Page 106 of End Game

Dex nods. “Very dystopian.”

“It’s descriptive, not aspirational,” I tell them. That gets a laugh. “But yeah. I think we are.”

I look at Dex, then the rest of them. “We just aren’t using hierarchy to decide who deserves the most love.”

The room is quiet for a few breaths.

Dex breaks it first. “So, to summarize.”

Ronan visibly braces himself. “We have two primary relationships.”

Dex smiles. “Griffin and Cami. Me and Micah. Ronan is our beloved non-primary emotional support Dungeon Daddy—”

“Dexter,” Ronan interrupts with a warning.

“—and everyone else is somewhere on the world’s sluttiest org chart.”

Cami folds over laughing.

Griffin rubs both hands over his face.

I lose whatever battle I was fighting with myself and laugh too.

Ronan waits until the noise dies down.

He checks to make sure we’re all okay with it.

We all say we are, but Cami adds, “As long as we keep checking.”

“Checking what?” Dex asks.

“That nobody starts feeling optional,” she answers.

Ronan nods. “Agreed.”

Griffin reaches for her hand. “Nobody here is optional.”

Dex’s voice is quieter when he says, “That’s the rule I care about.”

Ronan nods and sits back. “There’s one other thing.”

Dex groans. “We were so close.”

“This one is important.”

Something in Ronan’s tone or words makes Dex straighten.

Ronan looks at Griffin.

“Back when we had the initial boundary discussion, I suggested something that I don’t think I explained very well at the time.”

Griffin’s brow furrows.

“I told you that because you weren’t part of the power hierarchy, but you were Cami’s husband, you could safeword for her if something happening in a scene made you uncomfortable.”

Griffin nods. “I remember.”

“So do I,” Cami agrees.