Chapter 22

22

Julie

"There has to be something wrong with him."

"Or, and hear me out, maybe there's something wrong with you," Olivia countered.

Julie rolled her eyes even though she knew her friends couldn't see her. They were doing a three-way chat but without the video. She had pulled the starter out of the fridge this morning, so she could bake some loaves for the barbeque tomorrow. Connor was spending the day with his friends.

Was she hurt about not being invited to that? Only if the other girlfriends also weren't invited. Which she didn't know, and she hadn't asked. But if they were, and she hadn't been, then that would be a problem.

Olivia would tell me I'm looking for problems.

Which was why she hadn't said the words out loud.

"Nobody is perfect." Julie measured out the flour with her kitchen scale, moving by rote through the recipe. She'd made it once a week for the past year and barely had to think about it anymore.

"But he might be perfect for you ," Camille chimed in.

Her positive outlook ever since she'd hooked up with Freddy had become almost nauseating. Not that Julie wanted her friend to be miserable again—before Freddy, she'd been both lonely and stuck in a terrible job—but a little cynicism now and again might be nice.

"Nobody is perfect, but that doesn't mean their imperfections are deal breakers."

"Says the Domme who actually has what is close to the perfect sub," Olivia teased. Her fiancé, Luke, had not been a submissive before he'd met Olivia, and there had definitely been some bumps on the road to happily ever after. Freddy, on the other hand, had been a club submissive for years before finally meeting and falling for Camille.

Camille snorted.

"You wouldn't think he was so perfect if you were living with him. The milk carton was empty again this morning when I went to get some for my coffee."

Both Olivia and Julie groaned in sympathy.

"Okay, so he has one flaw," Olivia admitted. "And it's not even really a flaw since you know he's leaving it there to remind himself to get more."

"Wouldn't it be a better reminder if it just wasn't there at all?" Camille hmphed. "And I know. I'm just cranky because my coffee didn't taste right this morning."

"Where is Freddy now?" Julie asked. She knew Camille wouldn't be griping if Freddy could overhear. It wasn't as if having a different system for the milk was a deal breaker, but it was one of the few hiccups the couple had hit since moving in together.

There was a moment of silence.

"At the store," Camille finally muttered begrudgingly.

Julie had to laugh, and she could hear Olivia doing the same. So, he was already in the process of fixing his so-called ‘mistake.'

Camille cleared her throat, talking over her friends' laughter. "So maybe Connor's flaw will be equally benign."

Maybe. Or maybe it would slowly creep into their lives the longer they stayed together, until one day, she realized that there was a big problem that she'd never noticed because it had taken so long for it to grow big. Like a frog sitting in slowly heating water, only realizing too late that it was being cooked.

Yeah, she didn't have to say the words out loud to realize that some of her issues with John were rearing their ugly head again. Because she was introducing Connor to her family tomorrow? Because he was the first man she'd seriously dated since her divorce? Because her feelings for him were already growing faster than she was comfortable with?

Because of all the above?

Ding, ding, ding.

"You can't tell me we're not moving too fast," she said. At least she got to work some dough while she had this conversation. Stretching and folding worked her arm muscles and gave her something physical to do.

"What's too fast?" Camille asked. "Is there even such a thing as too fast?" She sounded way too much like Julie's therapist, Dr. Sime.

"Too fast is…" Julie huffed. "Too fast is getting in over your head emotionally without thinking through the ramifications. Too fast is feeling things before you really know the person. It's emotion based on nothing."

"So, you think your emotions for Connor are based on nothing?" Olivia's amusement was clear. "Not the fact that he's paid a lot of attention to your likes and dislikes and showered you with attention for a year before revealing himself? And after he did reveal himself, it turned out that what he wants from a sexual relationship is exactly what you want? And that he's just as attentive, if not more so, in person? And that you have a whole bunch in common?"

"Well, when you put it that way," Julie muttered. Yes, she and Connor liked a lot of the same things. Both of them enjoyed music, though she was a little pickier in her selections, but that just meant he was happy to listen to what she wanted to. They both liked action movies. Sure, his tastes ran more toward superheroes, while hers ran more toward Jason Bourne , but they'd both be happy watching each other's choices.

