"I would call him Adam, my exclusive date."
"Sounds like a boyfriend to me."
"Shut it. I'm going to put you down for a second so I can put on the sweater."
She pulled it over her head and then wrapped the scarf around her neck, letting the ends dangle down in front. It was still low cut, but paired with the scarf there was less skin showing and it somehow gave off the appearance of being more casual and less blatantly sexy.
"You're a genius, Leigh. If I ever get rich and famous, I'm hiring you as my personal dresser."
"I thought you didn't want to be famous."
"I don't. But if it ever happens on accident."
Leigh laughed. "Right. Alright baby. Go, have fun. Report back to me later."
"You know I will." Angel's voice softened. "I'm glad you're happy with Michael... but call me immediately if you need me. I don't care where I am. And if you know I'm at the club, call the desk and they'll come find me."
They both knew that she was indicating a lack of confidence in Leigh's relationship, but Leigh knew she was only looking out for her.
"I'm really hoping that won't be necessary."
"Me too."
"Have fun baby. Love you."
"I love you too."
Hanging up the phone, Angel glanced at the clock. Thank goodness Leigh had called or she would have definitely been late. As it was, she'd be cutting it close. And that was so not the impression that she wanted to give.
******
It was a good thing Adam liked cleaning. He liked seeing dirt, dust and grime being swept away to reveal a gleaming surface underneath. And knowing that Angel was coming over to see his house for the first time today, he'd been extra motivated. Not that his house ever resembled the stereotypical bachelor pad, but he'd be cleaning today anyway before people came over and now he was making everything shine.
The date yesterday with Angel had gone even better than he'd hoped. Although now he was more nervous than ever about having invited her over to hang out with his friends. Even though he already knew that they liked her too.
The addition of submissives had shifted their group dynamic a bit, and he knew that bringing in someone completely from the outside was going to shift it even more. But he hadn't lied when he said that Jessica and Hilary both wanted to spend more time with her, he knew they had questions about the self-defense classes she was going to be teaching. They seemed fascinated by Angel, actually; the fact that she'd successfully disguised herself as a Domme, that she taught women's self-defense, and that she managed to be quite successfully pushy with Michael, who was obviously a Dom.
Adam hoped she didn't think she was going to get away with that kind of shit with him. Unlike Michael, who muttered about spanking her ass red, he would actually follow through with it. Not that he was unhappy that Michael had never followed through with that threat.
Making a face, Adam scrubbed harder at the toilet he was currently working on. He'd invited Michael over today too. It wasn't that he didn't like the guy, he did, but he wasn't sure how he'd feel about the touchy-feely relationship that he had with Angel now. But it was something that he'd have to deal with.
Just like he needed to live with the fact that Angel had mostly male friends in general. And lived with three of them.
He'd never really considered himself a jealous or possessive person, but then again, he hadn't had a serious relationship in years. And when he'd been with Brooke, even before they'd realized that they wanted completely different things in bed although they were both interested in BDSM, it's not like he'd really thought he'd marry her.
The hand holding the scrubber skidded off the toilet and he nearly face planted onto the ceramic before he caught himself.
Geezus... was that how he saw Angel already?
Get your shit together.
It was just an overreaction of his body and brain, considering that for the first time he'd already been thinking about finding a long term relationship, like his friends, and he'd found a woman that interested him on every level. Of course he'd be considering that kind of thing in the back of his head already; because what was the point in wasting time in a relationship that he didn't think could work out in the long run? Which meant that yes, he was already thinking of possible long-term with Angel.
As long as nothing happened to fuck it up and there were no more major surprises.
He really couldn't deal with more surprises.
His phone buzzed and he glanced at the screen.
"Hey Olivia."
"My car won't start, I need you to come get me."
Adam groaned and glanced at his watch. "Can't you call someone else? People should be showing up any minute, I should be here."
"Justin's car is already packed because he picked up Hilary and Liam, Patrick's picking up Lexie so you know he's going to be trapped there for a while catching up with her parents, Andrew's running late, Jared and Truckstop are making up again so he's probably not going to make it anymore, and Rick's coming from the complete opposite direction plus he's already been driving for two hours just to get here. Now come get me."
She sounded a little annoyed, which he couldn't really fault her for since she'd obviously called everyone else before she'd called him and he should have expected that.
"Alright, I've just gotta write a note to tape to the door and I'll come get you."
"Thanks."
Olivia lived about fifteen minutes away, so about half an hour round trip. Adam glanced at his watch again and sighed. Chances were, everyone but Andrew was going to make it here before him. Well, maybe not Patrick if he was catching up with Lexie and Jake's parents, especially if they had any inkling of what had gone on at the club on Friday. He’d really wanted to be here when Angel got here. Especially because he knew she was nervous about hanging out with his friends outside of the club.
Oh well. The sooner he left, the sooner he could get back.
******
When Angel pulled up to the driveway of the address Adam had given her, there was already a car in it with people piling out. It was a bigger house than she'd expected, bigger than the one that she shared with the guys, and the lawn and garden were immaculate. Crap. That reminded her, she really should nag one of the guys into mowing the lawn. While she took care of the garden, she was allergic to freshly cut grass, it made her ankles break out in hives, which meant that she had a reason to make the guys do it.
