18. Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Eighteen
F in had been in a hell of a lot of scenes, but that Play Night would stick out in their memory forever.
Even though they’d participated in some seriously kinky stuff, the scenes they’d done in the past had all been fun.
Breezy. Light. With many of their partners, he’d felt affection and tenderness, but not this intensity they experienced with Ollie.
When he looked up at them, placed his trust in them, this protective urge rose that must’ve been dormant before.
And they’d already crossed that line with him in asking to continue playing together.
As their sub.
Fin clutched the wheel tight as they pulled into street parking near their destination.
“Where are you taking me?” Ollie asked as if the jolt had roused him out of a stupor. He’d crammed down a granola bar they had on standby and had managed to get himself under control at Whipped, but after the initial boost, he needed something more to stabilize his blood sugars.
“Thought we were done questioning my kidnappings?” they teased.
Ollie snorted. “It does tend to be a trend.”
“You feeling steady?” they asked. The shadows of the surrounding night crept in through the car, sharpening his features.
He heaved out a sigh. “If it’s a short walk with the promise of some solid sustenance, I can make it. But my sugars are still a bit wonky.”
“How come that doesn’t happen every time we play?” Fin asked, curiosity getting the better of them as they stepped out of the car.
Ollie slipped out as well and matched their stride. “Fuck if I know. There are so many factors involved on any given day, and the way kink messes with adrenaline could be a study all on its own.” He chewed on his lip and glanced away. “Is it a problem?”
Fin reached up and squeezed his nape. “Nuh-uh. None of that pitying shit. I’m just a curious motherfucker, and you happen to be fascinating.”
Ollie glanced at them, and the flash of vulnerability in those pretty brown eyes had their heart thumping in double time. However, his eyes crinkled, and a wan smile lifted his lips. “Like a science experiment?”
“If that’s your kink, babe. I can throw on the lab coat next time.
” Fin stopped in front of a familiar place.
House of Swords had a dingy yellow sign out front, but the place oozed a fascinating sort of class they didn’t mesh with at all.
However, they’d gone here a bunch with Meg, Parker, and Tristan, and one thing kept them coming back.
“Come on.” They slipped their hand in Ollie’s and gave a tug .
They entered the bar, which was a Prohibition-era relic.
The amber lighting created the perfect ambiance to frame the hardwood surfaces, and the green vinyl barstools formed a neat line down the massive bar.
But they veered toward the private booths along the side, made of the same green vinyl.
Jazz filtered through the whole place, and they didn’t quite hate the sound in this setting, even though the musical genre made them a little stabby.
“Uh, Fin?” Ollie said. “Pretty sure this is a bar.”
Fin placed a hand on their chest. “Oh my stars, I had no idea.”
Ollie rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’ll trust that your idea of sustenance isn’t a Tom Collins.”
“Mmm, depends on the Tom Collins. The average amount of spunk contains about 252 milligrams of protein.”
Ollie groaned. “First off, that joke is fucking terrible. And second, do I want to know how you know as much?”
“Petty debate. I’m highly motivated when it comes to being petty.
” They guided him to a seat and let go of his hand.
The fact that they’d held hands with him the entire time smacked them in the face.
That wasn’t something Fin did with anyone, yet Ollie continued to be the exception.
Hard to keep his fantasies tamped down over small slips like that.
“That tracks.” Ollie snagged one of the menus. The overhead brassy chandeliers overhead cast ever-shifting patterns across the place.
“Are you a wings guy?” Fin grabbed a menu as well.
“I feel like that’s a trick question.” Ollie’s eyes crinkled with his grin. “If I say no, are you going to leave me stranded here?”
Fin shot him a look. “I’d never leave you stranded. And I brought you here because even though this place is known for liquor, they have the best damn wings in San Francisco.” Besides, wings were more diabetic-friendly, and they’d wanted him to have a solid option afterward .
“Yeah, I dig wings,” He handed over the menu. “Feel free to order what you think is best.”
“Damn, sweetness,” Fin said. “Give me all that power, and I’ll go mad with it.”
The server came over, and Fin placed the orders for them, reveling in the slight eyebrow lift at ordering waters and plates of wings in a place known for booze. Every chance they could get to stir up a little chaos, they’d take.
“How are you feeling after everything?” they asked.
They’d had some brief check-ins with Ollie after the scene down in the dungeon, but it wasn’t the same with everyone around them.
Plus, they’d been more focused on making sure they got a little sugar into his system than breaking down what they’d done together.
“Life and the universe?”
“No, the scene, jackass.”
Ollie’s eyes danced. “Not sure what I thought it’d be like, but the scene was way better than I’d imagined. None of my worries ended up coming true.”
Fin drew their brows together. “What were your concerns?”
“If I’d freeze up or if I’d feel uncomfortable in a group setting.”
