Smut Club

Well, hello all you beautiful people.

You know what time it is.

Ladies and gents, guys and dolls and

everyone in between.

Gather around. Get you something real

nice to sip on and comfy to slip on.

Cuz it's time for Smite Club. Here's

your hosts, Chelsea and Hannah.

[Music]

Announcement time. Um, so we have been

doing this podcast for several years

now. Um, we launched in 2022 and we've

built such a wonderful community over

these last several years and are looking

for new ways to kind of expand and be

able to connect more deeply. So, the

first one of those ways that we've been

talking about is life coaching. um which

is a chance to work one-on-one

individually to help make life feel a

little less sticky. Um spots will be

limited as we launch that. So if you're

interested, we will have a link in our

show notes and in our Insta bio. So

definitely go and join the wait list so

that as soon as we launch, you are first

in line to grab a spot. And if life

coaching really doesn't feel like a good

fit or not quite your jam, but you're

still interested in connecting and

engaging more with our community, we are

also looking into launching a book club.

So, if you're interested in that option,

follow the same link and uh you can get

on the wait list for that as well. And

now back to the show.

[Music]

Hey everybody and welcome to Smuck Club.

I'm Hannah. And I'm Chelsea. And this is

the show where we are two licensed

professional counselors and life

coachers. Life no life coach who offer

life who offer therapy and life

coaching. Is that what I'm trying to

say? Man, I have [ __ ] our elevator

pitch today. I I should just try again.

I was going to say, do you want to start

over?

I don't. Life is about embracing our

moments where And you know what?

The people knew what you meant.

Yes. Spiritually, everyone knew what I

meant. Yeah. Welcome to Smut Club. We're

Chelsea and Hannah, two licensed

therapist and life coaches who enjoy

reading romance novels of varying

caliber and reviewing them together

while we drink alcohol of different

types.

Still not my best elevator pitch, but

again, the people knew what you meant,

you know.

And if you didn't like that elevator

pitch, then maybe maybe we're not a

match.

Yeah. And that's okay,

right? But I I think it was a good

pitch.

It was

I think it shows who we are.

It does. Yeah.

It shows our zest.

Zesty. Yeah.

Off to a strong start today. Le Let's

just jump in. What book are we

reviewing? We are reviewing Give Me More

by Sarah Kate, which is

Kate with a C.

Kate with a C,

not with a K.

Correct.

Yes.

And um this is the third standalone in

the Salacious Players Club series.

Okay. I haven't made it that far in the

series.

Yes. So,

by that I think I made it through one

and a half.

So, I think it's like actually coming

back to me now as I'm talking about it.

The first one is praise which we have

talked about.

The second one I think is Eyes on Me. I

think

that feels correct.

And then this one is Give Me More. And

this is the one we're talking about

today. So you don't really need to know

anything about the previous books except

that we open the prologue 7 years ago.

Everybody's prologue starts seven years

ago. So, they were all at a bar

drinking, talking about how they all

have different kids.

Yes.

And they are having a really hard time

finding compatible partners

who are accepting.

Exactly. So, how do they handle that to

me?

So, this is where like at this bar, this

group of friends who all work together,

they decide they're going to launch a

dating service specific for the kink

community. And then they expanded past

that around year 6 or 7 to an actual

physical club. And so that's kind of the

vibe of where we're starting. You know

what I like about that? I was expecting

it to go from like they started as with

a dating service and then went to an app

and made it more accessible instead.

It's like they started with a dating

service and then went to a more

exclusive brickandmortar.

Yeah, they did. They did. I was going to

say what would the app be just field?

Well, kind of. And that's sort of the

vibe that it gives, but it also they

they try to say that it's more like

boutique and individualized for people

and stuff and they're they have like

safety measures in place and things like

that.

Um, so we opened 7 years ago. They

Hunter is our main guy. Um, and he and

uh his wife whose name I should know

Isabelle, sorry.

Hunter and Isabelle.

