Page 14 of Pretty ’n Peak

Jamie started talking about the first ice breaker game while Austin debated slipping upstairs to enjoy the night air. He’d enjoyed talking to Mateo, but he didn’t want to be a cockblocker if someone approached him. That boy deserved someone who could show him the world.

“Are you going to do it?” Mateo’s deep voice asked at his side.

It took him a moment to realize what Mateo was talking about. The silly game. Jamie had gone over the event with him earlier because he wanted to make sure that it was accessible, though Austin hadn’t paid it too much attention beyond noting that it wasn’t outside his capabilities. The Doms were supposed to show off their rope skills by tying up a wooden chair under a time limit. A harmless competition with a naughty twist, and fairly common for these kinds of events.

A murmur rose in the room, good-natured teasing and cheering. He could pick out Sebastian’s voice, and Master Carlos, who he wouldn’t mind catching up with. Mateo was still waiting for an answer.

“Hey, Austin!” Jamie called from the front. “Show us what you’ve got!”

Austin rolled his eyes, but he found that there was a little part of him that wanted to show off for the baby sub. Even if he looked ridiculous putting a chair in bondage.

Ah, why the hell not? He was here to relax. When was the last time he’d done anything silly and fun? “Sure.”

The flow of people in the room suggested that Doms and subs were splitting into two groups, Doms near the front. The lighting was good enough that Austin could navigate the clear space with ease. He held his cane in front of him out of habit, and as a bit of a warning to others.

Jamie led him to a chair and placed a coil of rope in his hands. Automatically, he unwound it and found the bight by folding it in half. He felt around for the chair in front of him— some scrollwork down the back, and thin arms along both sides. Plenty of places to secure a rope.

Austin wasn’t a shibari master by any means, but he’d done some workshops and had plenty of practice, both on inanimate objects and a few subs from time to time. He liked the feel of ropes under his fingers. It was satisfying in a tangible way, letting him feel the patterns that he couldn’t see. Cam usually lacked the patience for it, but…

Austin let his fingers run over the thick strands. It was possible that he’d missed this.

“Alright, Daddies! You know what to do! Show that lucky chair the time of its life. Two points for the first to finish, one point for the second, and the rest of the points are by audience vote. On your marks, get set, go!”

Austin found himself taken over by the adrenaline of the competition. He didn’t have the time to be careful, but then again, he didn’t need to check any circulation or worry about positioning.

He started on a simple but showy lattice down the back, trying to keep everything even. He didn’t use the intricate knots he usually would, just two solid ones that were easy to untie. Diamonds formed quickly under his fingers.

Jamie was getting the crowd excited, cheering for each Dom in turn. When it came to Austin’s turn, he actually had to repress a grin.

“Aus-tin! Aus-tin!” The voices mingled together, but he could hear Mateo’s deep voice with that soft accent through it all.

In fact, Mateo was standing right in front of him, even as the wave of cheering continued down the line.

He had no idea how he was doing in comparison to the others, but he was pretty sure he wasn’t doing too badly. He finished up the back and flipped the chair around.

There was a shout from the crowd as someone finished, which urged him on. Normally he would keep the two pieces of rope together, but this wasn’t actual bondage. He made a broad X across the seat and tied off the rope on each of the front legs.

“Second finish goes to Austin for one point!” Jamie crowed.

Wow. He’d actually finished second? Austin was pretty comfortable with both his skills and the challenges of his vision impairment. Most things simply took him longer than others. He had to check everything more often, feel around or ask for things that others could see. Hopefully that didn’t mean that everyone else’s chair was much fancier than his but…

Ah, what the hell. He’d come in second, and he was having fun.

Jamie wandered around collecting votes while Austin stood by his chair. Man, he really wished he could see the others. Jamie was very clear that the subs could vote on absolutely anything, including style, humor, or general sexiness, but Austin was competitive. He wanted to assess how he did on his own.

Jamie announced the first prize—some sort of sex toy. And to his great surprise, Austin came in second, with a twenty-five dollar gift certificate to a local restaurant. Which meant that a lot of subs must have voted for him. Who would have thought?

His first thought was to take Mateo out to dinner, which… Well, why not? He’d promised to mentor the boy.

The subs were supposed to help the Doms untie the knots, and Austin already knew that the dark-ish blur moving toward him was Mateo. He moved downward on the other side of the chair. Kneeling, maybe?

It was a sight he wished he could see.

“Congratulations, Austin.”

“Well, thank you. I haven’t done that in a long time.” He drew in a deep breath, chest filling. He felt exultant.

“Yeah? Why not?”