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“I will not ask you to do that. That man deadlifts trees for fun,” she said to Olin.
“Give me, like, four hundred leg days and I’ll get there.”
Meegan gave his side a little squeeze, careful to avoid his ticklish zone. “Nah, I like you just the way you are.”
They said their goodbyes to Keira and Daniel with the promise that the four of them would meet up again soon. Also, when they had more time, Olin wanted to ask Daniel what his aversion toMatch Made in Paradise was. Daniel was happy to discuss it at length.
Meegan and Olin walked back toward the escalator close to the restaurant. Olin was quiet the whole way, but Meegan didn’t push him. He’d open up when he was ready. Still, she appreciated the way he put his arms around her as they went down the electronic stairs. She also liked the way he kissed her forehead while they were waiting their turn at the parking payment kiosk. When Olin stepped up to pay, Meegan returned the gesture, slipping her hand in his back pocket and kissing the back of his neck. He made a cute little grunting noise of approval and she knew he’d be back to himself in a little while.
They turned to head back to the car and literally ran right into two petite blonde women.
“Oh, sorry,” Meegan said and then she froze. One of the women was looking dead at her man.
“Olin. Hey.”
“Hi Cindy. How are you?”
“Good. Just seeing a movie with my sister. You?”
“Just having dinner with my girlfriend. I hope the movie was good. You two have a good night.” He took Meegan’s hand and led her back to the car.
“That was pretty frosty,” Meegan chuckled when they got in the car.
“She’s the reason I paid you to date me. Cindy Dawes.”
“Oh. Oh! Should I go back and trip her?”
“No, I think she got the point.”
“Should we talk about how you just called me your girlfriend?” she asked cautiously. Of course they had their pact and he wanted everyone to think he was taken, but he said it so forcefully that Meegan felt he’d made up his mind about something in the last few hours.
“Yeah. And everything that happened at dinner. I still need a few minutes. We’ll talk, though. I promise.”
“Okay.” Meegan giggled as he reached over and pinched her knee. He started the Mercedes and turned on some Billy Joel. When“Just the Way You Are” came through the speakers, Meegan knew she could relax for real. Olin had jokes. They were quiet the whole ride back to her house, letting the music fill the space between them. Olin found parking on the street, which Meegan took as a good sign. Hopefully he was planning to stay for a while. Meegan turned toward him and Olin let out a long breath, then scrubbed his hands over his face. He squeezed his eyes shut really tight, the way Meegan did when she felt the rare migraine coming on. She watched as he leaned his head back on the headrest. Finally, he opened his eyes and looked at her.
“So, Daniel.” His tone was neutral.
“There are so many things to say about him,” Meegan replied.
“He—Daniel’s a fucking wizard.”
Meegan burst out laughing. “Tell me what he said.”
Olin gave her the run down of their chat. They’d approached their conversation from the perspective that Olin and Meegan were in a romantic relationship. Meegan and Shep had done all sorts of biblical things, but they’d never set foot in a restaurant together until now. The rules were the same for romance and BDSM, Daniel explained. Be consensual, safe and risk-aware.
“They both pointed out the difference between topping someone you saw maybe once a month and topping your girlfriend or your wife. Or your girlfriend, your girlfriend’s friend and her boyfriend and his friend,” Olin said.
“Very true.”
“It was good to get that kind of clarity. It helps me understand your past and current relationships with them better too.”
Meegan felt something in her ease and ache at the same time. “It’s definitely different with you.”
Olin flashed her a little smile before he went on. “Shep and Daniel told me more about how they had come into the community, and how Keira and Claudia were both on the outside when they’d met. Daniel confessed to how he’d actually lied to Keira at first about how deep he was in the community and how it took some groveling, a lot of transparency and an engagement ring for him to prove just how sorry he was. He clarified that she did not pressure him into getting engaged. He’d already been thinking about the long term when shit hit the fan.”
“They were locked in almost right away. We were all shocked at first because I think he only told Evelyn he was even seeing anyone, but I mean, it all makes sense now. They are pretty perfect for each other.”
“Yeah they seem like a really strong couple. They complement each other well,” Olin replied. Shep told him about his annual trips to The Club, how that evolved into repressing much of his sexuality fifty-one weeks a year. Looking forward to seven days straight of extremely intense power play gave him something to look forward to up in his isolated cabin. Now they visit The Club at least once a year, as a couple.“He told me he’d send me a link if I wanted to know exactly how he and Claudia had met, but he wasn’t gonna talk about it. He’d said something about survivors’ remorse and I figured it was best not to ask follow up questions.”