"You're here! Angel's here!" Jessica called out unnecessarily over her shoulder to the guys, who could obviously see. Angel giggled as she got out of the car. "I'm so glad you came!"
"Thanks, I'm glad I could," Angel said, warmed by Jessica and Hilary's exuberant greetings. Justin, Chris and Liam were less expressive, but they all made her feel welcome as well. She helped them unload the trunk of various boxes and containers obviously holding food. "Good grief, are you guys catering or something?"
"Justin's an amaaaaaaazing cook," Hilary said. "Jessica lucked out with him."
"Hey," said Liam indignantly.
Hilary shot him an affectionate look. "I lucked out too, but I'm just saying. You could get Justin to teach you how to cook some stuff."
"Or I could just have Justin cook it for me and take the credit," Liam muttered under his breath, putting an innocent expression on his face when Angel laughed and Hilary looked over her shoulder suspiciously.
"Huh, Adam's had to run out and get Olivia," Chris said, looking at a piece of paper that had been taped to the front door. "He'll be back soon."
It felt a little weird to be going into his house without him there, but at the same time Angel was kind of glad to be able to look around and study her surroundings without Adam's presence. Get a feel for the man without him looking over her shoulder. The front door opened into a foray with an immediate stairway; to her right she could see some kind of formal living room which looked like it was decorated with Asian-inspired artwork, but she couldn't really get a good look at it because Jessica an
d Justin were behind her and she didn't to hold them up.
As she followed Chris, Liam and Hilary down the hall there was a television room on her left; big with beige carpeting, a big TV, a comfortable looking brown leather couch and matching armchairs, and a fireplace. The others led her past that and into the kitchen, which was obviously completely updated with sleek granite countertops, a gas stove-top, a double oven and a giant island in the middle of it.
"Good grief," she muttered.
"Ahhh," said Justin with an exaggerated sigh. "Heaven."
Jessica giggled. "Our kitchen isn't that much smaller than this one."
"Yeah, but I don't have all his fun toys." Justin grinned. "Yet."
"Like what?" Angel wanted to know.
"If you can think of it and use it in a kitchen, Adam probably has it," Chris said, exchanging a knowing smile with Justin. "He's like a pack rat when it comes to his kitchen. A super organized pack rat, but still a pack rat. He's got three different kinds of coffee makers, a quesadilla maker, three different size toaster ovens, two differently sized woks, a slow cooker, a garlic press-"
"And he never uses any of it," Justin said mournfully, cutting off Chris' recitation.
"Then why does he have it?"
"Lots of people have gave him kitchen stuff when he first moved in here, because it was the only stuff he didn't have, and then he just kind of started collecting it. He always says that if he uses it once, then it's worth having."
"And he uses three different kinds of coffee makers?" she asked, amused.
"Regular coffee maker, French press and espresso. They all serve different needs," Chris said, winking at her. She giggled.
"Don't forget all his specialty spices," Liam said, throwing open one of the corner cupboards. Angel's jaw dropped. It had rotating circular shelves, five of them, and they were all filled with spices. Not only that, it was obvious that they were organized by the little labels at intervals along each shelf. This wasn't a case of repeat spice buying like she did, he seriously just had that many spices.
"Does he use all of those?"
"Nope, but I do," Justin said happily as he unwrapped aluminum foil from one of the dishes they'd brought it. He was a lot less intimidating looking when he was cheerful and preparing food, Angel decided. It made him look a lot more like Chris in fact. "I'm just going to sprinkle some of his truffle oil on this and stick it in the over... I've got a couple other things to do that to and then I'll come join you guys."
She was going to ask where, but she just followed the rest of the group out into the hall and down a staircase that had been hiding behind a door. Adam's basement was split into two rooms, the first of which was obviously a group entertainment room. If she'd thought the television upstairs had been big, this one was gigantic. There was a split section couch arranged in a U shape in front of it for people to sit on. Next to the television were several different gaming systems, to her surprise he still had the regular X-box and a PS2 rather than the more updated consoles.
The entertainment center was filled with DVDs, but there were also two rows of video games.
"Wanna play something?" a deep voice behind her asked, and she looked up into Chris' laughing brown eyes. "He's got a bunch of different kinds of games. Something for everyone, really."
"So I noticed," she murmured. They were arranged in alphabetical order too, which she liked. She'd done that for the guys' games at home. It just made things so much easier. There were a couple of her favorites, but she should really choose a game that more than one person could play...
Her finger lingered on one. Blinking innocently, she let her eyes go as wide as possible as she pulled it from the shelf and looked back up at Chris. "How about this one?"
******
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO, NO - ooooOOOOOO!"
"Fuck, you little bitch!" Patrick's voice bellowed, drowning out Angel's 'no's.
It was the first thing Adam heard when he walked in the front door, echoing up from the basement and he bolted for the stairs, Olivia hot on his heels.
"Suck it, asshole!"
"Damn it, not again!"
