Something was over now. I felt it. A line had been crossed in August’s world.

As I waited for him to say something, anything, I clutched the bracelet like Nonna clutched her Rosary beads. Such a small, insignificant thing, yet it carried more meaning than I could put into words.

August cleared his throat and kept his gaze on the floor. “When you carefully carve out vanilla moments in an otherwise twenty-four-seven-type of kink lifestyle, you don’t get enough reminders that the partner you treat like a little boy on a daily basis knows you better than you know yourself.” The evident defeat in his posture caused my chest to tighten with worry. “He always knew before I did.”

Knew what? It didn’t feel like the right moment to ask questions.

“I’m supposed to be one step ahead.” He blew out a breath and scrubbed a hand over his face. “In kink, it works. I know him so well. I can anticipate his needs and be a good Daddy for him.”

I sensed a “but” coming.

“As partners, I can’t say the same,” he admitted. “A couple weeks into our relationship, I just found him precious for saying that we were gonna fall in love. Few months later, similar when he said we’d end up spendin’ the rest of our lives together. He’s… He’s incredibly confident and never hesitates to take risks. And how he reads people so well, I’ll never understand.”

“Is there something wrong with him being so attuned to your connection?” I asked hesitantly.

Sounded perfectly balanced to me. August was one step ahead in their kink dynamic, and Camden was one step ahead in their vanilla life.

“Not at all.” He shook his head. “I’m just an old, stubborn fool who hasn’t learned to listen properly yet. Imagine it yourself. Some guy twenty-five years younger than you storms in and lets you know what you want in life. For chrissakes, by the time he was born, I was well on my way to becomin’ head chef at a restaurant in Vegas. I’d broken a couple hearts and had my own shattered too. I opened my first restaurant before he started kindergarten.”

I smiled faintly and stuck my hands into the pockets of my jeans. I’d been on the receiving end of this conversation once upon a time, when I’d been with Charles.