Page 116 of Key of Kink

Yes.

No hesitation whatsoever. I liked that.

Then I’d better get some sleep. Can’t have me snoring mid-tickle.

His laughing emoji was the perfect reply.

I turned my phone to silent, and switched off the lamp, letting the dark wash over me.

Tonight. His place.

This wasn’t just kink anymore.

The thought didn’t scare me.

It made me grin into the dark.

I knew something was up the moment I walked into the kitchen. It was too quiet.

Maya was at the table with her laptop open, not typing. Sam was making coffee, but he wasn’t drinking it. Jess was buttering toast with unnecessary focus.

Three academics. My mind went immediately to conspiracy.

I stopped in the doorway. “What?”

Maya looked up first. “Good morning.”

“That will depend on your next words,” I replied.

Jess slid a mug toward the empty chair like bait. “Sit.”

“I have work,” I lied.

“You have ten minutes,” Sam said calmly.

I narrowed my eyes but sat anyway. They exchanged glances, and my senses went on alert.

The Look. Oh shit.

“Okay,” Jess began, “so.”

“So,” I echoed.

“We’ve been thinking,” Maya added.

I narrowed my eyes. “That’s never a good opener.”

Sam leaned against the counter. “We’d like to meet him.”

I blinked.

“Max,” Maya clarified.

Before I could get a word out, Sam cut in. “We’re not intending to grill him. We’re not doing an interrogation. We just… care.”

The one thing I couldn’t escape.

“You moved to London for someone once before.” Jess took a bite of toast. I waited for her to finish, my mind already contemplating a spiral into panic mode. “We didn’t meet him until after things were already… complicated.”