22. Tony
TWENTY-TWO
tony
“ C olor, pup?”
Jaime’s eyes twinkled with mirth. “Green.”
He carried his puppy hood with the yellow accents, but he hadn’t put it on. He said most of the time their boys’ night—which wasn’t too strictly split by gender, from what I could gather, but got its name as a result of some friendly squabbling between Sergio and Kara—consisted of whoever was attending gathering around the bar area upstairs and talking.
They sometimes played together, but it was more laid back than a usual theme night would be. It wasn’t the kind of ambience I was used to when I went to a club.
This was about proving things could be different. I wasn’t going to give up D/s dynamics or protocol, but I could give a different vibe a chance.
Gosh, the pup was rubbing off on me in the worst ways already.
“Do I need to ask for your color, Tony?”
I scoffed. Jaime had taken up using my name as an honorific. I enjoyed pushing him until he gave it up and called me Sir instead, but deep down? There was a gravity to his voice when he used my name that wasn’t quite there when he called me Sir. I just couldn’t let him think he was winning all the battles this easily.
“I’m good.”
After I took a deep breath, I gritted out a green , though.
He wouldn’t have let it go otherwise.
“That’s better.” Jaime preened.
He started walking up the stairs. The club was divided into two floors. The first floor had a more industrial feel to it, with only a locker room and a small bar for people who simply wanted to grab a bottle of water before heading straight to one of the themed rooms. A larger bar area and all the other rooms for play were upstairs, decorated in a more rustic, wood-heavy way. I’d been the one to suggest the wood. Even though most of the clubs I’d been to before joining Erika and Mónica were big in the industrial backgrounds and staleness, I appreciated the contrast and the mind games that came from having a warmer space.
“Pup,” I warned him before he shot up the stairs. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Jaime frowned. His ears turned red with uncalled for indignation as he rushed to me. “I already agreed to doing one of your high protocol events, but this is not it. I’m not going to walk behind you or any of that shit for a chill night out.”
I sighed. That had been impossibly predictable. A part of me felt disappointed by the fact.
Instead of giving him an answer right away, I untucked my hand from behind my back and held up to him the collar that matched his hood. It wasn’t the type of collar he could wear around people who were unfamiliar with kink—which is why I’d brought it here when we’d agreed to meet at the entrance of Plumas.
“Oh.” His mouth remained parted in a small o . It was endearing. “Right. My bad.”
Especially because he’d been the one to say he wanted to wear the collar while hanging out with his friends.
I didn’t mention it. I just let him tilt his head up so that I could rest the leather around his neck before tightening it at the back. I checked I could stick one finger easily between his neck and the collar, then patted his cheek.
“That’s better,” I mimicked his words from before and started moving, effectively making him walk behind me.
I hadn’t cared about it earlier, but now I knew he was going to start huffing the moment he noticed what was going on.
Small pleasures.
“You’re in an awfully good mood, Sir .”
I snorted. If only he knew it was rather the opposite.
I’d willingly agreed to be surrounded by people who were either completely indifferent toward me or they had me on their most despised list. Their boys’ nights accepted all trans identities, and even cis women if they were in a crisis, as the description of the event read, but that still took out the one other person—apart from Jaime—who could’ve been in my corner. Even if Erika happened to be in crisis today, she wouldn’t be getting support from an event like this, anyway. We might not have grown to be that close, but I knew that much about her.
“What did you want to drink?”
“Just water’s good.”
I nodded.
Grabbing two bottles of water was easy, but it gave me something to do once we were closer to everyone. Space to see who exactly had come and the time to calculate where to sit.
Sergio and Abel were there, with Sergio perched on his Daddy’s lap. They pretended not to see me. It stung, but I did the same as I rounded the bar to grab the water from the minifridge there. We had water both refrigerated and room temperature, but I’d noticed Jaime liked his drinks with as much ice as possible, even when it was windy and miserable outside.
Danny and León were on the couch opposite the other two—no sign of their third today. Ev was curled up on a couch between them, which left a fourth couch free. They’d shifted them around so they created a sort of square. It wasn’t the most inviting shape, but I supposed it made sense if they kept things outside of the play rooms.
Of course, Jaime didn’t wait for me to sit down—or, rather, perch up on one of the arms of the couch. León was sitting the same way, actually.
I shook the thought off. The more I started analyzing the way they behaved and interacted as a group, the more I was going to stall.
Feeling like this was a first day at a new job, where I’d be scrutinized for every twitch and every word that came out of my mouth, wasn’t my favorite way to spend a Thursday evening.
