August leaned over to me again, a soft smile on his face—sadistic glee in his gorgeous eyes—and cupped my cheeks. “I hope he keeps you hard until you’re ready to snap, darlin’.” He pecked me gently. “That’s what I want to return to later.”

He’d get his motherfucking wish.

He straightened one last time, but not before stealing a quick kiss from Camden too. “You know your safewords, Camden. They’re in effect startin’ right now, and they apply to Anthony too. Please explain them to him before I go downstairs.”

“Yes, Sir.” Camden nodded, then addressed me. “We use the regular color system, ’cept for green. Green means everything is good, and we replaced that word with Teddy, ’cause it’s the name of my favorite stuffie. He’s a teddy bear,” he said frankly. “Yellow means slow down, maybe when someone is approaching their limit. And that’s red. Red stops all play instantly, and then we talk it out and snuggle.”

I brought his hand closer and kissed his knuckles. “Teddy, yellow, red—understood.” I gave August a nod too; I knew this was serious to them, and he was putting his trust in me to be alone with Camden. Regardless of how capable the boy was of speaking up and taking care of himself, he was, in their dynamic, August’s responsibility. “I can tell you right now there won’t be any play that goes beyond kissing and cuddling.”

Camden dropped his jaw. “Why?”

I tapped his nose. “Because the last thing your Daddy needs is worrying about us when he’s busy with work downstairs. Nothin’ wrong with taking it easy and watching movies together.”

Camden understood begrudgingly and put up minimal fuss. From August, my response earned me a deep kiss. The gratitude in his eyes meant more to me than I was willing to admit.

Chapter 7

Keep Your Eyes Open

Sylvia’s piano poured out of the speakers a few seconds before Luiz started hitting the snare and bass drum to count us in. Nicky appeared mesmerized as the spotlights traveled across the audience, and it mirrored what I felt. Holy fuck, there had to be at least two thousand people now.

Nicky and I pressed down on our overdrive pedals and distorted our guitar sound.

Then I started singing as he plucked on his strings, flirting with the audience again. Or maybe he’d found Gideon. I still hadn’t seen August and Camden, and I pushed them out of my mind before I could overthink and overanalyze.

Just open your eyes.

Don’t fear the unknown.

“I’m so full!” Camden flopped back against the mattress the moment I’d placed his plate on the nightstand. “Feel my belly, Sir. Feel it.”

I shook my head and grabbed his bed tray to set it on the floor. I’d opted to just hold my plate, wanting to make sure I didn’t spill.