Page 37 of Key of Kink

I gave up on the rice and turned off the hob.

Dinner in our house was a continuous experiment in collective survival. Tonight was lentils (again), something roasted (questionable), and whatever I’d nearly incinerated. Except I wouldn’t even feed that last part to our dog. If we had one.

I leaned against the counter, my arms folded, and tried to look neutral.

“You haven’t been to Obsidian since Saturday?” Jess asked.

I’d been waiting for the interrogation since Sunday morning, and the fact that it hadn’t materialised was pretty shocking. Either my housemates were all too engrossed in their studies, or they were deliberately giving me space.

Right then I couldn’t decide.

“Nope.” I waited, knowing more was coming.

There always was, once they got going. A terrier with a rat had nothing on these three.

Maya paused mid-stir. “And?”

“And what?” I could play the innocent with the best of them.

“Did you… participate?” Sam asked.

“Yes.” One… two…

Three heads lifted in unison.

“And?” Maya pressed.

“You really need to ask better questions,” I remarked. That got me a hard stare. I let out a measured sigh. “It was good.” I kept my tone careful.

Jess snorted. “That’s your understatement voice.”

Damn it, she nailed it.

It hadn’t been just good. It had been focused, with the kind of control that felt like attention instead of performance.

And then there was Max.

“You haven’t said a word about Saturday,” Jess complained. “Which can only mean one of two things. Either it was disastrous and you don’t want to talk about it, or else it was fabulous and you don’t want to talk about it because that might detract from its fabulousness.”

Yeah, it was the latter. I’d been playing the scene on a loop in my head for days.

Right on cue, Sam speared me with a look. “Two questions. Did you have fun the other night? And did you have it with Mr. Someone? You know, the one who wasn’t trying to be noticed?”

I chuckled. “Yes, and yes.” I peered at him. “Do you take notes, or something?”

Sam rolled his eyes. “I’m doing a PhD in Computational Linguistics and AI Ethics. Dumb question.” He grinned. “And you haven’t answered the question.”

I managed a casual shoulder roll. “I liked the way he runs things. He’s thorough.”

Sam grinned. “You have a praise kink for organisation.”

“That is not what that means,” I said automatically.

Jess tilted her head. “Do you like him?”

Now there’s a question.

I thought about Max’s voice. The way he’d laughed, briefly, unexpectedly. The way he’d checked me afterward, not as though I was fragile, but as if I mattered.