As a man of wealth and means, I was often asked what drove me. And if I were honest, I would’ve said moments like these. Moments where I was doing something that got my blood pumping. Moments that were stimulating to the brain. And as I stood in the shadows across the street from a deserted laundromat, I was keenly aware it was moments like these that made every nerve in my body feel alive. Watching Jesse enter the run-down facility on the corner of his block made it feel as though electricity thrummed through my veins.

This morning had gone according to plan. I’d fucked with the lamb’s car just enough to make him need assistance, and lucky for him, or unlucky for him, I’d been right there waiting. I’d figured it would be easy. His type were my favorite to play with, after all. So that made me somewhat of an expert when it came to manipulating the exact response I wanted from him. But where my past playthings were simply tools I used my toys on to relieve sexual frustration, I’d made it a point to involve Jesse on a scale I’d only done one other time before—and with him, I intended to touch. I was weaving a web that had once become so tangled it had eventually killed the one within its grasp. But what else could I do when I’d been given a do-over? It was destiny offered in some fucked-up, twisted kind of way.

The rain had become heavier since earlier, and it provided a natural blur to one’s sight, which both aided my cause and hampered it. Hidden in a side street where it was dark, no one would be able to spot me from inside the small laundromat, but it also made it more difficult for me to see the one I was there to watch.

I tugged the hood of my black coat over my head and scanned the surrounding area, trying to decide the best way for me to get closer without detection. The side alley looked promising; there were no windows running down the building there. I could see Jesse moving about inside, and thankfully, he was alone.

The front door was propped open with a trash can, to no doubt let out the heat from the dryers, and I had to thank whatever “good boy” part of Jesse told him not to remove it, even though he was the only one in there.

Deciding that plan was a good one, I shoved my hands deep into the pockets of my coat and jogged across the street. As I went, I saw Jesse with his back to me, his head cocked to the side with a phone lodged between his ear and shoulder. He had the lid of a washing machine up and was tossing clothes inside of it. As I drew near, I could hear him laughing with someone on the other end, and the pure joy of the sound made me want to get even closer.

Heading down the side alley, I plastered my side to the brick wall and let the empty night air carry Jesse’s voice to me. I eagerly listened, alert and at the ready.

“You’ll never believe what happened to me today.” His voice was slightly higher than when we’d talked in person, as though he was excited to relay his news, and oh, what exciting news he had.

Whoever he was talking to must’ve said something particularly funny, because again he laughed, and this time, I couldn’t resist the urge to palm the swelling cock inside my black jeans.

“No, Brayden. It’s got nothing to do with discovering ancient fossils, I promise. Although that would be unbelievable. Can you imagine?” He chuckled again, and this time when he sobered, he said exactly what I was waiting to hear. “I met Salvatore Wolfe.” And if my dick had been hardening before, hearing my name rolling off that sweet tongue made it stiff as an iron rod. The little lamb was in a world of trouble. The problem was, there was no one around to tell him so.

* * *

“What do you mean you met him?” Brayden asked.

“It’s a long story, but basically Pretty Baby died this morning, and I was in the middle of trying to kick her back to life when he pulled up beside me and asked if I needed help. And he was in an Aston Martin.” I couldn’t resist throwing in that last bit, because I knew Brayden would go nuts for it. While he came from money, his parents had sprung for a more responsible, but still fun Jeep—not something he’d go racing down the freeway.

“No fucking way,” Brayden said, as I cranked up one of the washers and emptied the rest of my laundry bag of clothes into the one beside it. “What was a guy like Salvatore Wolfe doing in your neighborhood? Feeding the poor?”

I rolled my eyes. “He stopped to help me, so I’m sure that wouldn’t be out of the question. He seems like a really decent guy.” And freakin’ hot.

“We’re talking about the same guy, right? Like, the one who owns the Wolfe’s Den? You know, that place you got thrown out of the other night?”

Oh. I’d almost forgotten about that. “Well, it’s not like he was the one to kick me out.”

Brayden laughed. “Yeah, okay. So, you’re telling me the owner of a sex club stopped out of the goodness of his heart to help you fix that pile of garbage you call a car?”

“That’s what I’m telling you.”

“You are so full of shit.”

I dropped the lid on the washer, cranked it up, and then hopped on top of it. “I’m not. And if you’re finished, I haven’t told you the best part yet.”

“He gave you his car as a loaner?”

“I have a date.”

“With who?”

I threw my hands up. “Who do you think?”

