Page 55 of A is for Aftercare

I shrug. “It’s not much fun to cook for one. I make food in big batches over the weekend and freeze portions that I can just thaw and reheat through the week.”

"Sensible. We sort of take turns cooking at home."

“Sort of?”

"It depends on when we all get home. Blake's often first because he doesn't have a regular nine-to-five job. Then it's a toss-up who gets back first out of Corey and me." Archie smiles at me. "Recently, I've been getting back the latest. I have a very demanding boss."

“He keeps you late, does he?”

Archie hums in agreement. “Very late.”

“That must be annoying.”

“Oh, I don’t mind.”

I smirk. “I know Blake’s a model, but what does Corey do?”

“He’s recently qualified as a teacher.”

“You all do very different things.”

Archie shrugs. "Yeah. We look the same, and we're all into kink to greater or lesser degrees, but beyond that, we're pretty different."

I can't think of a response to that, so I start to eat. The casserole turned out pretty nice. I hate the small talk part of dates. It can become awkward and strained pretty fast as you try to fill the silences. There's always the worry of what topics are appropriate. We've fucked, and he's sucked my cock plenty of times. Should anything be off-limits?

“When did you know you were into kink?” I ask.

Archie smiles. “We went to a BDSM night at a club on a dare.”

“By ‘we’, you mean you and your brothers?”

“Yes. We challenged each other to go and try one thing each. Turned out we all liked getting our arses spanked.” He rests his chin on his hand. “You?”

“My first boyfriend, Mick, was into it,” I say.

“And he got you into the scene?”

"Aye." I purse my lips. "Do you want to know about this?"

“Yes,” Archie says. “Tell me about him, please?”

"All right. We met when we were studying literature at Glasgow University. We went out for a couple of drinks together and then ended up in bed. About a month or so into sleeping together, he told me he liked to be spanked and ordered around."

“How did you feel about that?” Archie asks.

“I’ll admit I was a bit shocked at first. I’d never even heard of BDSM at that point in my life, and he was only the second man I’d ever had sex with.”

“Really?”

“Aye. I didn’t come out until I was at university. I fancied boys before that, but it wasn’t something I felt I could talk to my parents about. I didn’t even mention it to Elsie, something she gave me hell for when I eventually did come out.”

“I’m sorry,” Archie whispers. “I can’t imagine not being able to talk to my parents about stuff like that.”

I arch an eyebrow. “They know you’re into BDSM?”

“Oh God, no! I meant about my sexuality. As soon as I realised I fancied boys, not girls, I asked my parents for advice.”

“And they were supportive?”