Page 2 of Five Days to Be Mine
I reach for my water, then take a canapé off the plate.
Beside me, Kyle has Sabrina’s head on his lap, and he’s feeding her something wrapped in pastry and rosemary.
Jenny is running away from Matt.
At the table across from us, a serious-looking group of burly men aren’t amused as Jenny keeps backing into their space. They keep sending menacing looks our way.
“What are you doing, Jenny?” Sabrina calls.
“Playing keep away! He has to get me if he wants to feed me another bite.”
“Oh, this is fun! I'll play too!” Sabrina pushes up off of Kyle’s knees and runs around the table.
A tall man with broad shoulders, wearing a charcoal suit with a purple shirt, strides over to us.
“Your activities are bothering our other guests. Play equipment is set up in the dining room tonight if you’d rather go there.” He has a quiet air of authority, a stern expression on his face.
“Sorry!” As Matt grabs her, Jenny giggles and, this time, does bump the next table, spilling their drinks.
The man in the suit raises a hand, and immediately, a staff member comes over to clean up the table and refresh the drinks with profound apologies.
“The dining room is through those wooden doors,” the man says to our party. “Can I get anything else sent to your table?”
“More of these things,” Sabrina says, holding up the pastry wrapped bite.
“Of course,”
“You’re the best, Evan.”
He flashes her a model-worthy grin, and I stare at how his wide smile suddenly transforms his face.
The smile doesn’t quite meet his eyes; it’s the smile you use with a customer, but it’s effectively cool and calming.
His gaze shifts to me. “We have a whole menu of non-alcoholic drinks.”
“That’s okay,” I say quickly, grabbing my water glass.
Sabrina pats my arm. “Mara doesn’t want anything too sweet.”
My face burns. I can’t believe she said that aloud.
Evan’s gaze narrows on me, but one of the men at the next table calls him away.
“I didn’t want you to feel pressured,” Sabrina says, squeezing my shoulder.
“Mara, did you think of giving Ryder another chance? He’s a great guy, and I know you two will hit off,” Kyle interrupts.
“I don’t think he’s a great guy,” I swallow, embarrassment making me clench my fist closed nervously.
Ryder is a friend of Kyle and Sabrina’s, and they set me up with him.
At first, he seemed the type of Dom I was looking for: someone who didn’t want any strings, was soft and wanted to give a good round of impact play and go for takeout after the play session ended.
But on our second date, he said, “I’ll only top you if you lose ten pounds.”
I deleted his number that evening and have avoided the question of him whenever Sabrina or Kyle brings it up.
“I want to go play!” Jenny says, grabbing Matt’s cheek and kissing him noisily.
