Page 27 of Weston & Cyrus (Beautiful Shame #6)

Weston

God. How had I let him talk me into this?

“When did you turn into such a stickler for time management?” Cyrus was usually much more go with the flow.

“When Conner showed up at my gym.” His glare had me wanting to grumble and my dick wanting attention.

“Fine.” Both of us were stupid, so I rolled my eyes. “It’s going to be fine.”

“Then why do you keep saying that?” His question had me wanting to strangle him, which might’ve actually been his goal. His expression was just a little too stern and I had a feeling it was completely fake. “Behave or I’ll distract you.”

Bullshit.

“Ha. Conner told you not to turn me on before we talked.” That was a stupid order but Cyrus wasn’t the type to stir up Conner.

He liked peace and quiet too much.

“Did he really show up at the gym?” He hadn’t mentioned that. “When?”

“This afternoon.” Cyrus sighed as he put the car in park. “That was why I was late. He was being a pain in the ass and bouncing around the room talking to anyone and everyone.”

Oh.

“What was he wearing?” Most of the guys at the gym were actually really nice, even the ones who were so straight they always looked confused, but Conner was…well…he was just Conner.

Cyrus actually barked out a laugh. “His work clothes and he even had on a tool belt. It was like meeting an entirely new person.”

Weird.

That must’ve shown on my face because Cyrus started laughing again as I shook my head and complained. “He’s not allowed to do that. The suit he was wearing last time we were here was weird too.”

Still snickering, he leaned across the car and gave me a quick kiss. “You just don’t like change.”

“So?” Change was stupid and very change-y. “I’m adapting just fine to our changes.”

Mostly.

Occasionally I was a grumpy pain in the ass, but he was ridiculously patient with me most of the time.

“Then that’s what we’re going to show him.” Cyrus looked entirely too confident about the whole interview as he gestured toward the building, and I kind of wanted to strangle him. “We’re adapting and having fun.”

He must’ve seen my frustration because he gave up the cheerful tone and glared at me again. “Stop looking at me like that. I don’t know what he’ll do if he thinks we’re not getting along.”

Ha.

He was nervous too.

“We’re getting along just fine.” He was being ridiculous. “Just because I’m wondering if I could get my hands around your neck doesn’t mean we’re not getting along.”

He smirked. “I think that’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“Getting me frustrated is not the goal here.” Conner might think he had to fix us if we made the wrong impression.

I wasn’t sure what the right one would be, but probably not this one.

“No.” He shrugged, still grinning. “But it’s fun.”

He had enjoyed getting me wound up entirely too much.

“Come on. Let’s get this over with so we can have real fun.” Whatever that was going to be. “Unless you want to take a couple of minutes and explain your plan for the evening?”

He just grinned even wider and climbed out of the car.

Brat.

Cyrus was looking very smug as he came around, grabbing the small bag from the back and opening my door, but he was still driving me insane. “Stop calling me names in your head.”

“You can’t read my mind, so that’s unenforceable.” I wasn’t going to agree to that in any form. “If you’re mean to me, I’ll tell Conner you liked that he came to your work.”

Pulling me close as I climbed out of the car, he shifted to a stern, sexy glare. “Be careful what you threaten me with. I haven’t decided if you’ve been good enough to come.”

That was too vague.

“Tonight?” I hadn’t been that obnoxious. “I said I was sorry.”

Hadn’t I?

“This weekend.” He raised one eyebrow as I sighed. “And no, you did not. You said you couldn’t be held responsible for what you said when you woke up.”

“It’s not my fault you were unreasonable.” His snort as he shut the door made me roll my eyes.

“In your dream.” Back to looking unreasonable, he glared at me again. “I was unreasonable in your dream .”

So?

He still didn’t understand he should’ve apologized more as we got to the door, but I had to agree to drop it or he said he’d take us home and watch war movies all night.

There was a marathon on The History Channel.

Evidently, they played more than just alien documentaries and he wasn’t afraid to use it as punishment.

He wouldn’t be in this position if he’d just been nicer to me.

“I’ll be better behaved if you tell me why I’m being good.” This whole thing would’ve been much easier if he’d just turn me on and say something dirty to me. “You could call me slut and tell me what happens to naughty boys?”

Ignoring the way the guy at the front desk was giggling as he waved us in, I smiled at Cyrus. “That would help a lot.”

Oh.

“And I’m communicating and telling you what I want instead of making you guess. I’m amazing.” He just needed to realize it. “Don’t you want to thank me for that?”

I could make a case for getting a reward.

“I think he wants to strangle you, so maybe not.” Conner appeared out of nowhere, finally back to normal in his tiny shorts and not much else. “Let’s work on that while he takes your stuff to the locker room and gets me a bottle of water.”

Conner’s assumptive tone had Cyrus rolling his eyes, obviously not too afraid of the drama queen. “No.”

“We’re a pair.” And I was pretty sure isolating me was Conner’s way of getting me to admit to something stupid.

I wanted to come, so I wasn’t going to do anything to mess that up.

Cyrus shrugged. “You were the one who wanted him clear-headed and not turned on or caged, so you get to handle the fallout from that.”

We were going to have to talk about his manners.

“Fine.” Conner took my hand and started dragging me through the surprisingly busy club. “We’re going to talk because you two don’t look right.”

