The door in the rec room opened onto a huge white-washed deck that leaned over the steep embankment. The backyard was non-existent, Mitchell had explained, in order to keep their house as far from the road as possible. Through the trees, Sean could see the flicker of dark water, the lake he lived across. Above the silvery-black of the leaves, the sky was light gray. They’d spent the entire night alternately talking and fucking, playing the game all the while. Mitchell was a natural dominant, but he wasn’t pushy. He hadn’t directed the conversation, hadn’t been overbearing. And Jason, he’d seemed perfectly at ease changing gears when Mitchell would steer them back into sex. It had taken some time to get used to the rhythm of the evening, but he’d finally realized that it was designed to keep him off his balance. If he wasn’t sure of himself, he would follow Mitchell’s lead. It had worked. He fished his cigarettes from his back pocket and lit one up, looking back at the door.
