Chapter 21 Playtime
Dakota
“What are you wearing under that coat?” Calder asks as he traverses through the busy Denver traffic.
“A dress.”
“What kind of dress?”
Frowning, I unbutton my coat and pull it open to reveal a red, long-sleeved lace bodycon dress with a nude underlay. It’s
a little slutty but also a little demure. I’d never be caught dead wearing something like this in Boulder, but that’s the
fun of this place. You get to be someone else.
I spent hours on Reddit threads researching sex clubs before I ever stepped foot into Lexon. It’s how I figured out what to
wear, how to act, and when the best nights were to go. I would have never known about newbie night if it weren’t for Reddit.
Calder clears his throat and looks away, shifting in his seat. “That’ll work.”
I close my jacket and buzz my lips. “God, I’m nervous.”
“Why?”
“Because last time did not go well, and I don’t want a repeat.”
Calder nods and turns into the parking lot, sliding his giant truck into the first open spot. He’s dressed in the same kind
of clothes he’s always wearing. Men like him have it so easy. Hot and tattooed is all the style he’ll ever need. He could
be wearing a garbage bag and the women would still come panting at his feet.
But the flannel and denim look isn’t a bad choice on him.
It’s rustic and cozy and so utterly masculine, you just want to just curl up in his arms and never let go.
It was weird seeing him outside of his mountain gear in Mexico.
And it’s annoying how even in a cream suit or swim trunks, he looked just as hot as ever.
My palms are slick with sweat as we make our way inside. Flashbacks of the first time I came here are on Replay in my mind.
I hadn’t even been in the bar area five minutes before I was approached by the last guy. The Dom or Sir or whatever he wanted
me to call him. I felt so uncomfortable being alone, I was just grateful someone was finally willing to talk to me. And when
he handed me the mask to wear, I wanted to say no, but I told myself to keep an open mind.
I kept it open as long as I could. That guy was not my vibe. Hopefully tonight with Calder by my side, no one will ask to
take a dump on my chest.
“Let’s get a drink,” Calder says as he hands my coat off to the coat check gal. She’s wearing a skimpy black dress, and her
eyes rake up and down Calder like he’s the hottest thing she’s ever seen. He doesn’t notice her, but I do. She chances a glance
at me, and I feel her scrutiny deep in my bones.
I tug on my dress. Maybe this was a bad choice. Maybe I should have gone for something skimpier. It’s not enough to be tight.
It needs to be revealing too. Is demure-sexy even a thing?
But I would have needed Spanx in all the other dresses I bought. I can’t imagine Spanx are seen in a place like this. Unless
that’s someone’s kink? Ripping women out of their medieval shapewear. Could be hot. I’d probably try it.
“Stop fidgeting with your dress,” Calder growls in my ear as he presses his warm hand to the small of my back and leads me
toward the end of the bar. His hot breath on my neck sends a riot of goose bumps all over my skin. I am super sensitive tonight.
He sidles up to the glossy black counter and waves the bartender down ordering himself a beer, and I tell him I’d love a cosmopolitan.
A cosmo seems like a sexy drink to have in a place like this. Last time I had a wine, and whatever happens, I do not want
a repeat of last time.
I glance around at the women peppered throughout the club. They’re all showing a lot more skin and seem at least five years younger than me, further fueling my insecurity.
“I made a bad choice.” I tug on my long sleeves. “This dress isn’t slutty enough.”
“It’s slutty enough.” Calder takes a sip of his beer, barely looking at me.
“Even the coat check girl looked hotter than me.”
“Would you stop?” He frowns at me as his eyes drift down to my chest. “The dress is good.”
I try to sip my drink, but a hot brunette is staring at me and not in the you go, girl kind of way. “Maybe we should leave. This was a bad idea. I don’t know how I made it in here the last time.” I make a move
to walk back toward the coat check, but Calder’s hand wraps around my wrist, and he yanks me back into him.
“I’m fucking hard already, okay?” he growls, irritation all over his grumpy face as I stumble into him, my leg brushing against
something in his groin area that does feel a bit firm.
“What?” I sputter, my hand flat on his chest as I try to regain my balance and stop myself from pressing up against his dick.
My eyes drop down to his crotch and widen when I confirm what I just felt. But how do I know he’s not turned on by the coat
check girl? Hell, I was turned on by the coat check girl.
“I’ve been hard since the truck.” He sits down on the barstool and turns away from me, his jaw taut with irritation as he
glances back at me. “The dress is hot. Now, shut up and sit down and have a drink.”
