Page 42

The fact that Kong hadn’t paddled out and inserted himself into Scout’s lesson made it easier for him to get over the case of stubbornness that had hit when he’d first seen Kong there. But he did wanna catch one more wave.

“I really should go talk to him,” Scout murmured.

“Yeah, I think you should,” Mark replied, as Scout skimmed the horizon, looking for his final wave and a chance to show off what he’d learned one more time.

Scout caught it a few minutes later and even managed a few sloppy serpentine movements that came nowhere close to mimicking Mark's, but for him, they were an awesome way to end his first day of surfing lessons. He even managed to stay on at the end of the ride and coast into the shallows before he hopped off when he was ready, rather than when the wave threw him. Scout even gained a grin and more applause from Kong when he scooped up his board. There was a hopeful look on Kong’s face too, and a hint of tightness along his jawline.

Kong was grinding his teeth. Scout wondered if that meant he was worried about how this conversation was going to go.

He wasn’t the only one worried.

Scout dreaded this, but it needed to happen, if only so he could pack away the feelings he still harbored for Kong if he said the wrong thing.

Out here Scout could give Kong an earful if he pissed him off and not have to worry about heads turning their way and people eavesdropping on their conversation.

Being around the Hounds, Scout had noticed that the guys there tended to stay out of each other’s business, while the Jokers really were like a family, with everything that entailed, including offering advice when it wasn’t asked for and dropping little tidbits of information into conversations the way the Prez had done.

“I’m still pissed at you,” Scout said as he dropped into the sand beside Kong.

“Unfortunately, I know being angry means your behavior bothered me enough for me to be unable to brush it off. Which I suppose is fair, since I’d thought you’d keep your promise and make me your boy once I told you what you wanted to know.

Kinda feels like you lied to me to get what you wanted, and I’m not okay with being played like that. ”

“It wasn’t my intention to play you,” Kong said, looking grim when Scout shot him a dirty look. “Seriously. I just lost my shit when I heard what you’d been up to.”

“Why?” I asked. “Did it make you regret fucking around with a fuckboy?”

The snarl Kong let out and the way he narrowed his eyes told Scout he’d hit a nerve. “You’re not a fuckboy.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve seen some of the videos you made,” he growled.

“The people you were working with might not have noticed, but I could see in your eyes that you weren’t enjoying yourself and wanted to be anywhere but there.

That’s not what you looked like when you were riding me the morning after we met.

Your eyes were like twin flames, bright and wild as you writhed above me, crying out like you were trying to wake the dead. ”

“More like the orgasm demons,” Scout muttered “They’re way better than any ghost. Pretty sure you introduced me to a few new ones that morning too.

Which was why finding out about how you went through the fresh meat around here was a bit disappointing.

I wanted to matter to you, but you proved that I didn’t the moment you left me standing on the sidewalk, watching your taillights shining in the darkness. ”

“That was a shit thing to do, and I’m sorry,” Kong admitted. “When I tore out of there, I only had one thing on my mind, and that was getting my hands on the man you’d signed the contract with.”

“The Prez said that the club has had dealings with him before and that he’d broken both of Duchamp’s hands after finding out he filmed one of the younger members of the club without his permission.”

“That’s the truth, and the guy really did a number on the sub’s self-confidence and emotional well-being in the process,” Kong explained. “There was a lot going on in his life at the time, and he’d thought that he was with someone who cared about him, someone who was going to….”

Scout cocked an eyebrow, confused, and then Kong’s words trailed off and he scrubbed a hand over his face, muttered a stream of curses, and hung his head.

“Fuck me,” he groaned. “I went and did the exact same thing.”

“You recorded me?” Scout screeched, leaping to his feet with his fists clenched at his side.

Scout didn’t care if one punch from Kong could level him; he was gonna get in some damage of his own.

“Hell no!” Kong said, not even trying to get up.

Instead he just stared up at Scout with such sincerity burning in his eyes that Scout knew he was telling the truth.

“I’d never do that to anyone,” Kong rushed on to say as Scout slowly lowered himself back down onto the sand beside him.