It had to be done, I supposed.
I didn’t know if I imagined the suffocating silence around the open space, but I did my best to not acknowledge it. Jaime kept an eye on me as I sat beside him on the couch—like a normal, civilized person.
“Did you buy me stuffies?”
Of course, Sergio would be the one to break the silence, and of course he’d put me in the spotlight.
His forwardness was better than the usual reluctance he regarded me with, but it took me a second to process it.
“You bought him stuffies?” Jaime asked, a million questions I wasn’t looking forward to hinted at in his voice.
Maybe I could find an excuse to distract him so they didn’t come to the surface.
“You got them already, then.”
I knew the stuffies had been a bad idea. I wouldn’t say it had been an impulsive decision in the vein of Jaime’s MO, but Sergio had made it clear I was the one who needed to make an effort if I wanted us to have some kind of relationship. Or civility between us, at least. I was too jaded to believe anything more than civility would be obtainable at this point.
Too much history.
Civility was more realistic.
“You paid extra for express delivery,” Sergio pointed out.
Right.
The package would’ve shown as much.
I watched him for a moment. He wasn’t naked—his go-to attire within the walls of the club—but he was wearing a cartoon T-shirt and pull-up pants.
So much for these nights being more about hanging out than kink.
Then again, I’d probably get bored out of my mind if all we did was sit around and talk about the weather.
“I’m glad you liked them,” I said eventually.
He hadn’t technically said he liked them, but Abel gave me a short nod. I tried to ignore how that small show of approval made my chest the tiniest bit warm.
“I didn’t know you bought him anything,” Jaime said.
I didn’t think his tone was accusing, exactly, but it was searching.
I glanced up at him. I didn’t like that his perching placed him at an upward angle in relation to me, but I paced myself.
“He doesn’t buy you stuffies?” Sergio interjected before I could figure out what to tell the pup. Jaime glanced back at him. His lips parted to say something, but he wasn’t fast enough. Sergio whirled his focus back to me. “How dare you not buy him stuffies, Sir? Respectfully.”
I groaned. Danny and León shared an amused look. I pinched the bridge of my nose while Sergio and Jaime started fighting about the merit of stuffies. Was this how all their boys’ nights went? I wasn’t sure I was a fan.
“Little bird,” Abel warned. From what Jaime had mentioned, it was rare that Abel attended these things. I imagined the warning had double the weight because of it. “I can’t believe you’re making me stand up for Tony, but when have you ever seen Jaime play with a stuffie?”
“Eep.” Sergio squeaked, eyes going back and forth between Jaime and Abel. “Never?”
“Exactly.” Abel sighed. I noted how he kept his touch on the boy, his palms rubbing Sergio’s thighs. “So why would Tony buy Jaime something he’s not interested in? Wouldn’t that make him a bad Dom?”
“Huh.” Sergio frowned. “I guess? Maybe. I’ll think about it, Daddy.”
There was a collective sigh there was no way I’d imagined. Not completely.
“I’m sure Tony buys him other things, little bird,” Abel added on.
Was it an effort to cheer him up or an attempt to throw me under the bus? I wasn’t sure, but Sergio whipped his head to stare at Jaime expectantly.
The pup squirmed. I imagined a couple more of those squirms, and he’d be giving up his post on the arm of the couch to come to my lap.
Hell, even if he just scooted closer to me—at my level—I’d take it.
“Uh, boba tea?” Jaime cocked his head to the side. “I’m convincing him to be my supplier.”
I shook my head. Sergio gave a resolute nod before he sank back into his Daddy’s lap. Hopefully, that meant he was dropping the subject, and I could go back to pretending I wasn’t being analyzed by everyone.
“You don’t have to make it sound like a drug habit,” Danny teased. “It’s just milk tea with chewy stuff.”
Jaime gasped.
“How dare you insult boba tea like that?” He crossed his arms and scowled. “It has ice, too, and brown sugar.”
“My bad. That clearly makes it better.”
“Shut up,” he grumbled.
I supposed it was progress. Danny and León could spend hours taunting and teasing Jaime before the pup realized what they were doing and even considered disengaging.
It was a fun dynamic.
I left them to it. I kept track of their argument over the overinflated drinks, but I focused on Ev—full name Everest—instead. He was a shyer boy and a newer addition to the club. He was too docile for my tastes. I’d never really been intrigued by him, but I’d helped him out a couple of times while on my self-imposed DM punishment. I supposed I had a soft spot for the boy.
