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"I know." I shoved his shoulder lightly. "I'm still staying."

His mouth twitched. Daddy watched the three of us. Something in his face softened. "All right."

We went back to the main room together. The Halloween party had kept going while we were gone. It felt strange that the whole world hadn't stopped just because ours had gone sideways for half an hour.

Daddy sat at one of the tables and JJ took the chair directly beside him without being told. Mikey took the one on JJ's other side. I sat across from them. Nobody said much. JJ watched the room but didn't insert himself into anything. That might have been the biggest sign in the world that he understood how badly he'd misjudged things.

After a while, Bella came over. She stopped a few feet from the table. "Can I sit?"

Daddy nodded toward the empty chair. She sat across from JJ. JJ immediately started crying again.

"I'm sorry."

Bella's expression softened. "Hey."

"I screwed everything up."

"You got overexcited, like a little puppy."

"I pressured him."

"A little," she said. JJ flinched. Bella didn't rescue him from it. "But I should've noticed that too," she continued. "He told me yes. He picked the stage. He gave me green. But I could've asked more questions about why he was choosing the bigger option for his first time."

JJ wiped his face. "Are you mad at me?"

"No."

"Really?!"

"Really. But next time you decide to play matchmaker, maybe don't also try to direct the entire movie,” she said.

I snorted. JJ gave me a wounded look. Bella smiled slightly. Then she looked at Daddy.

"He froze when the blindfold went on. Before that, he was nervous but responsive. I don't think anybody could've known for sure that would be the trigger."

Daddy nodded. "Sometimes you only learn a limit by reaching it."

"Exactly."

JJ still looked miserable. "So this wasn't all because of me?"

Bella considered that. "It wasn't all because of you. But you made it harder for him to admit he wanted something smaller because you were so excited."

He nodded. "I get it." And for once, I thought maybe he actually did.

Bella reached across the table, offering her hand palm-up between them. JJ looked at Daddy first. Daddy nodded. JJ took her hand.

"He's okay," she said.

JJ breathed. "I know."

"No. I mean it. He's shaken up. He might decide he never wants a public scene again. Or he might want one six months from now with completely different rules. Either answer is okay."

JJ nodded again. Safety didn't mean nothing bad or unexpected ever happened. This was part of kink, actually: RACK, risk aware consensual kink.

Across the room, the door to the quieter hallway opened. Dominic came out first. Max was beside him. Walking on his own. Their hands weren't touching, but they were close enough that Dominic's arm nearly brushed his with every step. JJ saw them. His whole body tensed, but he stayed exactly where he was.

Max looked across the room. His eyes found JJ. JJ gave him a tiny smile. Max watched him for a second. Then he gave a small smile back. JJ looked less miserable, and that was enough.