Tony shrugged. “Not my thing. They have to make a living though, I guess. I go for the vendors, sometimes the classes, and the dungeons at night.”
“Don’t let him fool you,” Loren said. “Tony usually teaches. And I think Seth and Leah will also be teaching this year, too. You’ll meet them at dinner.”
Shayla was still trying to process and interpret Tony’s dismissive, yet not derogatory comment about the fetish models. “What do you teach?”
“Depends on what they need. This year I’m teaching a class on negotiations.”
“Oh.”
He smiled. “No clue, huh?”
She breathed a quiet sigh of relief. “Not really.”
She loved his smile. “Scene negotiations. Communication skills. How to make sure everyone’s clearly setting their boundaries and expectations out on the table from the start so there are no misunderstandings later.”
“You’d be surprised how many people lack that basic skill,” Loren said. “A lot of newbies come into this totally clueless. That’s why Maria covered some of it in class.”
“Ah, I see. That makes sense now.”
“What does your boyfriend think of you coming out to class and the dungeon?” Tony asked.
Shayla shrugged. “Don’t even have a cat waiting for me at home.” She hoped it came off sounding as nonchalant as she wanted it to.
Tony didn’t miss how Loren quickly turned to face the front again. He also didn’t miss the brief smile she vainly pursed her lips against.
“Same here,” Tony said, trying to keep one eye on Loren. He suspected while legitimately bringing him in to help Shayla with her article, his first instinct about a setup had been right after all.
Damn sneaky subs.
Well, he was attracted to Shayla. He wouldn’t deny it. Might as well test the water. “Have you read any of the BDSM fiction out there?”
Shayla rapidly shook her head. “No. I’m more a lighthearted, chick lit kind of girl. Well, when it comes to romance. I like a wide variety of genres.”
“Good. A lot of BDSM fiction is completely unrealistic and written by vanilla writers anyway. Nothing wrong with that for escapism, but not good for education. You won’t have a lot of preconceived notions to overcome when you watch people playing tonight.”
Seth and Leah had pulled into the restaurant’s parking lot just ahead of them. And Tilly, accompanied by Landry and Cris, arrived a moment later. With the gang all gathered, he likely wouldn’t have a chance to get either Ross or Seth alone to ask them if they knew what their damn subs were up to.
It’d be pointless to ask Landry or Cris. Landry was sadistic enough to enjoy taking pleasure in any discomfort Tony might experience over a setup. And Cris probably wouldn’t be in the loop anyway if Tilly was a co-conspirator. He suspected if he tried to get the info out of Tilly, regardless of whether or not it was true, she’d simply smile and give him a friendly “go screw yourself” brush-off just to have her friends’ backs.
Damn switches.
Leah had called ahead to the restaurant the day before with their reservation. The hostess took them to their usual place in a far corner, where three tables had been pushed together to accommodate their party.
That was when he noticed extra chairs. “Who else is coming?” he asked Loren.
“Sully, Mac, and Clarisse said they’d be down.”
“It’ll be like old home night,” Ross joked. “I haven’t seen them in months.”
“How’s Mac doing, anyway?” Tony asked. Their friend had been the victim of a vicious attack by Clarisse’s ex a couple of years earlier. He’d only seen him a few times since then, once going up to visit him in the hospital after he regained consciousness, and then a few times here and there, usually at private parties.
“Sully said Mac’s pretty much back to his old self. Sometimes he gets dizzy spells, but all the physical and occupational therapy paid off.”
Right on cue, the three walked in the front door and were brought back to their tables. Tony didn’t miss how after introducing Shayla to everyone that Loren had made sure to sit her next to him.
He raised an eyebrow at Loren, who blushed a pretty shade of pink before quickly turning away and taking her seat on the other side of Shayla, next to Ross.
Shayla found it easy to like Loren. She felt as if the woman had taken her under her wing. And Loren’s friends were all nice, welcoming, and more than willing to answer her questions.
The gathered group of people was no more remarkable than any other group in the restaurant in the way that they were dressed. Although Shayla noticed Leah wore a necklace of braided silver chain that appeared to have a small, silver heart-shaped padlock on it. Anyone else might have thought it simply a pretty locket. Clarisse wore a silver choker necklace that Shayla suspected also meant more than others might think. Cris wore a heavy silver bracelet on his right wrist, as did Mac.
Landry and Tilly were married, and it wasn’t until Shayla was able to talk with them for a few minutes that she was able to clarify Cris’ place in their dynamic as an equal partner. Sully, who walked with a noticeable limp and used a cane, was married to Clarisse, although they were also apparently equal partners with Mac.
She filed those factoids away for future reference. She’d need an entire article dedicated just to poly dynamics to cover it properly. Even then she wasn’t sure she could do it justice.
Hell, it’s confusing enough trying to figure it out when the people are sitting right here talking with me.
By the time they finished dinner over an hour later, she realized all of these people were ones she could easily be friends with. They had widely varying interests. Sully, Mac, and Clarisse, who revealed they were expecting a baby in November, owned a boat and ran dive and fishing charters. Apparently more as a hobby than anything because Sully, a retired cop, was also a published and successful author and seminar teacher. Seth and Leah managed properties, but before that, Seth had attended nursing school. Both Seth and Mac were former military, although Seth seemed more open to talking about that part of his life than Mac.
“Would you be willing to let me interview you for my article?” Shayla asked them.
She noticed how both Mac and Clarisse looked to Sully for their answer. When he nodded, so did they. “We probably should do it tonight,” Sully suggested. “Maybe at the club after we play. Unless you want to do it over the phone or come up to Tarpon Springs.”
“Tonight would be great, thank you.”
Ross owned his own business, and Loren was usually a stay-at-home wife, although she helped Ross out sometimes. Loren, Leah, and Tilly were heavily involved volunteers and event organizers for local charities. Landry and Cris ran a software firm.
“But my main job,” Tilly, also a former nurse, said, “is keeping my two men in line.”
For some reason, that elicited a round of hearty laughs from all at the table and prompted Loren to lean in and say, “I’ll tell you later.”
These people weren’t sexual predators or weirdoes or people on the fringes of average society.
They were everyday people. Hardworking people. Respectable people with responsibilities and who not only contributed to society, but to their communities as well.
Nice people.
What she wished she could ignore was how quickly she felt comfortable talking with Tony.
Why would he be interested in me?
She discounted the thought. He was a handsome and apparently well-off man who likely had his pick of women. Why even set myself up for disappointment?
When the checks were settled, Tony turned to Shayla with a smile that nearly dampened her panties. “Ready to dive headfirst through the rabbit hole, Alice?”