I sent the photo, and Lucas responded,Fuck, I’m tempted to have another round with you myself.
You need a leash to go with that collar,Manson said.
And a few chores to keep you on your hands and knees,Vincent added.
Aw, too bad for you,I wrote.I’m only serving Jason today.
Time to get out of this dress and put on something normal before Vincent got here. No way was I going to risk someone seeing me publicly in this, even if it was only a short drive between our houses.
The dress was a bit too small for me, squeezing in all the right places. The tight fit meant that getting my arms out of the sleeves was nearly impossible without ripping the dress.
After a few minutes of increasingly desperate struggling, I picked up my phone and texted furiously.I’M STUCK IN THE DRESS, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?Then I quickly added,If you laugh at me, I’ll never speak to you again.
You’d better keep your mouth shut then, because that shit is hilarious,Vincent wrote. Damn him, damn all of them!I think you killed Manson. He can’t stop laughing.
I groaned. At least I could take off the ears and collar. The dress by itself wasn’t too bad. A littletoo muchfor a regular Friday, but whatever. My reputation around here was already far from sparkling clean. Considering there were videos online of me crawling on my hands and knees dressed like a sexy angel, I doubted someone getting a glimpse of me like this would do much damage.
I’m sure Jason will help you get the dress off,Vincent’s next text read.I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.
It had been years since I’d found myself waiting so nervously for a date. Not that this was a date, exactly. I didn’t know what the hell to call these rendezvous because the five of us certainly weren’t together, but what the hell was I doing, then? It was strange to be waiting for one man to pick me, with the intention of delivering me to his boyfriend for sexual favors, on the behalf of his other friends who were also fucking me...
If I hadn’t been a slut before, I sure as hell was now.
Vincent arrived, his bass bumping loud enough to carry into the house. I came outside before he even got out of the car,hurriedly locking up the house. I still hadn’t thought of a good story to tell my parents about the security system. Maybe they’d accept it if I feigned ignorance.
Vincent rolled down the passenger window as I traipsed across the lawn toward him, cat-calling loudly, “Damn, baby, look at you! Owwww!” He howled so loud that our next-door neighbor, Carol, poked her head up above her rose bushes.
We made very awkward eye contact, and I waved. “Hi, Mrs. Fischer. Nice day out.”
“Oh, yes. Lovely.” She tried to smile, but she couldn’t fake it as she looked at me. “I take it you’re…enjoying the sunshine?”
I managed a painfully embarrassed smile before I hurriedly fled. I sunk into the passenger seat and scooched down low after I’d strapped in, trying to avoid being spotted by any more neighbors.
“I’ve sold weed to that lady before,” Vincent said. “I used to meet her and her husband after Sunday service so they could pick up their order. They tried to rope me into a threesome once.”
My eyes practically bulged out of my head. “Mr. and Mrs. Fischer tried to — What? No fucking way.”
“There’s more freaks out there than you think, Jess,” he said as he pulled out of my neighborhood. “People act all high and mighty publicly, but behind closed doors? Everybody has their thing.”
“And I take itthisis Jason’s thing?” I said, pulling the cat ears out of my purse. “I didn’t see anything about this on his list. Pet play was only a two on his interest scale! And it wasn’t any higher on mine. If he expects me to start meowing like a cat…”
“First of all, you look sexy as hell, so chill out.” He reached over, giving my chin a little nudge with his knuckle. “Second, I’ll give you some advice about Jason from someone who knows him even better than he knows himself.”
I fixed him with a mild look, lips pressed into a thin line. “So it’syouradvice, right? Considering —”
“Considering I’ve been single-handedly blowing his mind since junior year?” He gave me a wide smile. “Considering I broke him out of his shell and helped introduce him to an entire world of sinful deviancy? My advice is exactly what you should be listening to.”
“All right then,” I said, folding my arms and crossing my legs. “Teach me what you know, Mr. Volkov.”
He gave a slow exhale, shaking his head. “Oh, sorry, you got me thinking of how fun a dirty teacher roleplay would be…”
“Come on, focus, weed-for-brains! Tell me!”
He slammed on the brakes so abruptly that I gasped. Luckily, there was no one else on the long country road ahead of us as Vincent leaned over to my seat, his long fingers gripping my jaw.
“I think you’re forgetting some rules,” he said, his tone so different from his usual jovial one that fear tickled my stomach. “It’s all fun and games, Jess, but don’t make me remind you to show the proper respect for me. If you think that just because I smoke, I’m going to let you get away with that smartass shit, you’re in for a very uncomfortable awakening. Unless you want to spend some time hanging by your ankles and getting acquainted with a snake whip, I suggest you change your tone.”
“Ooooh, shit.” I barely realized I said it out loud until he grinned. “Yes, sir, I’ll change my tone.”