Page 29 of Masters of Control

“Oooh, speaking of, I should grab that so I can do it for your date tonight,” Morgan said, turning and picking up one of the boxes marked ‘makeup.’

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know, but I want to. No payment either. You’re my best friend, so it’s free.”

Morgan beamed at Sam right as her words hit Sam right in the chest. Holy crap. She hadn’t realized Morgan thought of her that way. Tears threatened, and she cleared her throat.

“Thank you.” She couldn’t put everything she was feeling into words, so she tried to put it into her tone. Morgan smiled back, apparently pleased, but that was also typical Morgan.

“Wow, okay.” Noelle huffed, startling both of them. Morgan actually jumped as they turned to look at her in surprise. Sam wasn’t sure why Noelle was upset. They’d just met her, after all. As she took in their reactions, Noelle’s expression crumbled, and she slumped. “I’m so sorry, I… I’m being unreasonable, I know. I’m just extra sensitive about the whole best friend thing after losing mine.”

She sniffled, and Sam’s heart went out to her.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Morgan said, putting her hands on her chest. “That was insensitive of me. I’m always doing that. I’m still learning.”

“No, no, you’re fine, it’s me.” Noelle reached up to wipe away a tear before Sam could reassure Morgan she had done nothing wrong. At least, she hadn’t in Sam’s eyes. It wasn’t as though they could know everything that would set Noelle off, and she’d mentioned losing her best friend in sub class, but not in front of Morgan that Sam knew about. “One day, I’ll have a new best friend.”

Feeling sympathy surge inside her—Sam knew how difficult it could be to make friends—she stepped up to put her arm around Noelle’s shoulders.

“That’s the great thing about friendships,” she said. “They keep growing. Morgan and I didn’t start out as best friends or anything. We just started hanging out. We’ll get there.”

“Thanks.” Noelle’s eyes filled with tears as Morgan slid next to her on the other side. “It’s just a lot. I used to do Iris’ makeup for dates, and then knowing that you two are besties and I lost my best friend, and I still don’t even really know why she ditched me… It’s been hard.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Morgan turned slightly to give Noelle a tight squeeze and Sam turned to wrap her arms around both of them. “That sucks.”

“It totally sucks,” Sam agreed. She couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Iris had ditched Noelle for her new friends because they were kinky, and Noelle wasn’t. That might be why she was taking the classes now, even though she didn’t seem to be super into them.

She also might just have some misconceptions about kink. Morgan had as well, and she’d been in the lifestyle—a very specific, very narrow portion of the lifestyle—for years. Misconceptions could happen for all sorts of reasons. If she wasn’t into kink and was only in the class to understand Iris better, Sam had to admire how far she was willing to go.

“Food’s here!” One of the guys called from downstairs. Sam thought it might be Brian, but she wasn’t sure. They’d said they were going to order pizza for lunch.

Sam squeezed a little tighter, then let go.

“Come on, let’s go get lunch.”

They trooped downstairs to where the guys were sitting around the kitchen table. Pizza boxes lined the counters, along with a big bowl of salad Sam knew was for Morgan. She wished she liked vegetables the way Morgan did. Morgan was the weirdest picky eater she’d ever met.

“Thanks for getting us lunch.” Sam went over to where plates were set out next to the food.

“Thanks for helping us out today,” Brian replied cheerfully, lifting a piece of pizza to toast her. “Things go a lot faster with good help, and that should be rewarded.”

“Thank you,” Morgan repeated, going over to press a kiss on the top of Brian’s head before following Sam to the food.

“Thanks,” Noelle echoed. Her eyes darted around, taking in everything from the casual kiss Morgan had given Brian, where all the guys were seated, and the boxes lined up along the kitchen wall. Probably those with her dishes. Morgan had been ruthlessly organized in how she’d packed, with every box clearly labeled.

The dining room table was meant for a lot of company with lots of chairs around it. Brian sat at the head and Mitch at the ‘foot’ with Kincaid and Zach on one side, leaving the other side for Noelle, Morgan, and Sam. One of the chairs on their side had clearly been dragged in from the kitchen, but there was still plenty of elbow room.

“No pizza?” Noelle asked, blinking in surprise when Morgan loaded her plate up with salad and didn’t even glance at the boxes. “Yeah, I guess you’d need to eat super light to look like you do. I’d rather have pizza.”

“I just don’t like pizza, but I love salad.” Morgan smiled breezily, taking her plate over to the table.

Sam noticed that all the men were now watching Noelle warily, like they weren’t sure whether to speak up. It wouldn’t be obvious by their expressions to most people, but after taking a kink class where all of them served as instructors, she’d gotten to know them all well. She could tell when they went into what she called ‘watch mode.’ It happened a lot during class when they weren’t sure if they were pushing too far with a newbie.

It reminded her, as much as she liked them, Mitch was engaged to Domi who was now friends with Iris and so all of them hung out with Iris fairly regularly.

Then again, they might just be wary because they were protective of Morgan.

Stop looking for trouble.