They’d been doing those types of scenes for so long it was hard to remember a time being skittish about stripping down or fucking in public settings, but Ollie was so damn new to all of it.
Yet he was brave as fuck too. He wasn’t afraid to try things, something Fin had become aware of from the start.
Something they valued so much in another person.
“Those are normal fears,” Fin said. “But I’m so proud of you.”
Ollie’s gaze locked on theirs, and the unabashed softness there struck them right in the chest. They played with gossamer.
One careless yank and they’d rip this tremulous thing between them.
They should step away. They were unused to anything more than casual, and they had the tact of a wrecking ball.
They’d more likely ruin this sooner rather than later. And yet they couldn’t seem to pull back from him.
“Anyway, once you start playing in a group setting, you realize real quick we’re all human. Did I ever tell you the watermelon story?”
Ollie shook his head. His smile made him so damn gorgeous they struggled to breathe sometimes. “No, but I have the feeling I need to hear this one.”
Fin opened their mouth, about to launch into their favorite story, when their phone buzzed with a text. They glanced down, wanting to make sure it wasn’t Meg or anyone following up after the Play Night. Instead, they saw one from their mom.
Their stomach soured.
“What caused that look?” Ollie asked.
Fin sucked in a deep breath. As much as they wanted to dodge around the discussion, they had also mellowed out after an explosive orgasm from claiming Ollie in front of their friends.
“My mom set a time to meet up. We already saw each other over a month ago, and that’s more than enough for me.
I don’t even know where the sudden interest is coming from. ”
“Maybe something’s changed with her?”
Fin shook their head. “I doubt it.” Last time they got lunch with their mom, she was same old.
Still avoiding any mention of Fin’s father and keeping the conversation as superficial as possible.
Why they even bothered anymore was beyond them.
Neither of them got anything out of the visits apart from fear and split-open scars.
“But you’re scared of letting her go,” Ollie said, his voice quiet, thoughtful. He offered a half smile. “Sometimes the good memories are the most dangerous things.”
Well, damn.
Most folks told them to drop their mom, to stop with this nonsense, and they weren’t wrong. Fin knew what they should do. Yet Ollie’s words, Ollie’s understanding , struck right into the center of their heart.
“Yeah, they fucking suck,” Fin muttered. Because they could remember a time when they’d gone on family picnics to Ocean Beach, when Mom had sung brightly and loudly to her eighties ballads while driving the car, when Dad had laughed and told them old fairy tales and fables at bedtime.
When that shattered, those broken pieces hadn’t been reparable.
And some days, they were terrified their broken pieces weren’t either.
But those memories weren’t the current reality—on either front.
Ollie shrugged. “I’m not going to pressure you. Only you can make that choice, and letting go is hard.”
“You’re a rarity, Oliver Hale.” Fin reached across the table and grabbed his hand. The motion was automatic, the feel of his warm hand in theirs magnetic. Fuck, they were being all PDA in a bar. They were that couple.
Fin blinked.
Fuck. Not a couple. Just…something. Something that didn’t make their mind scream.
“Either way, I’ll be stuck meeting up with her soon.
Want to plan a fun scene for afterward?” Fin needed to reroute into less dangerous territory.
Because Ollie’s warm, callused hands in theirs, the understanding in his gaze, and the way he slid from teasing to serious and back again would be their undoing .
“Hit me with your ideas,” he said. “I’m game. Hell, if you’d told me a few months ago I would’ve loved having my cock caged up for a week, I would’ve called you crazy. But that was hot as hell.”
“The reward’s worth it, right?” They didn’t pull their hand back yet.
Ollie lifted a shoulder in a light shrug. “Even without the reward, the idea of you deciding when I got to come or not, how you cranked me up during the whole stint—all of it worked for me.”
“God, the things I could do with you.” The blood pumped hot through them. Ollie’s heated look amped them up a hundred degrees. If he wasn’t wiped from the play they’d done earlier and hadn’t needed to get a meal in him, they’d be tempted to slip into the bathroom and toy with him some more.
The server approached with their plates of wings, the rich aroma tickling their nostrils, and their stomach rumbled. Nothing got them hungry like a good fuck, and they were ready to tear in.
Once the server left, Ollie lifted a brow. “So, best wings in San Francisco?”
“Yep. Will brook no arguments. The other wings in this city are bone dust and bird shit.”
Ollie’s laugh exploded out of him. “Yeah, I highly doubt that. But we’ll see.” He didn’t waste time, grabbing one of the wings and taking a bite. He chewed on it and mused for a moment, then licked his lips. “Eh.” His eyes crinkled with his response, and Fin’s heart thumped harder.
“Eh? You little shit.” Giddiness bubbled inside them.
They’d never met anyone like him. Anyone who understood their sense of humor, who played with them on their level.
And each moment they spent with Ollie, the more they sailed into dangerous territory .
Because Fin had never fallen in love before. But with him, it might be far too easy.