Harrison waved the apology off. “Not at all. It’s pretty common to ask how someone identifies when in a kink setting.” He shrugged. “If you call this a kink. I guess it is for some people. For us, it’s just a way of life. And we’re actually Littles.”
Despite all her acting abilities, Riley couldn’t hide her amazement.
“Hey,” Stryker said with a grin, “we come in all shapes and sizes.”
“True,” she said. “I guess I just stereotyped y’all because you’re so big and strong.”
“You saidy’all,” Stryker pointed out. “And I heard a little twang there. Are you a Texan too?”
Riley laughed. “Close. Arkansas.”
Harrison grinned. “I’m not a Texan, either, but it’s my part-time home now that my main place is in Mountainville. These days, though, I’m so busy working I feel like I’m rarely there.” He shrugged. “It’s a good problem to have, I suppose. There will probably come a day when the offers dry up. Might as well ride the wave as far as I can right now.”
Riley agreed. That was the way things worked in Hollywood. Some actors were fortunate enough to transition into older roles, working late into life, but the majority disappeared once they hit fifty! Especially the women, sadly.
“Anyway,” Harrison went on, “we’re glad you’re here.”
“Thank you.”
She felt a little better now. If two high-profile Hollywood players like Harrison and Stryker felt safe and comfortable at Auntie Athena’s, then she probably had nothing to worry about.
Her eyes fell past the guys and to a strange, red rocket-looking thing in the garage. “What is that?”
“The source of trouble!” Auntie Athena answered.
The guys both looked a little apologetic now.
“We shouldn’t have left the keys in it,” Stryker said. “We’re sorry about that.” Looking at Riley, he said, “You see, I like to design stuff. I do a lot of the practical effects from my movies. And some of it is a holdover from my stuntman days, where I had to rig stuff and… well, I just like to tinker. But this bad boy isn’t quite done. It’s supposed to be a go-cart.”
Harrison nodded proudly now. “We call it the Comet Runner. It’ll blow any other go-cart out of the water!”
Riley’s eyes lit up as she looked at the unique vehicle. “It sure would be fun to drive!”
“Afterthey get the bugs worked out of it,” Athena said. “Things like working brakes and the ability to slow down would be nice.”
Harrison and Stryker both said, “Yes, Ma’am.”
“Are you ready to go inside, sweetie?” Athena asked Riley.
“Ready!” she said.
“We’ll come say goodbye once we get this contraption squared away.” Stryker jerked his head back toward the rocket.
Riley eagerly followed Auntie Athena inside.
It would feel nice to finally let go and be her true self.
Chapter Six
Riley awoke the following morning still feeling blissful about the magical evening she’d had at Auntie Athena’s.
Harrison and Stryker had hung out for a while, and she’d met some new friends, too. Iris, Lana, and the other ladies who all made up the wife/girlfriend group of the Daddy Guard were so nice! Overall, it was just wonderful to finally have friends like her.
But the person she was thinking about the most washim.
Briggs.
She’d only seen him another minute or two as the night wore on. He’d come inside and told everyone goodbye, and they’d exchanged a few pleasantries, but that was it. Still, she just couldn’t get him off her mind.