“No. I stayed there last night,” Olivia explained, “but I planned to start looking for another place today. Although…”

“Although?” Sadie perked up. “Although what?”

“Although,” Olivia continued slowly, “that was before.”

“Before what?”

“Before Cade said he wanted to destroy me, then put me back together again.”

“Sing hallelujah,” Amanda muttered at the same time Rebecca said, “It’s about time,” and Sadie said, loudest of all, “I hope you said yes.”

“You think I should say yes?” Olivia asked, just to hear Sadie’s answer.

“I mean, hello. The man is sex on a stick. Not that I’ve ever seen his stick, but he fills out a pair of leathers just fine. Unless that’s a sock?”

Rebecca cleared her throat, blushing furiously. “It’s not a sock.”

“No, it’s not.” Olivia had very fond memories of Cade’s not-a-sock.

“That’s right, I forgot you played with him before.” Sadie angled her head, her eyes bright with curiosity. “What, a year and a half ago?”

“Give or take, yeah. Before Kyle.”

“Excuse me.” Rebecca raised her hand. “I’m sorry, I know I’m the newbie around here, but I just have to ask. No offense meant to Kyle, but how did you go from Cade to him?”

“That’s what I want to know,” Sadie put in. “With all offense meant to Kyle.”

“Kyle’s attractive,” Rebecca said, jabbing her elbow into Sadie’s side. “But you and Cade are so much more compatible. Especially considering the CNC thing.”

“Well, that’s part of why.” Olivia turned to Amanda. “Remember when you told me that Cade had decided not to do CNC scenes anymore?”

“Oh, right.” Amanda grimaced. “I’d forgotten about that.”

Sadie frowned. “What are we talking about?”

Amanda lowered her voice. “Cade had a scene go sideways on him, and I guess it was pretty bad. James told me after that, Cade decided not to do consensual non-consent play anymore.”

“When was this?”

“Right as I was about to ask him if he’d consider doing CNC with me,” Olivia put in.

“Oh, damn.” Rebecca winced. “That sucks.”

“Especially since it’s not true.”

“What?”

“James got it wrong,” Olivia repeated, and turned to face Amanda. “He did decide not to do consensual non-consent with casual partners, or for pickup scenes. But he never wanted to quit completely. He just wanted to be more careful.”

Amanda’s eyes went round with realization. “You mean, this whole time…”

“Yeah.”

Amanda closed her eyes on a curse, and Olivia reached over to pat her hand. “It’s not your fault. I’m the one who didn’t talk to him.”

“Yeah, but I’m why you didn’t talk to him.” Amanda sighed. “I’m really sorry.”

“You were trying to help,” Olivia soothed.

“Some help,” Amanda muttered.

“Never mind all of that,” Sadie interrupted with impatient wave of her hand. “There’s a question on the table.”