Yes. So, currently his girlfriends, they

are at the bar with their friends

hanging out. Um, his best friend Drake

is also there and he is a contractor.

They've been best friends their whole

lives.

Drake the contractor who likes to [ __ ]

everyone in the club. I remember him

because he was there was some tension

with Drake in the first book and praise.

Yeah. where he hit on the guy's

girlfriend, love interest at the time or

whatever.

So Drake is there. He is already off

like about to get it with a birthday

girl who's got like a sash and a tiara

tiara on and stuff.

That does seem to be Drake's energy.

And um

have vagina will travel.

Exactly. And Hunter's like, you know, I

have literally known him my entire life.

Like we came up really hard. Our lives

were really hard. we got out of that

together. We will always be like

together like we will always be best

friends and

we will always be bonded no matter where

life takes us.

Exactly. And um as they're having this

conversation around the table about

kinks and stuff, his girlfriend, who had

been a virgin when they met, all of a

sudden reveals that her fantasy is to

have a threesome. And um he's like

absolutely flabbergasted, floored, like

oh my god. Like

like Isabelle like like excited or like

horrified

more confused because he was like really

like and

like that really hadn't been on my bingo

card for what you for like anything I

thought you were going to say that like

was your fantasy that was not on on my

list of of guesses. Okay. So, like not

like he's like

disgusted by the idea. He just didn't

anticipate it.

And one of the other guys is like, "Oh,

okay. So, like boy or girl?" And she's

like, "I don't know. I guess either kind

of." And he was like, "Damn, okay."

Like, interesting.

Boy for me,

right?

And I think for Vance it would be a

girl, which is likely why

that that likely is not written in our

stars.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I'm reading a book

right now where there is uh three dudes

and one woman and two of the men are

together and the third one is the um

axle diesel energy of the group. He's

truly insane.

And so he like approaches the two guys

one day and he's like, "Listen, I get

it. We're all together. So I think that

means like I'm pretty sure I'm pretty

sure I could [ __ ] you guys." And they

were like, "What?"

And so they like call his bluff and

they're like, "No time like the present,

babe. Come on over." And like

immediately when they start touching

him, he's like, "Nope, nope. Straight.

I'm straight. Never mind. I'm so I can't

do it." And they're like, "Dude, we know

we weren't going to

I feel like that almost reads like a my

ego says I could do this."

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. like my ego says

that you would want to and so I should

be also into it.

But it's also like the truest thing

ever, right? Where I'm like,

"Yeah,

yeah." You know, I think I am the first

person to compliment a stranger's ass at

the grocery store 100%. And I also don't

personally look at women and think like

I want to make out with them. Like I'm

not sexually attracted, but I can

appreciate

the aesthetic.

The aesthetic, their beauty, and the

same with men, right? And want to

compliment everyone all the time.

Yeah.

But I do think that like it might be a

similar thing for me

where I'm like, "Yeah, I not that you

and I are going to start making out by

any what?"

That's on our Patreon. Just kidding.

If you're wondering what our exclusive

content looks like, it's actually going

to be nothing like that.

Nothing like that.

That's when Smut Club ends up on Only

Fans and we all have more questions than

answers at this point.

Yeah, 100%. But

but all that said,

so that's kind of the the vibe is

they're all talking about their

different kinks. So, one guy is like, "I

like to watch." One is like, "You know,

I like to dominate." Like all these

different things that they're into,

which is fine. And um

they launch it. They decide like the

company they all work for goes under

literally like the next day. They all

get laid off. And so the guy from

Praise, the main guy from Praise, is

kind of the

the driver behind most of the stuff in

their friend group anyway. And so he

calls everybody and is like, "We're

doing it." Like sign from the universe.

This is it. So

we are now 7 years in the future and we

get Drake's perspective.

So Drake, the best friends,

Hunter, Isabelle, and Drake.

Drake, correct?

So Drake, these are his words. He is a

man [ __ ] He's like, I prefer a

scoundrel.