Adam came to a grinding halt halfway down the stairs when the room finally came into view and he realized why he wasn't hearing anyone but Angel and Patrick. The rest of them were in tears, gulping for air because they were laughing so hard. Chris was actually on the floor, holding his belly, while Lexie, Hilary and Jessica were hugging each other on the couch, trying to keep from following Chris to the floor as they writhed with hilarity.
Liam and Angel were sitting next to each other on the couch with a space separating them from Patrick and Justin. She was flushed, the sleeves of her sweater pushed up, and he could see the curves of her breasts from the deep V of her neckline. She looked beautiful and excited, not frightened or angry like he’d almost thought.
"Yes!" Angel jumped into the air, pumping one fist.
"Watch out behind you," Liam warned. He was grinning, but most of his focus was on the screen and front of him and the controller in his hand.
"Don't help her, she doesn't need it," Justin snapped grimly as Angel, still standing, took the controller back in both hands, muttering under her breath.
"Your loss, she's on my team," Liam chortled.
Not one of them looked up to where Adam and Olivia stood, panting and gaping on the stairs.
Patrick growled and leaned forward, looking almost as grim as Justin. "I'm back in."
"Not for long..." Angel said tauntingly.
"I just got back - no... CRAP! FUCK! How did you do that?!"
Angel just laughed.
Making his way down the stairs, Adam could finally see what they were playing. Halo. And from the stats listed on Patrick's screen as it counted down the time until his character came back to life, Angel was dominating it by a large margin.
"You!" Adam looked over to see Patrick glaring at him. "This is all your fault!"
Lexie fell off the couch onto the floor, tears streaming down her face as Jessica and Hilary both made 'Oh no!' noises through their giggles and reached for her.
"I can't..." Lexie gasped, batting away their hands. "I can't... oh god, it's too good."
"Hi!" Angel said cheerfully, giving him a wave before turning her attention back to the screen. "Hey Justin... I seeeeeeeeee you... oh wait... no, come back here!"
******
Later, gathered around the island in Adam's kitchen, Angel was surrounded by the rest of the women who all wanted her to teach them how to play video games. Jessica seemed especially interested, which wasn't too surprising considering how much Chris loved to play; Justin was less into them although he was more competitive than Chris, so when he played anything he did so to win.
Which was probably why he was still glowering at Angel from across the island. Kudos to her, she ignored the dark looks that she was getting from both him and Patrick. Whenever she glanced at Adam, he grinned at her, and then she would glow as if lit up from some light within. He got the feeling that as long as he approved, and the girls approved, she didn't much care that Justin and Patrick were being sore losers.
Not that he could blame them; she'd wiped the floor with them, with very little help from Liam. On top of that, she could smack talk with the best of them. Once he and Olivia had gotten downstairs, the Domme had soon joined the other giggling women at some of the creative insults Angel had come up with. As if Olivia needed more of a mouth on her.
Actually, he still wasn't quite sure how to handle that either. It was an entirely different facet to Angel that he hadn't seen yet and it made him wonder how many other hidden sides she had. Sure, the gamer thing was kind of hot, but he'd barely heard her curse until today. Normally he hated it when a woman cursed, and he still wasn't enamored of it with Angel, no matter how funny it was, but it was obviously something she considered integral to her gameplay.
Still, they were going to have to have a talk about respecting the big, bad Doms. Maybe not while she was pl
aying video games, but the rest of the time.
"She played us," Justin said darkly. "She's a... a... video game shark."
"Like a pool shark?" Chris snorted and then grinned at Adam. "You should have seen the innocence shining from her when she suggested Halo. It was practically pouring out of her and these guys fell for it like they'd been dropped off a cliff." He cackled. "Liam thought he was doing her a favor by offering to be on her team. I think these two idiots just wanted to show off." He laughed again as Patrick and Justin switched their glowers from Angel to him.
"She said she'd played before with her housemates, what were we supposed to think?" Patrick said crossly. "I thought we could go easy on her, show her some things that she could take back to show her housemates... I was trying to be nice."
"Maybe you should ask her to show you that secret passageway that she ambushed you from, what, three times?"
"Her housemates are all video game fanatics," Adam said. "I met them yesterday. Sam, Mark and Q. They thought I was there for a LAN party."
"Three guys? She's got three guys for roommates? Unless Q's a woman..." Liam frowned as Adam shook his head. "And you're okay with that?"
"I'm trying to be."
"Not sure I'd be," Liam muttered.
"What, you don't trust Hilary?" Chris teased, elbowing Liam.
"Of course I do, but... it's..." Liam fumbled, knowing that he'd walked into a verbal trap. He glanced over at the women, but fortunately they were too involved in their conversation for him to have to come up with a viable explanation for his girlfriend. "You know what I mean. I doubt you'd be thrilled if Jessica had been living with a guy instead of Hilary. It's just... semantics."
"Yeah, I know," Chris said cheerfully, popping one of the bacon wrapped green bean bundles that Justin had made into his mouth. "But we would have dealt with it."
"They seem like nice guys," Adam said, trying not to feel stoic about it.
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