Page 68 of Shadow

Olivia glanced at Ripley. “Is it OK if I go, Daddy?”

“Sure, baby girl. I’ll come find you in a little while.”

When she turned back to Gage, he had an eyebrow raised.

“No kink shaming, Gage Allard.”

He held up his hands. “No shame at all. I heard you call him that last time. It’s just still a little odd that I never knew that about my best buddy.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Gage,” Ripley quipped.

Before the conversation could devolve into two former soldiers calling each other names, Olivia looped her arm through Gage’s. “Let’s go.”

Gage led her through the door from the lobby. Instead of turning into the dungeon, he headed for the hall and moved past his office, the quiet play space, the medical playroom, and toward the library.

He opened the door and stuck his head in. “Hey Alley. I have someone I want you to meet.”

He pushed the door open further and motioned Olivia in. “Olivia Harrigan, meet Alley Makoto.”

“Oh, my goodness, no way. Olivia?”

Olivia grinned when her eyes landed on the heavily tattooed woman with bright purple hair. She rushed forward to hug her friend.

“Of all the places. What are you doing in D.C.? What are you doing at a kink club?”

Alley laughed. “I’m here to catch a couple of Sony’s shows and then attend an event at the Library of Congress.”

“That’s right, you’re a librarian, aren’t you?”

“Not just a librarian, I’m the director now.”

Olivia grinned and high-fived her friend. “That’s so cool. How do you know Gage?”

“Gage and I met at Club Solitaire.”

“That’s the club in Colorado, yeah?”

Turning to Gage, she said, “I had no idea you’d been.”

Gage nodded. “Yep. They moved to Colorado for Alley’s job not too long before I visited. How do you two know each other?”

Olivia grinned. “We met on the convention circuit, and we’ve played Dungeons and Dragons together. And maybe I’ve slept on her boobs a few times when the gaming runs late.”

Gage shook his head. “Small world. And here I thought I was doing something nice introducing the two of you.”

He winked at Olivia, then kissed her cheek. “I’ve gotta get back out and talk to a few folks. You two have fun catching up.

“Alley, I don’t know if I told you, but we’re gonna have an all-day gathering on Saturday if you’re still here and free.”

When Gage was gone, Olivia sat on the couch next to Alley and bounced. “I’m so glad you’re here!”

Alley grinned. “Me too. I don’t know how we both missed that the other was kinky. Our friendship makes soooo much more sense now. Any chance we could get a game night in while I’m in town?”

Olivia frowned. “Um. My life is a bit… complicated right now. But I’ll see what I can do. I’m supposed to have a group over to my house next week, but Ripley isn’t sure it will be safe yet.”

Alley raised an eyebrow. “Safe? What’s going on?”

Olivia put a hand on her forehead. “I can’t even tell you everything, but it all started with one of my bars catching on fire.”

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