That's a little dated. I am a [ __ ]

He's like, "That's just the truth." Like

whatever.

It feels different when you're using it

as your own self-proclaimed title

versus someone else using Cuz if someone

else calls you a [ __ ] it's never meant

as a compliment. It's always meant to be

degrading at some level.

Yeah. Except for my one friend Gary, he

calls me a [ __ ] a lot, and it's usually

from a place of love.

I I feel like we all have one friend who

doesn't. It's It's the same friend who's

going to be like, "You know me, I'm a

[ __ ] for a sandwich."

Literally. Yes.

Yes.

He got another friend of ours a cake

that said, "Boo you [ __ ] when she quit

her job where we all worked and was

going somewhere else." Like brought it

to work. Boo you [ __ ]

Um Okay. What's the Is it Carll? Is that

the ice cream?

Yes. Yeah.

Okay. Um, I had a friend who worked at a

carell growing up and like with all of

the fudgy the whale ice cream cakes.

Ironically, he like worked there through

college and is a dentist now. Um,

sometimes I like got to just hanging out

with him. I'd help like fill the soft

serve machine and like learned a little

bit about ice cream along the way. But

my favorite was just watching this dude

who you would have no idea he could pipe

lettering so beautifully with frosting.

And one day, one day I was there and

like the a girl was quitting like the

local Hooters or something like that.

And so I'm watching him pipe onto the

cake. Boo you [ __ ] We'll miss you.

Love all the [ __ ]

That's lovely. And he did it so well. He

fit it all on the cake. The spacing was

great.

I love that Gary put you [ __ ] on the

cake himself because he didn't think the

Engles in Cleveland, Georgia would be

willing to do it for him.

Don't dox yourself, Hannah.

Well,

that's not where I live. But

you're right. That's not where you live.

But where But the Engles in North

Georgia

Yeah. They weren't going to be willing

to do that. And so he did it himself.

And it was not professional, but that

made it better.

Yeah. Yeah, I feel like that adds to the

aesthetic.

It does. It does when it's your own.

How if you ever need a polished one, you

need to go back to Carll in like

in Palm Harbor, Florida. Ali will hook

you straight up.

Shout out to Ollie. Um

Oh, I miss him. I should find out where

he is and call him.

Shoot him a little message. How you

doing, Ollie? Did I tell you I did that

recently with someone where I had like

an old friend been had been thinking of

them constantly

and like hadn't probably hadn't talked

in almost 20 years text them and was

like, "Hey, is this still your this is

like this is Chelsea. I was just

thinking about you. I thought about you

like five times in the last couple

weeks." So like I felt like the universe

was telling me to check in just like I

hope you're well wherever you are.

Like 10 minutes later, I get a text back

that just says, "They're no longer at

this number, but this is lovely." A

that's nice.

I was like, "Oh, well, I wish all those

good things for you as well. Have a

great day." They're like, "Thank you.

You, too."

These sentiments were not limited to

this one person. This is my hope for

humanity.

And then I deleted the contact since it

was clearly no longer correct.

Won't be making that mistake again.

Nope. Okay. Sorry. I'm deeply directed.

No, we're good. We're good. We're good.

So, Drake is on a cross-country road

trip with his two best friends, Hunter

and Isabelle.

Does she go by Isabelle?

She does.

Okay. Yeah.

I feel like a lot of books we end up

with Izzy. So,

every now and then one of them will call

her Izzy, but primarily or is even, but

primarily they refer to her as Isabelle.

So, um they are touring different sex

clubs around the country. um just trying

to get fresh ideas and kind of see how

they stack up um how the club they have

opened stacks up.

I've done that with psychiatric

psychiatric facilities. I get it. Like,

oh yeah, we got to go around. We're

opening a new one. Got to see what what

safety features other companies are

using.

Yeah. Yes. Um

and I like that that also happens with

sex clubs.

Yes. And it is really interesting like

Oh, I bet

they go to several different ones

throughout this which is part of the fun

I think of it is like all the different

sort of vibes and energy. Um

so are they just like on a sex club road

trip on this whole book?