Ev caught me watching him. His cheeks turned pink. Unlike Sergio—and like everyone else—he was wearing mostly casual clothes. He reminded me of Jaime, his clothes more prim than I would’ve expected. I could tell when someone was wearing designer brands as a shield.
Unlike everyone else—as far as I was aware—I knew who Ev was and which family he came from. I suspected it was why he’d had issues in the past when he’d tried to play with people who weren’t vetted by Erika. Maybe one day I could catch him and ask when he was going to come clean to the rest of the group. I didn’t think keeping that particular secret was doing him any favors, even if I understood the appeal more than most sitting here.
“Isn’t this when a Dom is supposed to defend you?” Jaime poked my arm, his voice higher than usual.
I kept my face impassive—I definitely wouldn’t let him guess that I hadn’t been paying close attention and didn’t hear what had led to his indignant question.
“I thought you were a fierce Alpha pup who needed no one?”
Jaime growled—the puppy way. He poked me again before glaring at León, his chest puffed up.
That much tracked. “This is what we mean when we say subs do all the work, just as an FYI for you all.”
Abel snorted. León grinned while leaning back against the couch. Danny and I raised our eyebrows, watching the back-and-forth play out.
“Stay on top of your water intake for a week,” León said, “and I’ll believe it.”
“I drink water!” Jaime waved his arms around so strongly I feared he’d lose his balance on the couch. “The fuck?”
“That’s why there’s always a DM tasked with making sure you are drinking during group play days?”
León had a point.
Jaime knew it, too, deciding to scoff instead of engaging some more.
I focused my attention back on Ev. He was the only person here who didn’t have a personal vendetta against me. The one I had the most in common with, too.
Hell, I was surprised we hadn’t met before at some charity gala.
“Are you upset with me?” Ev spoke low enough I would’ve probably missed it if I hadn’t been paying attention to him.
I frowned. Everyone else quieted. “Why would I be upset?”
Ev sat up a bit straighter, even though he was still hunched over himself. “I don’t know. I questioned you the other day in the demo?”
I narrowed my eyes. “That’s the point of demos, boy.”
León turned to Ev, too. “Even if it wasn’t, always feel free to question shit. Anyone who says differently is a walking red flag.”
He didn’t glance at me, and it wouldn’t have made sense if he had. I knew I had been a walking red flag in many areas, but that hadn’t been one of them.
“Okay.” Ev nodded to himself.
He really needed to shake something loose before he gave himself an ulcer. I had experience with those, too.
“The demo was hot,” León mentioned, his gaze coming back to me and Jaime.
It was hard for me to not get too distracted staring at all the ink covering his arms, neck, and every other part of his body—which in turn made me self-conscious at times. It didn’t feel as hard today, or maybe it was simply because I didn’t feel like I had anything to contribute other than a head nod.
“He spanks harder than you do.” Jaime, not surprisingly, had to open his mouth.
I should’ve brought a gag with me.
León leaned forward. I knew whatever he said next would be intended to rile my pup up. It was what they did. León didn’t rise to bait in the thoughtless, impulsive ways the brats in the club did, but he enjoyed stoking the fire more than most.
I was surprised when he made things official with Carlos. Danny was one hundred percent a brat, probably on Jaime’s level, but Carlos fell on the more obedient side of the sub spectrum.
“Wanna test that?” León drawled. “Get on the table over there. Tony can take one cheek and I’ll take the other.”
I cocked my head to the side. I’d never once played with León, and I knew he demanded more prep before co-topping with someone.
That said, the mindfuck the sheer image would give the pup was more than enough reason to not put a stop to it.
“Excuse you, do I look like I have a death wish?” Jaime scoffed.
Then, finally, he scooted down from the arm of the couch and landed half on my lap, half on the couch. Leave it to him to not even sit down on someone’s lap properly.
I still wrapped an arm around his waist—and noted the way Sergio tracked the move. Sergio wasn’t the most observant in the group—not even close—but he had his moments, too. Especially when he got it in his head that it was his place to protect someone.
“Do you want me to answer that?” I registered León’s retort in the background, as well as Jaime’s huff.
Sergio seemed satisfied with whatever he saw, his attention shifting back to include Ev into the fold.
I went back to relaxing into the couch and let the conversation flow around me. León kept an eye on me for a minute or two, but he was soon distracted by Danny.
It wasn’t the best night I’d ever had—it didn’t rank anywhere near—but maybe it was okay. Maybe I needed to get through tonight to reach those other nights when things actually felt good. Erika was always talking about the power of community. Maybe it was time to see what the hell it was all about.