God.

What was looking right at a BDSM club?

Half the people here were nearly naked and doing something interesting.

“You didn’t let us change, so of course we look normal.” Cyrus wasn’t the type to dress me up for the ride to the club. He worried about getting pulled over, and there was no way he’d want to explain anything too weird to cops.

“That’s not what I meant.” Conner was the one rolling his eyes that time, but he didn’t stop dragging us along until he got to the corner with the only empty seats in the lounge and a young sub who was sitting there guarding them.

“Thank you, sweetie. I’ll remember my promise.” Whatever Conner had agreed to made the young guy blush, but he was smart because he hurried off before Conner could say anything else.

Cyrus was back to looking more relaxed and like he was trying not to smile as we sat down on a small couch across from Conner, but that made me want to strangle him again, so he should’ve been grumpier.

He wasn’t as smart as the sub because he didn’t even look at me as I sighed. “This is ridiculous.”

Yep.

I should’ve been caged and groped a few times already at the very least.

“This is necessary.” Conner had a stubborn look on his face that had me sighing again but he ignored it too. “So, let’s start with I don’t like the fact that I had to track you down.”

Cyrus finally stopped smiling but he didn’t look as pissed as I would’ve been. “What did you think of my gym?”

Conner cocked his head, clearly not expecting that conversational turn. “It’s really nice. You’ve got a great place, but I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting everyone to be so nice.”

And the smile was back.

“Is that why you dressed up as Contractor Ken?” Raising one eyebrow as Conner laughed, Cyrus didn’t get distracted. “Aiming for your most masculine look?”

Shrugging, the drama queen didn’t deny it. “I look wonderfully masculine when I’m at work. It’s a fun stress reliever sometimes.”

So it was like playing dress-up?

“They wouldn’t have treated you any differently if you’d come in wearing club gear instead.” He chuckled when Conner looked suspicious. “One of the other businesses in the area would’ve probably called the cops but not my guys.”

Yep.

Conner didn’t quite believe him, though. “What would your guys have done?”

“Well, one would’ve found a way to ask for tips about how you did your makeup so subtly.” Cyrus chuckled when Conner preened but I was just confused.

Conner was wearing makeup?

Wasn’t that something I was supposed to notice?

Why was he wearing makeup if I couldn’t see it?

“Another would’ve asked if those shorts came in bigger sizes.” Cyrus looked pleased as Conner seemed to admit defeat.

“Fine. They’re not typical gym bros.” Conner’s arms twitched like he wanted to cross them over his chest. “I had no way of knowing that.”

So he’d assumed the worst?

About Cyrus’s business?

Rude.

“If you’d called or texted, I’d have explained all that and why we hadn’t been to the club in a couple of weeks.” Cyrus made it sound perfectly reasonable instead of tattling that I’d been slightly nervous. “It’s been busy but we were planning on coming next week.”

Well, he’d been planning to come and I’d been planning to avoid it.

So that wasn’t exactly a lie.

I just hadn’t figured out the best way to play sick yet.

Oh. Sick.

“Well, you’re here now.” The queen of the club gave a royal-looking smile and made a sweeping gesture around the room as he distracted me again. “So tell me how things have been going.”

He was definitely a bigger brat and made Cyrus’s bad behavior seem completely reasonable.

“Fine.” No, Cyrus was definitely a bigger brat if he thought that would be a satisfactory answer. “Just like I told you earlier.”

Conner didn’t appreciate the size of my Master’s balls, but that was okay because I was the most important one. “Let’s define fine with a bit more clarity.”

“What did you have in mind?” Master was definitely feeling more Master and wasn’t afraid to make his displeasure known. “I wouldn’t want to misunderstand your clarity .”

Two brats went into the ring…only one would come out.

Narrowing his gaze, Conner nodded. “It’s good to see you’re still together, but I’d like to know how your conversations about the nondynamic side of your relationship have gone.”

Why did he have to talk about the hard stuff?

Cyrus didn’t twitch or immediately rat me out as being a pain in the ass.

“Considering we’re only about two weeks into a relationship, I think we’re doing great.

The sexual side of our relationship and the BDSM side are strong, and we’re working on shifting to a more romantic relationship outside of that. ”

Hey, he could tell the truth without actually telling the truth.

That was going to be handy and I’d have to make sure I paid more attention to what he was saying when he wasn’t saying anything.

“It was obvious you were going to be able to take care of his sexual and submissive needs.” Conner shrugged. “I never considered otherwise, but how is dating going?”

He was like a dog with a bone.

Or Cyrus’s mother’s monsters and a shoe.

“Fine is my first thought.” Cyrus’s eyes twinkled as Conner nearly growled at him. “But I think a more descriptive response would be best.”

Duh.

As Conner settled back in his chair, it was Cyrus’s turn to shrug. “I think we’re doing well shifting things around, but we’ve been friends for a long time now, so changing that mindset isn’t always easy.”

I thought that was a pretty good response.

Conner did not.

One eyebrow went up. “That answer will not have me fulfilling my end of the bargain.”

What bargain?

What had they agreed on?

How much more information was he looking for?

How much trouble would I get in if Cyrus explained I was a pain in the ass when it came to romantic shit?

Bargains ended in orgasms for good subs who didn’t piss anyone off, right?