mean by that?

She was hitting right at the heart of it with these questions. He wasn’t sure how much detail to go into. He didn’t want to tell her who he was, specifically; if he was going to meet her, he would tell her then.

I started being in the public eye more, he answered. I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize my work or the people I’m trying to help.

Makes sense, she responded.

I do wonder sometimes if I went too far with it, he wrote. I wonder if I overreacted. Maybe nobody cares who I am, and I’ve gotten paranoid. Then he added, My best friend thinks that’s the case.

What would happen if someone learned your real identity? she asked. Would you lose your job? You couldn’t get arrested. None of this is illegal.

There were obviously professions where he might lose his job for something like this, like if he was a priest. Or worked at a religious school. Or if he was a politician. Although come to think of it, some politicians had come through significant sex scandals, way more serious than “attends a kinky house party now and then.”

Blake stared at the screen, considering how to answer. The pipes gurgled nearby from the sounds of Maggie draining the bath. I don’t really miss the kink events, he wrote. I did miss them, but playing with you has made me feel the same way those events used to make me feel. Better, in some ways. Because you’re the same person every time.

And because we’re sort of friends, she replied.

That made him smile at the screen. He liked to think they were friends, and it was nice to see her acknowledge it. Yes, and because we’re sort of friends.

You played with lots of different people? she asked.

A good number.

What did you do with them, exactly? Was it always sex?

He was surprised this conversation hadn’t come up earlier. She’d apparently thought he’d slept with dozens of people. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but it was so far from his experience that it made him laugh. It was rarely sex. Usually it was bondage and impact play. Most of the parties I went to had a no-penetration rule.

She didn’t reply right away. Maybe this was surprising to her; it was surprising to a lot of people, probably, who only thought of kink as relating to sex. Down the hall, he heard the bathroom door squeak open, then Maggie’s bedroom door closed.

No penetration or no orgasms? Rose asked.

She was astute. A very good question. No penetration. External play was fine.

Sounds like sex to me.

He had to give her that one. Fair.

Everyone is having more fun in Boston than me, she wrote.

Blake smiled. OK yes, if you’re asking if I was getting my partners off: sometimes. I guess that counts as sex.

Then are we having sex?

He considered the question. It gets murky when there’s no direct contact at all. When we’re not in the same place. I think we would have to define that for ourselves.

Do you want to have sex with me? she asked.

She really went for it, there. He blew out a breath. Do you want to know what I’d really like to do to you?

Yes.

If she wanted to know, he’d tell her.

I’d like to tie you up until you can’t move, he wrote, before I have my wicked way with you.