23. New Proficiency #3
“If it's four riggers and two bottoms,” Jeremiah continues, “he might be willing to do private instruction.”
“Cami would do it,” Micah says.
“She would.” There is no uncertainty in my answer.
Jeremiah takes out his phone. “I'll reach out.”
“Well, that escalated quickly,” I point out.
“And I'll pay.”
“No.”
Jeremiah looks at me.
Carter exhales. “Oh, good. Here we go.”
“There are six adults participating,” I say. “There is no reason for you to pay for all of them.”
“There is if I'm the one setting it up. And the money is nothing for me.”
“That is not how shared expenses work.”
Jeremiah stares at me.
I stare back.
Micah folds his arms, clearly enjoying himself.
Carter looks delighted. “Board meeting,” he says again.
Jeremiah's mouth finally twitches. “Give me your number.”
I take out my phone. “That does not mean you've won the payment argument.”
“I know.”
We exchange numbers.
Micah meets my eyes.
The satisfaction in his expression is subtle, but I understand it.
A week ago, I took him on our first date.
Now we're discussing learning to put people in rope together.
Apparently this is what courtship looks like for us.
I find I don't object.
Cameron
Alexis doesn't take me upstairs until almost an hour later.
I don't mind.
Mostly because coffee turns into sitting at the kitchen island while she complains about wedding planning and I laugh at her.
“I love weddings,” she says. “In theory.”
“In theory?”
“In theory they're romantic. In practice, yesterday I spent twenty minutes answering questions about napkin folds.”
“That's horrifying.”
“Thank you.”
She smiles when she says it, though.
Happy.
A little overwhelmed.
Maybe something else beneath it, but I don't know her well enough yet to pull at that thread.
“So,” I say, gesturing toward the stairs. “You like all of this.”
Alexis raises an eyebrow.
“The room. Giving up control.”
“Oh.” Her smile changes. “Yes.”
I laugh. “That sounded decisive.”
“Because it is.” She looks toward the stairs before turning back to me. “I control everything, Cami.”
“I've noticed.”
She laughs.
Then her expression softens.
“My job. The house. Calendars. Wedding planning. Everyone's schedules. Half the time my brain is already calculating three things ahead of whatever I'm actually doing.”
I nod.
I understand that part, even if we do it differently.
“With Jeremiah especially, I don't have to do that. When we're actually in a scene, and I trust him to take over, I can stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Managing. Thinking.”
The words land harder than I expect.
Alexis shrugs. “It's not that I become helpless or don't have choices. It's the opposite. I choose to hand the decisions over for a while.”
I think about Ronan telling me what to do.
About the way his voice sometimes empties my brain before his hands even touch me.
“Yeah,” I say quietly. “I get that.”
Alexis smiles. “Come on.”
She leads me upstairs.
I expect the men to be finished.
They aren't.
The first thing I see when we reach the doorway is Carter leaning against one wall, looking entertained, while Jeremiah and Ronan stand several feet apart with their phones out.
Micah is beside a wall of hanging impact toys.
Of course he is.
Ronan looks up when I enter.
His eyes find mine.
There is something in them that makes heat roll straight down my spine.
Oh, fuck.
He has ideas—I know that look.
Micah sees me next. His gaze drops briefly over my body and then returns to my face.
That isn't better.
Alexis steps beside me. “What did we miss?”
Carter answers first. “Jer and Ronan are arguing about money.”
Jeremiah doesn't look away from his phone. “I know a rigger who teaches private lessons.”
Alexis's entire face changes. “Shibari?”
“Yes.”
She looks at me.
I look at her.
Oh.
Oh, double fuck.
Ronan puts his phone away. “Nothing is arranged.”
“Yet,” Micah says.
I look between them. “What exactly are we talking about?”
Jeremiah finally turns toward us. “I'll contact him. See what he offers. If he's interested in teaching privately, it would be the four of us learning.”
He gestures between himself, Carter, Micah, and Ronan.
Then his eyes move to Alexis. “With two rope bunnies.”
Alexis smiles and almost bounces.
I stare at her. “You didn't even hesitate.”
“No.”
Everyone looks at me.
My gaze travels to the overhead bar.
Then to Ronan.
Then Micah.
This is a terrible idea.
A deeply irresponsible idea.
An idea that probably requires waivers.
“Absolutely, yes,” I finally say.
Carter laughs.
Ronan's mouth curves.
Micah looks extremely pleased with himself.
Jeremiah nods like we just approved a budget proposal. “Good. I'll call him this week.”
“And then we'll split the cost,” Ronan adds.
Jeremiah turns toward him. “We'll discuss that.”
“We already did.”
“No. You stated an opinion.”
“It was the correct one.”
Alexis leans toward me. “They're going to be exhausting together.”
I watch Jeremiah and Ronan stare each other down while Carter starts laughing and Micah looks like he'd happily let them argue for another hour.
“Yeah,” I whisper.
Then Ronan looks at me again.
His gaze drops down my body, and my stomach flips.
“Extremely fucking exhausting,” I repeat.