While she'd gotten an appreciation for independent films and documentaries while with John—since that was all he'd ever watch—she preferred things a little more lighthearted. A little less bleak. Why her ex had constantly wanted to watch depressing things, she'd never understood.

And Connor had already indicated a willingness to watch her movies with her, something John had only done a handful of times the entire time they were together. She'd stopped trying to watch with him after that because it wasn't worth the complaining and the constant critiques. She didn't care if there were plot holes big enough to drive a spaceship through. She just wanted to watch fun movies.

Considering how often she'd watched extremely depressing or even horrific movies for him, without complaining, she hadn't understood why he couldn't do the same for her.

Because he was a self-involved douchebag.

Right.

Connor wasn't.

"You're right." She sighed. "I know it's all in my head. I mean, I'm sure there will be a flaw eventually, but I do know some of my issues come from my own baggage."

"Don't worry," Camille's voice was full of false sympathy. "I'm sure some kind of flaw will reveal itself soon."

"Maybe he snores," Olivia suggested.

"He doesn't." At least, he hadn't the couple of nights they'd done sleepovers. Snoring wasn't a deal breaker for her, anyway. People couldn't help if they snored. Though, that would be the perfect example of a flaw that wouldn't cause her to run, which was probably Olivia's point.

"Maybe he doesn't return the shopping cart at the grocery store."

"Maybe he only does laundry once a month."

"Maybe he slurps his soup."

Julie started laughing as her friends threw out suggestions of things Connor might do, but she was pretty sure he didn't. Shaking her head, she moved her dough to the two Dutch ovens she had prepped for the job and put them in before going to wash her hands.

"You two are ridiculous," she admonished as she cleaned off her hands. But they'd done what they'd meant to do—cheered her up and reminded her that not all flaws meant the end of things. It was a good reminder. Connor wasn't John. Even at the beginning of her relationship with John, there had been little things she'd ignored. Little signs. They hadn't been obvious red flags, but there had been things she'd put up with that she hadn't wanted to—like the movies—because everything else had been so good. Especially the sex.

It wasn't until later that she realized the little things—like not letting her enjoy the movies she wanted to watch with him—were signs of bigger underlying problems.

There hadn't been anything like that with Connor so far.

Connor

A long tentacle reached up out of the water, and then another… and another… and another… it wrapped around the boat as screams filled the air, the terrified occupants bumping into each other on their way to a watery doom.

"I thought this was a megalodon movie," Asad said, frowning, looking up from his phone. "Why is there a kraken? Where did that come from? What did I miss?"

"Maybe it's a megapus?" Q suggested. "You know, like sharktopus? We haven't actually seen anything except the tentacles."

They were all gathered on Connor's couch, taking a guy's day. So far, that meant eating food and watching a double feature of megalodon movies.

"This is nothing like the books," Law muttered, then sighed. He'd been repeating that same complaint throughout most of the movie, though he seemed to be enjoying the utter ridiculousness. Apparently, the first movie followed the book more closely. Law raised his voice, even though he wasn't seated that far away from Asad. "You'd know what was going on if you were actually watching instead of staring at your phone."

"Hey, I enjoy bad shark movies—or bad megalodon movies—as much as the next person, but I don't usually consider them movies you have to pay close attention to," Asad countered. "I just…"

"He's looking at strap-ons," Connor said after leaning over to get a peek. They were easy to identify because he'd been looking at similar things recently. Not to buy, since he was sure Mistress Julie had her own, but just to get an idea of what was out there. He frowned. "Why are you looking at strap-ons?"

"Why shouldn't he be?" Q asked. "Hold on." Grabbing the remote, he paused the movie.

"Oh, yeah, because we don't want to miss anything," Law muttered again. He seemed to be taking the epic lack of science- based plotting in this particular movie very personally. "Then the movie might not make sense." The sarcasm lacing his voice made Connor chuckle.

The movie already didn't make a lot of sense, but he was enjoying it that way.

"I didn't mean to make this a thing." Asad dropped his phone in his lap, running his fingers through his dark hair as he lifted his head to look at the screen again, where it was frozen on people creeping through the island jungle. "Start the movie again."

"No, no, which strap-ons were you looking at?" Q turned around from where he was sitting on the floor. "Maybe I can offer suggestions."