I’ve never been happier to have a man tell me to shut up in my entire life.
With a smile I can’t even remotely hide, I slide onto the stool next to him and grab my cocktail glass. “Yes, sir.”
A rumble vibrates from his lips, and I can’t help but giggle.
“You’re going to fucking kill me, Ace.” He turns to look at me, and his grumpy mood lightens as I continue smiling and fighting
back a laugh. The corner of his mouth tugs up, and he looks away again.
God, we are dysfunctional.
One second we’re getting along and then, bam... back to bickering. I don’t know why it’s so easy for me to fight with Calder.
It’s like we’re wired to pick at each other until one of us cracks.
The only time I ever really fought with Randal was when he was drunk. It was a different kind of fighting than what I do with
Calder. With Randal it was mostly just him being a bully and me being too stunned to really fight back. Then the next day,
everything would be swept under the rug, which meant that by the time we went into divorce proceedings, there was loads of
dirt for us to clean up.
I swallow the uncomfortable knot in my throat as my mind slips back to the yucky place I’d been living in for the past few
years with him. The place he yanked me back to with one stupid phone call the other night. It’s no wonder my body changed,
I was living in a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. An endless loop of Randal coming home from the bar and picking a fight
with me. Literally even waking me up to do so.
But putting my depression aside, my body could have just changed because I’m not as young as I once was. It’s entirely possible
it was always going to change because that’s just life! And obsessing over a dress size is so uninteresting to me. I know
in my bones that my worth and my beauty are not tied to my weight, no matter how many assholes like Randal want to make me
believe it is. Those aren’t the men I want in my life anyways. I want a man I feel confident enough to fight with.
That is what this experiment with Calder is about. To find the girl I once was, who doesn’t give a fuck what anyone thinks
because loving herself is enough.
“What was your first time here like?” I ask after sipping my drink and allowing the alcohol to calm my nerves.
Calder inhales deeply. “I guess you could say I was on a warpath.”
My brows lift. “What does that mean?”
He licks his lips, and his eyes tighten. “My brothers and I had just found out that this woman we knew was pregnant with another man’s child.”
I frown. “Why would that bother you?”
“Because we were all sleeping with her at the time.”
My eyes nearly bug out of my head. “Like... together-together?”
“No.” Calder rolls his eyes and takes a drink. “She was sleeping with all of us separately... but at the same time.”
“And you didn’t know?”
Calder shakes his head. “Not really. I think we might have suspected, but we were all sort of vying for her attention. It
was kind of a game, and we are all way too competitive.”
I need to process this. Three Fletcher boys after the same woman... She must have been something truly special. “Most people
are competitive when it comes to sports, not humans.”
Calder winces. “I’m not proud, okay? We were new to Jamestown and excited to finally be out of Boulder.”
“I’m not judging,” I reply, taking a big drink and waiting for him to continue, wishing I had some popcorn. “I’m just really
intrigued.”
“Well, it gets even more fucked-up. It turns out a construction company out of Colorado Springs called Pristine Contractors
was owned by her husband, and apparently, he and my dad were both bidding on a project, and my dad ended up getting it. The
guy hated us for it. Said my dad got a hold of his bid and underpriced ours to edge him out. He’s a fucking whack job.”
“Sounds like it.”
“Anyways, I guess at some point, he cheated on Robyn, and that’s when she left him and moved to Jamestown and met us.”
My eyes are dry from how wide they are. “Did she know who you guys were?”
Calder licks his lips and sighs. “Yep. But we didn’t know her connection to Matt.”
“Wait... wait, wait, wait!” I hold my hands up, unable to fully process this. “Did she sleep with all three of you to get back at her husband?”
“She sure did.”
“Holy shit.”
“ Holy shit is right.” Calder huffs out a self-deprecating laugh. “And I’ve never felt more embarrassed than when I had to give a sample
of saliva for a paternity test to find out who the father of the baby she was pregnant with was.”
“Holy ever-loving God, I am going to pass out!” I press a hand to my chest, struggling to get my heart rate under control.
I had heard rumors about something scandalous with the Fletcher brothers years ago, but I always assumed it was gossip. And
it wasn’t like I even knew those guys at the time. I just knew of the family business, so it didn’t really matter much to
me.
It wasn’t until Cozy fell for Max that I ever even met them, and they all seemed relatively normal at the time. Weird for