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“You’re supposed to argue with me and then we’ll compromise.” The way he was glaring at me said he thought I was being ridiculous but I wasn’t sure why.
“We don’t generally talk about that kind of stuff anyway, so it’s not a huge ask.” I’d thought it would be something he’d bring up eventually and had already thought about it. “Yes, she understands what I’m into because she was the only person I had to talk about it with for a long time, but she’s not in my circle of friends who are in the lifestyle.”
He was back to doing his slow nod thing again, but I could see I either hadn’t answered his question or he’d thought of something else because he didn’t look relaxed. But since he wasn’t panicking, I tried to project calm as I took another sip and let him process.
“What…I mean…” He paused as his focus came back to the moment and he took another deep breath. “How will you talk about it with those friends?”
Good question and one I hadn’t really thought about.
“Well, I told Jake at the bar that I was attracted to you and that I was hoping you were a pup, but you’ve already met him…” I waited to see what he would say but I just got pink cheeks from my cutie as he sighed.
Trying not to smile, I took that as acceptance and kept talking out the idea. “People who know me from that side of my friend groups would guess that if I’m serious about someone, they’re in the lifestyle too. So…they’re going to assume a few things no matter what I say or don’t say.”
That wasn’t me sharing, though.
“Until you’re more comfortable and we come back to this, I could always just say that you’re very private and I’m not going to talk about it for now.” It wouldn’t be guaranteeing him the level of privacy he seemed to like but it seemed reasonable. “What do you think?”
Payton’s face scrunched up before he shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Well, that seemed like a reasonable reaction but I wasn’t sure where to go from there.
“You see…” Payton paused, taking another deep breath before forcing himself to continue. “In my last job, I worked for a small publishing company. They seemed very open and accepting. No red flags at all during the interview process.”
I didn’t like where this was going.
“I’m assuming by the look on your face that changed?”
My question had him letting out a dry chuckle and slouching a bit as his stress faded. “Yeah, about a month after I started, my boss began making comments to me that seemed friendly at first but then slowly got more invasive. By the time I left, I was jumping at every sound and ran out on a first date when he raised an eyebrow like my boss did.”
That was…
“Can I ask if you’ve talked to anyone about this?” I wasn’t sure if I was overstepping but I was relieved when he nodded.
“Yes.” Once he’d started to talk about it, his body language just kept getting more and more at ease as the words tumbled out. “I’m much better now, just a lot more private than I used to be.”
It explained a lot but I had a feeling there was more to the story. “I’m glad you got help, but…”
His chuckle that time was closer to being a happy sound. “Yeah, there’s a but. I had to move home after quitting because I was a wreck and my savings weren’t going to last long enough. My family saw it as me being a failure and a wuss, as my father called it.”
From what Payton had said in the past, I could fill in the details pretty well. “Because a real man would’ve stood up to your old boss?”
Nodding, Payton sighed. “Got it in one.”
“Your father’s a dick. You know that, right?” Before he could do more than bark out a laugh, I was the one sighing. “And this is coming from someone whose whole family are dicks, so I get it.”
Payton let out a deep breath and nodded but his lips pinched together. “That brings up another topic that’s been running around in my brain.”
Now it was my turn to be a drama queen and groan.
He didn’t laugh but I wasn’t sure I would’ve been as restrained. Eventually, I got my shit together and I was the one sitting up straighter. “I’m sorry. That’s not—”
Payton cut me off and gave me a stern glare. “You’re not about to say a Dom shouldn’t be upset over crazy parents, are you?”
“Of course not.” Not anymore at least.
He snorted but didn’t call out my bullshit. “That’s what I thought.”
He was so cute.
“Because you’re smart and sexy and—”
He wagged his finger at me as he kept up the glare. “No praise. That’s cheating.”