Yes. Yeah.

Ooh.

Yeah. And all of these sex clubs like

know they are coming. These are business

trips. They are going to meet with the

owners like all that stuff, right? So

yeah, they're going during daylight

hours. No, they're going while they're

open. But

welfare, I meant to get a general tour

of the facility. Like there can be

business meetings that are happening,

right?

Like with this sort of

business trip is really more more how

that was meant.

Yes, it is all very structured like the

plans for the trip.

So Drake can hear Hunter and Isabelle

[ __ ] like in the next room. Um and he

is currently with two women whose names

he cannot recall. and um he is just kind

of bored with it

and he is like

let's see how loud I can get him to be

right if I have have to listen to

Isabelle and Hunter [ __ ] then they're

going to have to listen to me and the

the Double Mint twins or whatever. Um he

does not refer to them that way. He does

not refer to them that way.

Um he's actually fairly respectful. Um,

but he is also kind of processing he's

never been in a relationship with

anybody before. Um, he's always been uh

the third wheel in Hunter and Isabelle's

marriage. Like when they go on vacation,

he is there. When they have dinner, he's

there like three or four nights a week.

Like that's just kind of the dynamic

that they have. Um,

and he does construction for the club.

So, I was thinking like, isn't that a

sort of one-time deal? But in the other

books, they talk about different events

they're putting on, and he will create

structures like for all the different

like events and stuff that they do.

Yeah. I knew someone who had that exact

job at a church.

Each sermon series needed a whole

different

different background. Yeah. So,

literally the same,

but a little different.

just like there's a code word to get

into this one.

The work is the same, the vibes very

different.

So, um he is also thinking about like he

was there the first day that Hunter

first saw Isabelle um and has been there

pretty much every day since. And um how

old are they?

So, they are like 30sish and Isabelle I

want to say is like 28. The guys are

like 3 or four years older than her,

but not by a lot. I want to say it's

three. Yeah.

So, um, he and Hunter were actually like

drug dealers and really not doing very

well kind of in life in general. Um, but

Hunter literally as soon as he saw

Isabelle like from a distance, he was

like,

"Well, I got to clean it up cuz that

woman is going to be my wife and she's

not going to be into all this." Um, and

so literally,

I've never been that sure of anything in

my life.

Never once. No. No. But he starts going,

they're outside the library trying to

sell drugs and they see this girl with

her arms full of books and he's like,

"That's the one." And so they start

going to the library every day so that

she can see him and then he like slowly

starts to like talk to her and stuff,

her.

Yeah. And so basically Hunter was like,

"Well, if I'm clean up cleaning up my

act, Drake, you have to clean up your

act. So what do you want to do?

Construction?"

He's like, like, "You will rise with

me."

So Drake works construction because

Hunter saw Isabelle from a distance and

was like,

"Yeah,

so we're going to get our [ __ ] together

for her."

Yeah.

And Drake's like, "We're doing what?"

Drake's like, "We who tanto the fuck?"

But also he's like really grateful

because he's like yeah I would be in

jail or dead by now like if it weren't

for the two of them. And so he also he's

just kind of like you know what I am

happy with my life. Like I love these

two people. They are my family and I

also love banging randoms. So like it is

all coming up golden. Like

but is it Drake? Is it

It feels like like Drake is trying to

convince himself of that.

Yeah. The Lady Doth protest too much.

Yeah. In that way of like,

you know, no, like I guess I have a

beautiful life and like if this is what

it is, I'm I'm Yeah. I'm happy with it.

Yeah.

And you're like, are are you

right when they say it as a question?

I'm really happy with it. Are are you

I'm happy. Right.

No, really. Really? Really?

Yeah. Yeah. No, I definitely I I am I

am.

Yeah, for sure.

So, we switch perspectives here. We get

all three perspectives throughout this

book.

Oh, that's nice.

