The Strength of the Pack (Suncoast Society #30)(3)

Although now his stomach felt a little rebellious from the effects of his earlier Mountain Dew consumption.

After his shower, he finished gathering the rest of his stuff together and ate an early dinner. Even though they usually had pot lucks at the club, there was rarely anything he liked, unless he or Cherise brought it. His little sister indulged his eclectic and inconsistent dietary structure. Sometimes, he was a voracious carnivore, almost like a craving.

Then he could go months without so much as a piece of sushi.

He was in an in-between phase right now, where he could go either direction. His dinner tonight consisted of gluten-free crackers, pine nut hummus, and two hard-boiled eggs. He’d take a bag of trail mix with him to snack on during the night if there wasn’t anything on the tables he liked.

Cherise pulled into his driveway exactly on time. He was already out the front door to take his first load of gear to her car before she even opened her door.

“You look better, bro,” she said as she rose up to peck him on the cheek as she passed. He was six four to her five five frame. She’d inherited their mom’s short stature, while he apparently took after his birth father’s side of the family.

He only knew that by what his mom had said, since the man had died when he was two and he had no memories of him, only a few old pictures.

“I feel better. It popped completely.”

“Good. You looked like shit earlier,” she called over her shoulder on the way to the house.

Five minutes later, they were loaded and heading toward the club. He’d seen her implement bag in the trunk.

“Going to play tonight?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Maaaybe. Depends. There’s a guy I’ve been talking with on Fet who might show up tonight. A newbie.”

While she jokingly called herself a play slut, she and her boyfriend weren’t poly. Her boyfriend didn’t mind if she played with others, as long as she didn’t have sex with them. “Won’t be until later if we do, though. I told Marcia I’d man the desk for her early on. That collaring is tonight and she wants to be there for it.”

Ah, yes. He’d heard about that. He knew the people involved.

Leo and Jesse were a gay Master/slave couple getting married tomorrow, but they lived with Leo’s ex-wife, Eva, and Leo and Eva’s young daughter.

From what he understood, it made Tilly’s complicated situation look positively normal by comparison.

He hadn’t asked for the personal details of the situation, because he worked on the assumption that if people wanted him to know their business, they’d tell him. He didn’t judge, either. It wasn’t his job.

When they arrived at the club, they were the second ones there, after Marcia and Derrick.

Marcia looked relieved. “Oh, good, you’re both here. Crawford, I have a big favor to ask.”

Nate’s scene name was Crawford, easier to remember than making something up out of thin air. And it helped prospective clients remember his name more easily when trying to find his phone number for his services.

“Sure.”

“Jesse called me and said Leo’s having some pain today. Can you work on him before their collaring? They should be here any minute. Hell, I’ll even pay you for a full session rate, if you want.”

“Of course I’ll work on him, and no, you won’t pay me. Let me get set up.” Leo was already one of his regular clients outside of the dungeon, although it was usually one of their mutual friends, or Jesse, who brought him in for his office visits. Eva had never actually been to his office with Leo, and he’d never worked on Eva at the dungeon, even though he had worked on Jesse before, both at the dungeon and officially, in his office.

He rolled his large travel bag into the dungeon area and set up at the medical play table they’d put downstairs for just this reason. It meant he didn’t have to haul his stuff upstairs to the isolated area where needle and knife play frequently took place.

He never charged for what he did at the club. They always let him in for free because he held demos, and he handed out business cards that helped bring him more clients.

By the time he was ready, Leo, Jesse, and Eva had arrived. Eva and Jesse looked worried as they helped Leo out of the car and into his wheelchair.

Nate held the office door open for them. The club wasn’t officially open yet, but since Marcia had cleared it, he waved them in.

“I’ll check us in,” Eva said. “You guys go on inside.”

Jesse wheeled Leo into the dungeon as Nate held the inner door for him. The car accident three months earlier had left Leo with severe injuries, including a broken pelvis. He was now able to walk and move around without the wheelchair, but spending a lot of time on his feet wore him out and jacked up his pain levels.

Nate helped Jesse steady the man and got him up onto the table, where he laid down with a pained grunt.

“So where are we hurting today?” Nate asked.

“Can I start with what doesn’t hurt? Might be faster.”

“Your big day is tomorrow, isn’t it?” Nate prepared the first batch of needles and opened up several packs of alcohol swabs. He suspected the extra stress was adding to Leo’s pain levels.

“Yep. Going to marry my boy tomorrow.” Leo glanced over at Jesse. The love and adoration in the man’s gaze nearly made Nate’s cock hard despite him being straight.