“What I meant was that Duchamp let one of my club brothers think that he was truly interested in him and wanted to collar him and make him his sub, only to turn around and prove to be a liar. While I didn’t lie to you, I still implied something that I didn’t deliver on, and that wasn’t fair to you. ”

When Scout opened his mouth to say something, Kong held up his hand and rushed to continue speaking.

“Yes, I was upset about the porn, but what pissed me off wasn’t that you’d done it; it was hearing why you’d needed to bring Sawyer with you.

That the people you worked for disregarded the questionnaire you filled out and did things to you that you didn’t like blinded me to everything else, including your feelings.

I stormed off. My priority should have been you, and it wasn’t.

I have only myself to blame for Creature claiming you and you accepting his claim.

I fucked up. I can own that. All I can do now is try to show you that it will never happen again, if you’ll give me the opportunity to, anyway. ”

Again Scout opened his mouth to speak, and for the second time, Kong held up his hand and rambled over the words he’d been struggling to get out.

“I know you’re with Creature and Axel. I’m not asking you to leave them or to accept me as your Dom; I know I have to earn that,” Kong went on to say.

“But Creature and I have always had, well, something brewing between us. Something we’ve been curious to explore.

So I guess what I’m saying is that I’d like to be part of what you’ve got going on with him and Axel.

Okay, now that silenced Scout’s thoughts and left him fumbling to think up a response.

“Are you saying it’s my choice?” Scout asked once his tongue was finally working again.

“Yeah, I am.”

Shit, well that was unexpected.

“So, would that make us a foursome?” Scout asked.

“Eventually, if Axel has any interest in me,” Kong said.

“If not, it would simply make us poly with some rules on who does and does not touch who and a lot of discussion about what we want from one another. Even if a foursome does happen, it’s still going to require a lot of talking, negotiation, and probably a few wrong turns before we get to where we need to be.

Some people regard three or more partners as being a leather family, in which case, Creature would be the head of our family because that isn’t a role I can take on with all the things I still need to work through.

Trust me when I say that there’s quite a few, including ones I’ve only just started to come to terms with, I’m just asking for a chance to see what happens and to show you that I can do better.

I’m not the man Teddy accused me of being, but he had every reason in the world to say the things he said.

I have made some errors in judgment in the past and gotten involved with people who weren’t really interested in who I was but in how a night or two with me would be perceived by others.

When I learned what was going on, I handled it badly and earned quite a reputation along the way.

One I wasn’t even aware of until Teddy brought it to my attention. ”

“He really is my friend, you know,” Scout said. “He wasn’t trying to shit all over you.”

“I know, and I appreciate what he tried to do for you.”

“Can I be blunt?” Scout asked as he scooted a little closer.

“Please.”

“It’s hard being pissed at you,” Scout admitted.

“And really, the only reason I was angry was because it felt better than sitting around stewing over the way you’d hurt me.

I’d like it if we could all work on figuring out how we can fit.

What I felt after the night and morning I spent with you was way different from anything I’d ever felt before.

I felt like you were being your authentic self that night, and I’d like to see more of that guy, not Kong.

I don’t really like Kong. But I’d like to know you, starting with what the hell your real name is. ”

A slow grin brightened Kong’s features and chased some of the sadness from his eyes. “It’s Mahoney. My folks decided they wanted something different when they adopted me, since there wasn’t a name on my birth certificate.”

“Mahoney,” Scout murmured, testing out the way it sounded rolling off his tongue. “That’s pretty cool and one I’ve never heard before.”

“Me either,” he replied. “Makes it damned impossible to find a personalized key chain though.”

Giggling, Scout nodded and scooted a little closer. “I bet. It’s nice to meet you, Mahoney.”

“Nice to meet you,” he replied, as he hesitantly raised his hand to brush a bit of sand off Scout’s cheek.

It was only then that Scout realized Mark was gone and they had the beach to themselves. Leaning into his touch, Scout nuzzled Mahoney’s hand so he wouldn’t drop it back into his lap again.

“So, Mahoney,” Scout said, as he gazed up into those deep, cinnamon eyes. “Tell me more about yourself.”