Page 4 of Worth the Risk

Verity climbed the steps at the other end of the sanctuary and swiped their hand across a grimy window that took up almost all of the wall.

“It’s a view of the mountains,” Landon told them, another memory from one of his mother’s stories. “I can’t imagine who would want to buy this place, though. What would someone do with it?”

No one, he thought. That’s who would want to buy it.

Verity turned their attention back to Landon, who’d stopped halfway down the aisle.

“You could put a bar here.” Verity had turned back to face the window and gesture in front of him.

“Stop it,” Landon warned.

“This place is huge, Landon.” Verity turned back to face him. “You could do private rooms if you wanted.” They gestured to the loft space with a twirl of their finger.

“Verity.”

“I know we haven’t talked about it in years, but picture it.” They jumped down the steps and met Landon in the center of the church. Verity covered Landon’s eyes with their hands, and he reflexively relaxed against their chest. “Can you hear the music? All the other sounds?”

Landon closed his eyes under Verity’s palms and let himself imagine the future Verity was describing.

“The skin on skin. The pleas, the cries…the rapture.” Verity turned them both in a circle and then uncovered Landon’s eyes, dragging their palms down his sides. “It’s always been your favorite what-if game, Landon. What if you won the lottery? What if you had money? Well, you did win the lottery.”

Verity squeezed his hips and gestured to the space around them.

It wasn’t the craziest idea either of them had ever had, and it wasn’t like money was ever going to be a problem for him again. Half a million dollars was a drop in the hat compared to the money his grandfather had left him.

“We’re going home in three days,” Landon bit the words out. They tasted like bitter lies, and he already knew them to be false.

“What if we didn’t?”

“Isn’t that my game?” Landon huffed a laugh.

“You know I play both sides.”

“Verity,” Landon protested and they hushed him with a finger against his lips.

“We’ll go back to the hotel and sleep on it. It’s your money. It’s your decision. All I’m saying, Landon, is…what if you opened a dungeon?”

2

Landon

As far as dogs went,Ed was the most spoiled one Landon had ever met. Verity had picked him up at an adoption event as soon as they’d moved to Los Angeles and promptly began to spoil him rotten. Landon had spent ten years thinking no one and nothing could be more fabulous than Verity was, but he’d been proven wrong.

Ed was a Whippet with a fond affection for pearls and pastel sweaters, and Verity absolutely indulged him. As though he knew Landon was thinking about him, Ed jumped onto the bed and walked up the back of Landon’s thigh before turning in a circle and collapsing into a ball of legs and head against the bottom of Landon’s ass.

“Your dog is ridiculous.”

Verity was standing in front of their closet fingering though a dozen different black shirts. They tossed a glance over their shoulder at Landon and Ed, then smirked.

“He knows a comfortable spot when he sees one.”

“Are you implying my ass is comfortable?”

Verity huffed and turned their attention back to the closet.

Landon tapped Ed to move, rolled onto his back, and sat up. His stomach folded a bit over his pants.

“I’ve put on weight,” he lamented.