There was a long silence, and then Brayden said, “You’re joking.”

“I’m not. We’re going for coffee on Friday.”

“What…the…fuck.”

I smiled that I had my best friend nearly at a loss for words for once, but then a thought crossed my mind. “Uh, hold on. He is…gay…right?” A burst of laughter came through the other end of the phone, and my smile dropped. “I didn’t read things wrong, did I? He asked me for coffee, but he meant it like a date, not a… Oh no. I’m an idiot.”

When Brayden’s chuckles died down, he said, “I don’t think most guys ask another out for coffee if there’s not something else they want out of the deal. And don’t worry, the Wolfe is most definitely gay.”

“Oh, thank God. I would’ve felt like such an idiot.” I swung my legs back and forth and stared at the laces of my beat-up Converse. “Wait, did you call him the Wolfe?”

“That’s how he’s known at the club. You know, leader of the pack. Alpha male to the extreme. But Jesse…there’s something you need to know about that guy.”

“What’s that?”

“He’s a dominant.”

“A dominant? What does that mean?”

“Like a person who gets off on someone else submitting to them.”

“Are these some kind of crazy club-sex terms, or do you mean submitting or dominating in general?”

“I guess it could be both—I mean, I don’t know the guy, but it’s definitely a sexual preference. Hell, he’s known as the Wolfe, for fuck’s sake. I doubt that means he’s into any vanilla shit.”

“Vanilla shit? Are we talking about ice cream now? Jesus, Brayden, speak English.”

“Okay, let me break it down for you, my man. Remember those levels at the club? There’s one with blindfolds, handcuffs, and lots of dominants eager to tell you what to do.”

I had a visual of Salvatore rearing up over me and cuffing me to a bed while he licked down my body, and that had my dick sitting up and taking notice. “Sounds good to me,” I said.

“And that’s why he wants to take you out for coffee.”

“Well, it’s not like he would know I’d like that.”

“Have you looked in the mirror lately? Everything about you screams wholesome, and that’s exactly what guys like him would be down for.”

“Is that what…you’re into? The dominating stuff?”

“Nah, I’m more of the anything-goes mindset. Look at you all curious now.”

Hopping off the washer, I began to pace the floor. “Brayden…do you think this is a good idea, then? I mean, I don’t know anything about those kinds of…well, you know. This guy’s obviously out of my league, and—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, don’t even start with that shit. Everyone was a poor-ass college student once. Well, present company excluded, but you’re freaking out over nothing. It’s just coffee. He’s not demanding you get on your knees yet. Although I’ve seen the guy, and trust me, I’d gladly get on mine if he snapped his fingers. He’s sexy as fuck.”

Smiling to myself, I nodded. “Yeah, he really is. I could barely say a word to him. I’ve never frozen up like that before.”

I didn’t hear Brayden’s response to that, because a gust of wind came through the open door, knocking over the large trash can that had propped it open, and it started to roll down the sidewalk.

“I’ll call you back,” I said, and then shoved the phone into my pocket before running outside after the can.

* * *

As the wind whipped down the empty street, the buildings on either side of it provided a perfect tunnel for it to really gain strength. I’d been listening with keen ears to the one-sided conversation taking place inside, and when the trash can was tossed out of where it had been lodged, I had faded back into the shadows, knowing Jesse would likely come after it.

I wasn’t wrong.

I heard the jingle of the bell I’d seen wrapped around the door sound, as Jesse must’ve pushed it open to come outside, and then I spotted him running down the sidewalk after the tumbling can. He managed to get in front of it and stop it with his foot just before it went barreling out into the street, and as he bent to pick it up, another gust came through.

The hoodie he wore molded to his lean frame as he righted the can, and his blond hair shifted in the wind. And when he was finally upright with a tight grip on the runaway object, he turned to head back to where he’d come from and I snapped a quick picture with my phone.

He was about to completely bypass the side alley where I stood when he stopped, and I made sure to move behind the large dumpster that’d been behind me. He first glanced behind himself, then across the street, and then turned his head and looked directly down the alley.

My heart thundered at the game now having turned. He could feel me watching him. I knew it. And this time, I had done nothing to instigate it.

He waited there for a beat or two longer than I would’ve expected him to, and that only made this more exciting. The idea of being caught was just another high to go hand in hand with doing something I shouldn’t be in the first place.

But then, as if he decided he was safe, he began walking back to the laundromat, unaware that the only reason he was indeed not in harm’s way this evening was because the Wolfe watching him deemed it so.