Page 64 of The Best Bad Decision

“We’ll play it by ear, but it’s no longer theoretical.” It seemed like the coworker with ants in his pants couldn’t hold back his curiosity any longer. “Incoming in five seconds. Maybe less.”

Atlee barely held back a laugh and was back to looking delightfully neutral as the handful burst over and rattled the table just as he’d predicted. Everything wobbled but the heads-up made it easier to keep our glasses upright. “Brandon.”

It seemed like Brandon’s wife knew she had a handful with him judging by the barely restrained eye roll she clearly wanted to let out as she followed him over. I’d have loved to know what she was thinking but she definitely had all the manners in their relationship.

Before Brandon could say anything, Atlee nodded at the woman. “Andrea. It’s nice to see you again.”

Ever the well-mannered man, Atlee made proper introductions and even introduced me as his good friend. There was enough of a pause and an adorable smile to make it clear I was more than that, which worked fine for me. They knew him well enough that it got a giggle from Andrea and a pointed I told you so from Brandon.

In his defense it was quiet, but it had Atlee rolling his eyes because it hadn’t been quiet enough. “It was good to see you both.”

He was definitely hoping that would chase them off but Brandon was stubborn. The odd duck just smiled wider at me and ignored the not-so-subtle hint. “It takes some guts to jump into a relationship when he’s got such a crazy ex.”

How had someone not punched him?

As Atlee and Andrea both groaned, I shrugged. “Oh, she’s nothing compared to mine.”

That was so true Atlee tried to hold back a laugh and ended up choking as he coughed. Andrea shot us both a knowing look but Brandon frowned. “Huh?”

“Let’s go before someone takes the foot in your mouth and shoves it somewhere else.” Andrea seemed to thoroughly enjoy her husband’s insanity, so I could only assume he was a devoted sub in other ways.

Brandon on the other hand was still a bit lost. “Atlee understands I have questions.”

“His partner doesn’t.” Dragging him away, she glared at her clueless husband. “You need to learn a few more self-preservation instincts.”

His sigh said that wasn’t going to be a fun activity.

Atlee watched as they walked back to their table before he turned to me and frowned. “I was right about them being…interesting…right?”

Oh yes.

“I’m not sure what their relationship entails, but I’m just going to say I appreciate how smart you are.” That got a flash of a grin from Atlee before he smoothed it away. “And well-mannered.”

His chuckle made me smile. “I’m not sure I’ve ever been praised for that.”

“You should’ve been.” It was more important than people gave credit for. “And I appreciate how smooth you are…good friend indeed.”

I made sure he could see I was pleased with that description but it still made him squirm slightly. “I…”

Swallowing, he took a second to regroup. “I realized at the last moment that I shouldn’t describe you too personally. We haven’t exactly talked about that since the beginning.”

Ah.

That made sense, but I wasn’t sure where he was steering the conversation or if he even had a plan. We’d been talking about him getting mobbed by the neighbors in a strange conversation about insurance, but that’d quickly gone off track with Brandon coming over.

“Are you telling me what you were thinking or are you trying to ask how I see our relationship?” I thought he should’ve seen the question coming but the way he reached for his glass and took a long drink of water said otherwise.

Not good.

“Baby, glass down and hands in your lap.” The calmly delivered order seemed to settle something in him if I was reading his body correctly. The way his shoulders relaxed and he leaned back in his chair told me this was the right direction, but I listened for anything close to a safeword before continuing.

Nothing.

“Very good.” The quiet praise took another weight off his shoulders and I could almost feel his stress easing again. “I’m simply trying to gather information before I answer. I couldn’t tell what you were thinking, so I asked.”

“You asked.” Repeating me softly, he nodded and looked to be processing something more complicated than I’d intended. “You need information.”

Because I was his Dom.