Ah, that must be why it was never brought up. It barely even registered as a blip to Noah, who had severed any kind of sexual connection with Robby long before I entered the picture.

“And he was okay with that?” Yvette asked. She had the eyes of an eagle, penetrating and powerful, likely honed from her years working as an in-demand lawyer. She didn’t have her own firm yet but was well on her way to tacking on her last name to the side of a skyscraper in Downtown Atlanta.

“Yeah, he said he understood. Honestly, he was into some pretty intense stuff, and he said he gets that not everyone was into it.”

Tristan looked up from the phone, his attention catching on the conversation. “Dark stuff? Like what?”

“He liked pain play and wanted to role-play some intense things. It just wasn’t for me.”

“Robby? The twink that crashed his car twice into the same stop sign at the entrance to your community? That Robby?” Tristan looked skeptical, but Noah answered with a nod. Tristan’s forehead wrinkled in surprise before he turned his gaze back to the phone glowing in his hands, the light from the screen catching on the shiny silver chain he had around his neck, the links thick.

“Alsssoo,” Jess said, “he’s the reason why we’re in this mansion in the woods, right? He can’t be that bad.”

“True, true,” Tia said. “Although that would be twisted as fuck if he lent us this place to like watch us or something.”

Jess clapped her hands and stood up. “Uh-uh, this is where I call it a night. I’m sorry, but I’m way too big of a scaredy-cat, and I don’t want to have to sleep with the light on.” She turned to Noah, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I love you, Noah. You’re like my little brother, and as the honorary big sis, I refuse to let anyone hurt you. I think all of us here can say that. So don’t stress out too much, okay? We’re going to figure it out.”

Noah sucked in a deep breath. He managed a smile, although I saw a quiver in his lips. Tia stood, grabbing Jess’s hand in hers. “Let me go tuck Jess in. If you guys are still out here plotting and theorizing, then I’ll come back and join.”

The two disappeared to their room upstairs. The sound of the door shutting and the shower starting filtered down into the now silent living room. We were all tossing around our own theories while Eric looked through some kind of database on his phone, likely given to him by the connections he still had in the police department.