So, we switch perspectives here um to

Isabelle. So, this is a few hours

earlier in the night. She and Hunter are

at an anniversary dinner um for the two

of them and she feels weird that Drake

isn't there because he has literally

been there for everything.

Yeah, that's definitely a sign cuz I'll

say my anniversary was last week and no

part of me was like someone else should

be

I had that thought too. I was like who?

Nope. There are people who have been

with us from the moment like we met and

everything, but still I don't I don't

know that I would invite them to my

anniversary dinner. You know, it's

different vibes. I guess

it's it's a it's an increased level of

intimacy for sure.

Yeah, 100%. Um, so

Isabelle is also reminiscing about when

she and Hunter first met. Um, and how

he's like dark and covered in tattoos.

Um, you know, dark hair, dark eyes, kind

of the whole bad boy vibes. Um,

but he was always gentle and kind and

patient with her. And she was like,

that was like, if there was a version of

kryptonite for me, it would be the bad

boy aesthetic with like this gentleness,

you know? And so, um,

she was really grateful for him. And,

oh, here's where we get for sure. So,

she was a virgin and not quite 18 and he

was 22. So, he refused to touch her

really at all.

Hunter

Hunter refused to touch her. Yes. Until

Isabelle was about was 18.

Thank you for removing the about from

that.

But even then, he waited like 6 months

after she turned 18 for them to actually

have sex. It's like he never touched her

at all before that, but then was really

intentional with everything they did

physically.

Oh man, I remember listening to the

radio when Billy Isish was about like

her like 18th birthday was on the

horizon.

And the way in which people were talking

about her.

It's so gross. Especially because like

as with like the the six month of like

hey before this like really escalated.

I'm like yeah. You know we don't go from

like one day they're a child to the next

day they're a human. So the way we view

them is now okay or different or like we

suddenly feel justified.

It's okay to objectify them now or

something like it's very icky. But this

felt much more like like wanting to do

right by her and also not being sure

what that even means because he didn't

have that experience in life. Well, this

and I'm obviously looking through the

best case and I haven't haven't read

this book, but just less of the um the

grooming lens if you like less of like

the oh

I found her when I was 22 and she was 17

and we were just like preparing the way

for this versus like hey like we're in

each other's orbit. We're interested in

each other, but there's there's clearly

several things at play, and we're very

mindful and conscientious of those

dynamics as we navigate them.

Yes. Which

and she was only like 3 or 4 months shy

of 18 when they met. Um, but still he

was very intentional with like making

sure that she was always on board for

everything and comfortable with

everything to the point where at one

point in the book she says like it was

honestly kind of annoying. I'm like,

dude, like come on. like, okay,

it's been slow enough. Like, let's go.

Um, but so,

but I do think we all appreciate that.

Yes, I would rather him be overly

cautious. Um,

every time.

But when they get back to the rental, so

they're basically doing like Airbnbs for

the most part. Couple of hotels, but for

the most part, they're doing like

apartments or small houses, and they're

all staying in them together. So, they

get back to the rental and they can hear

Drake with two women in the room. Um,

and

uh they go to bed themselves, Hunter and

Isabelle do. And he starts like taking

her from behind and she starts thinking

about what Drake is doing in the other

room with those other women. And she's

like kind of turned on by that and like

wondering what he's doing. And then

she's like, "Oh,

shouldn't be thinking about my husband's

best friend while he's inside me." Like

awkward, you know? Um, so she doesn't

feel great about that, but she also kind

of lets it go. Like on some level, it is

normal for your imagination to do stuff

while you're listening to it on the

other side. Yeah, that that was the

thought that I just had was like, oh, if

you're listening to him bone these other

two women in real time. That feels

really different than like, yeah, so

Hunter and I are on this like

cross-country road trip and Drake is

back home and I'm daydreaming about him

in that,

right? Um it it is different, but

there's a lot of um very open

communication in this book, which I

really appreciate, which we'll get to in

a minute. But

we now switch to Hunter. So Hunter can't

sleep and he finds Drake in the kitchen.

