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Lake’s hand trembled as he ran a fingertip over one of the cups. “So pretty!”

“I spotted this set when I was visiting my brother. I just knew that you all needed it,” Jesse told him.

“It’s too much,” Lake whispered. It killed him to say the words but there was no way that was a gift Lake could accept. It was too expensive.

“I think it’s perfect.” Jesse wrapped his fingers around where Lake was still resting his on the cup. “A pretty tea set for a pretty boy.”

Lake flushed hot but he was too shocked that Jesse was touching him that he couldn’t move. Jesse never touched him! Jesse was also nice and polite but very hands-off. “I…”

“Please accept this gift,” Jesse said softly. “It would make me very happy to think of you boys having a proper teatime when playing.”

It was for all of them, not just Lake. Turning down the present would just be silly. “Thank you,” Lake said. “I’ll make sure that we play with it right away.”

“That’s great.” Jesse shook the other bag. “This is for you.”

“You already gave me something!”

“That’s for the housewarming,” Jesse said. “This is for you.”

“But why?” Lake didn’t understand why he got something special when it was Remi and Dom who’d bought the house. All Lake had done was move into his own room and buy the things he’d always wanted but never had the nerve to own when he lived with family. His pretty room.

Jesse set the bag in his own lap.

Lake nearly grabbed his present because he wanted it. Instead, he twisted his fingers together. No touching. He knew that.

“Are we friends, Lake?” Jesse asked.

The question threw off Lake’s thinking. He had not expected that. “Umm…” How did he answer that? Jesse was his bossor sort of his boss. Jesse was Lake’s boss’s boss’s boss. That counted, right?

Except Jesse knew Lake’s secret and was not only accepting but also supportive. Jesse had been around enough since Christmas that Lake was getting used to seeing him with their friends. Friends. Lake nodded slowly. “Yes?”

“You don’t sound so sure, but I’ll take it,” Jesse said. “I want us to be friends.”

“Okay.” Lake wasn’t certain how that would work.

Jesse chuckled. “It’s funny how things work out.”

Lake’s gaze drifted to the wrapped present on Jesse’s lap. “What do you mean?” he managed to say. Lake really wanted to know what Jesse would buy for him. What did the man who could buy anything get for Lake?

“If I hadn’t suspected my own security team of selling drugs, I wouldn’t have hired Eric. If Eric hadn’t worked undercover here, he wouldn’t have met Ezra. Eric and Ezra opened a whole new dynamic for us. Their connection brought us closer together, even though you and Dom had been working here for years.”

Lake nodded. That was true.

“And even though you and Dom both went to the club, it wasn’t until recently that the two of you have become more comfortable,” Jesse said.

“It helps having more friends in the lifestyle,” Lake offered. He wasn’t sure that was the full truth. Lake could admit that the reason he was exploring more was because of his friends but it was the specific friends that made the difference.

Lake liked to believe that he had lots of friends at the club. He worked hard to be nice to everyone, especially the subs. It wasn’t easy to be new exploring a kink. Lake hoped he offered new members a little bit of braveness with being extra-kind. His friend group was different. Dom, Ezra, and Brandon didn’t push Lake out of his comfort zone. They just enticed him into being more himself.

“I’m sure it does,” Jesse agreed. “It’s also helped me.”

“It has?”

“Meeting Remi, Eric, and Dane has shown me what I’ve been missing,” Jesse said.

“Missing?”

“A boy of my own,” Jesse told him.