Page 93 of Key of Kink

Max watched me for a second. “How long since you left?”

“A year and a bit. I moved down just after I turned nineteen.” I chuckled. “Or should that be ‘moved up’? People always say moving up to the capital, right? I never got that.”

I was talking too much, but I couldn’t help it. Max was messing with my head.

“Nineteen? That’s young.”

I shrugged. “I needed… more. London felt bigger. There was less chance of everyone knowing your business.” Then I laughed. “Which is ironic, because I share a house with three students who know virtually everything about me, including the kink.”

“Do you still have family up there?”

“Yeah, my mum.” I smiled. “She thinks London is full of criminals and over expensive coffee shops.”

Max chuckled. “That’s not an entirely inaccurate description.”

“Plus, she asks if I’ve joined a cult at least once a month.”

His mouth twitched again.

“But she’s good,” I added quickly. “She just doesn’t get everything. I didn’t want to spend my twenties explaining myself all the time.”

“So you left,” Max said.

“Yeah.” I met Max’s gaze. “I assumed the kink scene here would be significantly more… well-stocked.”

Max stared at him. “That was one of your reasons for moving?”

“Among others, yeah.” I gave him a bright smile. “And here I am.”

I was not going to mention Grant. He had no place in this conversation.

Max glanced at his phone on the counter, and my heart sank.

It’s getting late, isn’t it?

My next move was obvious—leave before I was pushed.

“I should go soon,” I said. “I have work in the morning.”

“Me too.”

“So I’ll drink my tea and leave.”

Max stared at me, and for the life of me, I had no clue as to what he was thinking.

“About that…” He took a breath. “You can stay.”

Chapter Fifteen

Max

The words left my mouth before I had time to think clearly.

I hadn’t planned on saying them. I wasn’t impulsive. I’d simply looked at him, so at ease in my kitchen, and decided I wasn’t ready to let him go.

Quinn stilled, the washing-up brush caught in mid-motion. He hadn’t frozen, though.

He’s alert.