Um and Hunter is like noticing that he's

admiring

Drake's physique of like he's so lucky

that he does construction and barely has

to go to the gym. Like he looks awesome.

that kind of like framing where it's

like dude bro admiring

your how cut you are or whatever. I saw

a Tik Tok earlier this week where this

woman was saying her teenage son had

come home and he was like no I'm

straight but like I'm a homiesexual

like stop it right now.

I'm just like a little gay for my

friends.

That's so good. Oh my god that's really

good. And that's what it feels like in

this moment.

Very much.

Like Hunter's like, "No, like I'm not

into dudes. I'm just like a homie

sexual." Like Drake works hard at his

construction job. Like good for him,

man. I see it. I respect it.

That's literally in my notes. It says

strictly platonic because he's like very

much couching it in his own head.

Nobody's talking to you about it, dude.

Nobody's questioning your sexuality.

He's like totally straight though. Like

nobody panic. So, see, and that's where

when I I've complimented women's asses

to their faces at daycare drop off that

I don't know, and I'm like, I see we

both dropped off our children.

I also see your ass.

We're all fighting mom butt at this

point.

Mom, but

got to keep doing my squats to stay on

top of it, right? But I'm like,

hey, not to be weird since we don't know

each other, but our kids are in the same

class. Your ass looks great.

Yeah. Have nobody told you today like

100%.

Yeah,

I feel it.

And when I've done that, I haven't had

to be like purely platonically that like

I'm not actually looking for a third.

Hey, hey, that was just to be a mood

booster for you. That was not to boost

anything for me personally.

Right. Right. This is about you.

Stay in your lane.

Right. Don't make it weird.

Yeah. No, I'm not into you that way.

Men are such weird creatures. So,

at this point, Isabelle then gets up

because she can like hear them talking

in the kitchen.

Are the two women still asleep?

They're gone. Okay, they're gone.

They're gone.

Um, and Hunter notices that Isabelle,

she's in like her tank top and shorts

and is scantily clad in her PJs or

whatever, super casual. Um, and but

Drake's eyes never leave her face. He's

like, "She is like serving cleavage

right now." And he is not. That is a

best [ __ ] friend, dude. Incredible

work. Like,

and Drake's just like, "Keep your eyes

on her face. Keep your eyes on her face.

Keep your eyes on her face. Do not

blink. It might be construed as looking

down."

Exactly. Meanwhile, he's like, Isabelle

is definitely giving him elevator eyes

like up and down.

And he's like, but also I get it

platonically. So

platonically

he's like, you know, cuz they're having

like banter, making each other laugh and

being kind of goofy. And he's like, I am

so grateful that the two people that are

the most important to me in the world

like make each other laugh and like each

other. Like this is really incredible

that I've struck the lottery this way.

Um,

and

he does notice that Drake kind of

deflates a little bit when he starts to

take Isabelle when Hunter starts to take

Isabelle back to bed and he's like, I'm

going to check on him. Like,

maybe things aren't as good as he's

trying to make them out to be.

Um, so the next night they are touring a

sex club in Phoenix and they Where are

they out of? Remind me.

California, I think. like the LA area.

Oh, wow. I would have lost that bet. It

It's been a while since I've read this

series.

I'm pretty sure.

Girl, I was going to say Milwaukee.

Like, are there a lot of sex clubs in

Milwaukee? Like, no judgment, but like

that's why I assumed they were so

successful.

They have very limited options.

I can't wait for us to get a slew of DMs

that are like, "You know nothing about

the sex club scene. Milwaukee is

popping." I was going to say like I know

enough to know I don't know about the

sex club energy in Milwaukee.

No,

outside of that I I don't have a lot to

give you. I don't know much about

Milwaukee. Full stop. It's not that I

don't know about just the sex clubs in

Milwaukee. It's just in general I don't

know very much about it.

My knowledge about Milwaukee is not

limited just because of the sex clubs.

