Keith didn’t give a crap where they ate, as long as it was quiet enough to have a conversation…and he got to spend it with Scott. There was something about the guy he really liked, beyond the fact that he was sort of a virgin.

There was a certain vulnerability about Scott that the sadist in Keith felt drawn to. Even more, there was something about the man.

They took Keith’s truck. Twenty minutes later, they were seated at a quiet table in a dark sushi restaurant without a single twink—much less a hunting pack of them—in sight.

The 911 operator was thirty-seven, loved his wife, but two years earlier, after eight years of marriage to her, had finally found the balls to confess to her that he thought he was gay…and kinky.

Bless her heart, she’d tried to help him out with the one issue, allowing Scott to take her to Venture, where between there and at home she’d tried to become his Domme. He’d never run into them the few times he’d made it over to the club the past couple of years, and he wasn’t a member of the Suncoast Society munch group, so it was no surprise their paths hadn’t crossed sooner.

Even Scott admitted he knew she wasn’t really into it, only doing it for him.

“She’s got an asshole family, too,” Scott said. “That’s another reason why I didn’t want to just leave her. They’re going to really hammer her about it.”

“Aren’t they in Indiana? I thought that’s what you said.”

“Yeah, but they’re fucking assholes. There’s a reason why she lives down here and not anywhere near them. Even after all these years, she still hopes for their approval. She’ll never get it, though. They’re assholes. She was never good enough in their eyes.”

“I can relate to that,” Keith said, feeling even more empathy for the woman. “Mine’s all out in Oklahoma.”

“They don’t approve of you being gay, I take it?”

Keith shrugged. “They don’t even know where I live now. I couldn’t give a shit what they think about me. When I came out after college, my parents disowned me, so I said fine and moved to Florida. What about your family?”

Scott shrugged. “My mom and dad live in Michigan. They moved up there a few years back to take care of my mom’s parents. They don’t know about any of this, but at least they’re not assholes. They might not be happy when everything finally shakes loose, but at least I know they won’t disown me. Well, I hope they won’t disown me.”

“Sometimes friends are better than family,” Keith said.

“You’ve got that right.”

* * * *

Scott knew it wasn’t the wisest move on the planet, but the longer he was with Keith, the more he talked to him, the more he relaxed and the more he realized how attracted he was to the Dom.

At one point he excused himself to go to the bathroom, where he texted Noel.

How are you?

She texted back a moment later. We’re about to duct tape Kennedy’s mouth shut. How are you? Having fun?

He didn’t know how to answer that. He didn’t want to lie to her. He also didn’t want to hurt her feelings or make her think that he was jumping into bed with the first guy he’d talked to.

Okay, technically the second guy he’d talked to if you counted Tad the twink. And she’d warned him she didn’t want him to lie to her, but unless she asked for details, she didn’t want him giving her every gory description of what happened.

Went out to dinner. The place is really loud.

Well, have fun. Love you. Talk to you tomorrow.

He stared at his phone. Love you, too. Thank you for this.

He was reaching for the bathroom door when she replied. Just stay safe.

I will. I promise.

* * * *

Noel shoved her phone back into her pocket and sucked the rest of her beer down.

Eliza tapped her on the shoulder. “You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“What?”

She shrugged. “He’s having dinner.” He didn’t say he was having dinner with someone, but she hadn’t wanted to ask that, either, not sure how she’d react.

He’d promised if she couldn’t handle it, she could text him and he’d immediately come home. He was only forty-five minutes away in St. Pete, for chrissake.

But she didn’t want to be like that. Truth be told, it wouldn’t be her first night alone, and it would be a relief not to have to pretend to be living up to expectations.

Not to have to pretend she was something she wasn’t.

What she wasn’t was comfortable with the dominant role she’d stepped into for his sake, trying to help him through…this.

Knowing damn well she was only prolonging the inevitable by not asking him for a divorce. Having mixed feelings about the fact that he was willing to stay married to her for now for her sake.

Praying for a miracle, even though she didn’t really believe in miracles, much less in any deity who could grant them.

* * * *

While Scott was in the bathroom, Keith decided he needed to put all his cards on the table at once. Either Scott would remain interested, or they’d part ways upon their return to the hotel and each still have a weekend ahead of them in which to cut loose with whomever they wanted.

What bothered Keith was how much he already wanted to spend it with Scott.

Bothered because Scott wasn’t an entanglement-free prospect. There weren’t simply strings attached to the man, there were anchor chains.

When Scott returned, he slid into the other side of the booth after flashing Keith a nervous smile. “Sorry. Noel texted me while I was in there.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah. She’s out with some of her friends tonight.”

“So that brings me to the crux of our conversation,” Keith said, fixing Scott with his gaze. “I don’t want to dance around the issue. I’m not looking for a quick fuck, or to be someone’s on-the-side. I’m looking for a relationship. A long-term, hopefully permanent one.”

Scott nodded, but didn’t interrupt even though those gorgeous blue eyes of his widened a little.

“I’m okay with you being poly with your wife for a while, at first. But there’s going to come a time where I’ll need you to bring that to a final resolution, if we end up taking our relationship to the next level.”

“I know,” Scott quietly said. “She knows that, too. I promised her I wouldn’t divorce her over anyone I couldn’t love at least as much as her, if not more than her. I want to stick to that promise.”

Keith leaned forward. “I respect that. I also understand that. I know this could be something that falls apart in two weeks. Or, in two months from now, you and I might be sitting down and planning a future together. I’m not saying you have to go home and divorce her now, but I’m telling you what’s going through my head so there are no unrealistic expectations, okay?”

Scott nodded.

“Like I said, I’m a Dominant. I need my partner to be strong, but to be submissive to me. Doesn’t mean I want you to be my doormat, but it means my rules, my way. I don’t screw around on my partner, and I expect my partner to be faithful, too.”

“What about Noel?” he quietly asked.

Keith took a deep breath and wondered if he wasn’t wasting his time. The man might not be able to let go of his wife if or when it got to that point. “Like I said, I can agree to you being poly with her, for now, but not with anyone else. And when or if the time comes, I expect there to be a clean break made. I don’t want you to be an asshole to her, but I also don’t want to be dangling on the hook for years waiting for you to quit feeling sorry for her and divorce her, either. Got it?”

Scott nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

Shit. Keith’s cock had settled down, mostly, but at the way Scott said that, as if it naturally fell from his lips, it sprang to life again, painfully hard and throbbing and wanting to be shoved between those gorgeous lips right that second.