All First Chapter Samples

“It’s not stalking—it’s getting coffee.” The voice coming from behind me wasn’t as quiet as the speaker probably thought it was, because even though it was low, it was still perfectly clear in the busy coffee shop.

“It’s stalking when you do it just to follow someone.” Where the first voice had been teasing and slightly sarcastic, the second was…sweeter somehow. Even if the words had been boring, I think the difference would’ve drawn my attention.

“It would be stalking if you kept obsessively walking past a store and trying to follow him home.” There was an unsaid duh in the voice that made me want to laugh. But since I seemed to be the object of their not-stalking, I thought it might be inappropriate, or chase them off. Neither of which was the goal at that point.

The second voice still sounded skeptical. “Okay, yeah…that’s really stalking, but I think this counts too.”

“You’d look sexy dressed up like that.” Bailey must’ve been deep in thought when I spoke because instead of focusing on the sub, who was decked out in leather straps and not much else, his gaze jumped to a little in overalls that had an elephant on the front.

Bailey’s eyebrows went up, making me chuckle. “No, not him. The sub behind him. That’s not what I would call sexy.”

Cute was probably a better word for someone who was sucking on a binkie and dragging around a three-foot rabbit stuffy by the ears.

Anywhere else the sight might’ve had people asking questions, but at Bound & Controlled, a gay BDSM club, it was par for the course.

Bailey was still giving me an odd look, so I nudged his shoulder and grinned. “You’ve got the body to pull it off.”

He was muscular but lean rather than bulky, not what I’d call a twink, but he looked damned good in everything from a suit to nothing at all.

“I’m pretty sure everyone is supposed to be completely sober when they do BDSM shit.” Glancing over Tate’s shoulder, I couldn’t resist peeking at Joel who was stretched out on the couch giggling to himself.

My grandmother had a higher tolerance for alcohol than he did.

“Who said that?” Tate scoffed, pouring another screwdriver.

He only drank “girly” drinks, but he was the only one of the three of us who’d have a chance of out-drinking Grandma.

Who had said that?

I shrugged. “The internet?”

He snorted. “They also think that we need to invade Area 52 and that Elvis is still alive.”

“One.” What was Joel giggling about?

“I’m not being nosy.” Somehow our nosy neighbor thought saying that would make it true. “Santa doesn’t like nosy subs and he’s always watching. But if you wanted to explain what kind of relationship you had, I would be a very good listener.”

Huh?

The weird guy who was dating cranky guy was standing at the bottom of the stairs looking up at us like he’d made perfect sense, but I wasn’t sure what he was actually fishing for. Did he just want to know if the three of us were dating?

Dating was significantly easier when you already had a relationship with the person…and it helped that it was only one person and not a series of strangers.

“Would you like to have a say in our dinner plans this evening or would you prefer to be surprised?” I thought it was a simple question, but Morgan turned and looked at me.

“You never ask it that way.” He had a very similar expression to the one Destin sometimes wore when he looked at me.

I’d clearly done something interesting, but I had no idea what.

“We usually go out to dinner and then a planned activity like a movie. I had a different idea, but I wasn’t sure if you would appreciate the change.” I didn’t always appreciate change, but it seemed that I was in the minority. “I wasn’t sure how you felt about surprises.”

I’d have brought the subject up earlier if I’d known it would be difficult. Pulling into the parking lot of the campus was not the best time for a lengthy discussion.

Jude was insane…and possibly angry about something.
“He’s glaring at me.” I hadn’t really tried to whisper, but I leaned closer to Cash, so it counted as being polite. “We’ve slept here for two nights. I want to come and I want to sleep with Bates again.”
Jude frowned deeper.
Yep, he’d heard.
But, considering he was only about five feet away and leaning against the front door, that probably couldn’t be helped.
So it wasn’t rude, just unavoidable.