Page 60 of Praising Haru

“Yes.” He taps the table. “I’m who I am because of my parents. Do you think scientists have studied adopted kids as part of the nurture versus nature debate?”

“Probably. It would make sense. Especially those of us who were adopted before we were a year old.”

“Would you participate in a study like that?”

“Sure. Why not? Would you?”

Kyle nods. “It would be interesting.” He rubs his hands together. “We’d better eat before the food gets cold.”

“That would be a waste.” I grab a stick of satay, sinking my teeth into the succulent meat. The rich, nutty flavour hits my tastebuds, making my lashes flutter.

“I never knew eating could be so sexy.”

I laugh around a mouthful of chicken. “There’s nothing sexy about the way I eat.”

“Everything you do is sexy, beautiful. You could make reading the phone book sexy.”

I point the skewer at him. “You’re the one with the amazing voice.”

“Yours is wonderful too.”

My heart patters. I groan.

“You look beautiful when you react to praise. It makes me want to do it more. Makes me want to tell you how stunning you are.”

I bite my lip.

“Just like that.” He drops his voice. “I’m so lucky to have someone as amazing as you in my life.”

I whimper. “I’m not that amazing.”

“You are. You’re perfect.”

“Keep it up, and I’m going to come.”

“Do you mind?”

“Coming in the middle of a restaurant or getting praised?”

Kyle laughs. “Getting praised.”

“Never. No one does it as well as you.” I mean it.

“When you first explained praise kink to me, you mentioned it could be scary with the wrong guy. Is that something you’re ready to talk about?”

I clutch the edge of the seat and hunch my shoulders.

“Forget I asked.”

“It’s fine. It’s not something I’ve ever talked about.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know.” I spoon red curry onto my plate, along with some sticky rice. “There was one guy who told me he’d praise me, but he ended up doing the exact opposite. Maybe it was his idea of praise. I’m not sure. I know some people get off on being degraded just as much as I get off on praise, but it’s not for me. It made sex with him pretty shitty. Needless to say, we never hooked up again.”

“He degraded you while fucking you, even though he knew you didn’t like it?”

“Yes. I would have left, only I’d let him tie me up, so I couldn’t.”