"Are you getting a strap-on for Morgan?" Connor asked in surprise. Yeah, they'd talked about the whole pegging thing, but it wasn't like he'd actually thought Asad would go through with it. Even if he didn't like being left out of things.

"No, he's not," Law said firmly. "He's just letting himself be influenced by Q."

"No, he's not," Q argued back in an uncanny echo. "He's interested in something, and you should support your friend in things that interest them, even if they don't interest you."

"I'm supporting him in not being unduly swayed just because one of his friends wants to make a club around a single sexual act." Law glared at Q from where he was sitting in the corner of the sectional, crossing his arms over his chest.

It was the battle of the balds.

Somehow, Connor managed to keep a straight face when it popped into his head, which he was grateful for. He did not want to have to explain that thought to his friends. Neither of them was particularly sensitive about being bald—in fact, they teased each other about it constantly—but there were some undercurrents to this conversation that he couldn't figure out, and he didn't want to get in the middle of.

"Okay, well, while you guys are figuring out whether I actually want my girlfriend to peg me, I'm going to go to the bathroom," Asad said, getting to his feet. "Might as well since the movie is paused."

Q gave him a thumbs-up while Law sighed and uncrossed his arms. As soon as Asad was in the bathroom and out of earshot, Connor looked back and forth between the other two.

"What is going on?" he asked in a low voice. "Why do you both care so much whether or not Asad buys a strap-on?"

The other two looked at each other, guilt creeping into both their expressions.

"You can't tell Asad…" Q kept his voice even lower than Connor had. "We made a bet."

"You what?" His voice rose on the second word; he couldn't help it. They were betting on whether Asad decided to be pegged? What the hell?

On the other hand, how very like them.

"Shh!" Law and Q shushed him at the same time.

"It's harmless. He'll make the decision on his own," Law said, leaning toward them so his voice wouldn't carry down the hall and through the door where Asad was.

"Except that you're both trying to push him to do what you want. And you're being weird about it." Connor shook his head, rubbing his hand over his face while he tried to decide if he should tell them to cut it out. Though, ultimately, it was harmless. Betting on friends was practically a time-honored past-time at Stronghold, though usually it was about relationships and when people would get together, not on whether they'd take it in the ass. "What does the winner get?"

"If I win, Law has to let Iris peg him if she wants to," Q said with a grin, making Connor choke. Holy fuck.

"And if I win, Q has to wear the couple's costume that Sam wants for this year." Law didn't grin, but there was smug satisfaction in his voice.

"What's the costume?" Those two things seemed a little uneven to Connor, but Law appeared to be very happy with his choice. Q slumped as soon as Connor asked.

"She wants to be Han Solo and Princess Leia in the bikini… but she saw a picture online, and she wants to be Han Solo, and she wants Q to be Princess Leia." Law smirked. "Though in the pic she saw, there's no bra, but it's got everything else."

"She should be the one in the bikini." Q's gaze unfocused, the corners of his lips twisting up. "She'd look amazing."

Connor was pretty sure there wasn't a straight guy alive who hadn't had some fantasy of his girlfriend dressed in the Leia bikini, so he couldn't blame Q for wanting to see Sam in it. On the other hand, he also thought the genderbent version sounded pretty great.

"So, the timeline is Asad has to get pegged—or not—by Halloween?"

"Pretty much." Q cleared his throat as the door to the bathroom opened, raising his voice a little. "So, you should invite Julie to come with us to Renn Fair next weekend."

"I'll ask her tomorrow after the thing with her family." Asking her to come with him and his friends to the Renaissance Festival wasn't quite the same as being introduced to the family, but it was still kind of a big thing. He also wasn't sure how she'd take it. While they'd talked about how he was kind of a nerd—as if the action figure collection on his bookshelf hadn't been a clue—he wasn't sure if she knew how far that would go. Somehow, he didn't peg her for a Renn Fair person, but he could be wrong.

First, though, he needed to get through tomorrow.

"Okay, let's start the movie again. I need to find out what this giant octopus is doing in a megalodon movie," Asad said, walking toward them and gesturing at the television.

They all settled back onto the couch, and Q hit the play button.

Connor sat back and wondered if he should say something to Asad or just see it play out.

He was probably going to go ahead and see what happened.