Right.

It's just because I live in Georgia and

I've never needed to know about

Milwaukee.

I have not needed that. No, it's never

come up.

All I know is I once accidentally left

my wallet at the airport there and they

mailed it back to me on like and they

were so kind Midwestern [ __ ]

That was my exact experience. Yep. I was

like, "This feels like the Midwest. Got

to love them."

Yeah.

And I'm like, "That's all I can tell

you."

They were so kind when I when I left my

wallet in their state.

So, they're in Phoenix. They are not in

Milwaukee. They're in Phoenix. Um, and

they do not like the vibes of this club

when they get there.

Oh, the vibes are off.

It's like super uptight. So, like

there's no space to mingle. Like, they

show up and the host person is like,

"Oh, yeah. Like, the owner is aware that

you're coming tonight. Um, she set aside

a room for you guys. Feel free to use

it. Hang out in it. she'll be with you

in about an hour. And Hunter is pissed.

He's like, "Uh, no,

we didn't come here for that. We came

here for a meeting." Like, this is

weird.

Um, and there was other stuff in the way

the guy was saying it that sort of

justified his response a little bit

more.

Um,

and Isabelle is like super nervous

because the only sex club she's ever

been to is theirs and she knows she is

always going to be safe there. And like

what are their jobs?

So Hunter's job was in developing the

compatibility

like tests and stuff for the dating

service app or whatever. And so he his

whole job was to learn as much as he

could about different kinks and how to

keep people safe and like all of that

kind of stuff. And he put that sort of

thing into place. And now basically he's

sort of like in charge of membership

like recruiting new members and stuff.

Mhm.

Um Isabelle doesn't really work there.

She's a yoga instructor. Um

but she's there all the time. her

husband owns it

and all of their friends like this is a

friend group that started this business

very much so.

So, um they go to the private room uh

and

basically the guy is like

as they are being dropped off in the

room or maybe it was the owner, I don't

really remember but it doesn't matter.

Somebody was like, "Hey, it's really

weird that like you're just shuttling

people into this room and there's no

space to mingle. It feels very like

uptight or whatever, like awkward."

Well, and mind you, as someone who

hasn't spent a lot of time in sex clubs,

so like take everything I say with a

grain of salt. I do just like always

imagine every sex club has like a hub

room like with a bar even if that's like

non-alcoholic options, right? Like

there's a

a communal space for people and you

aren't just automatically like siphoned

off into

because at that point it might as well

be a hotel room basically. And so, um,

the owner is like, "Have you ever The

owner is a woman." And she's like, "I

understand that, you know, that's how

you have your club set up." And that's

great. Um, but for safety reasons and

for the comfort of some of our members,

we keep it as anonymous as possible. And

Hunter is like,

"We don't think people should have to

hide if they don't want to." And so we

want people to be proud and like, you

know, secure in who they are and to feel

safe.

We want it to be a safe space, not a

space where people like come and then

still feel like they have to cower.

Yeah. He was like, that's that is our

goal for the women who come into our

club that they feel safe and comfortable

every single time, 100% of the time.

Cuz it almost feels like a club who

forces you to be as anonymous as

possible. Yeah. Like there's almost like

a a shame element kind of

unintentionally built into their

structure.

Exactly. And so they're basically having

a conversation around that. And the

owner

fascinating conversation.

Super interesting. And the owner is

like, I really admire that that is the

stance you are taking. And I wonder if

you have spoken to your wife or any of

your female members about how safe they

feel

when others are able to see them and

know who they are.

And it was very like oh like we're

talking about real [ __ ] right now. Oh

yeah. Um,

but there's like this awkward tension

between all of them and Hunter is

basically like, you know, Isabelle and

Drake don't really need to be around for

the rest of the tour and conversation.

There's a Shabari workshop going on. Why

don't you guys go to the Shabari

workshop, right? You know where this is

going.

Yes. As we all casually go to our

Shabari workshop,

right? And um Isabelle at that point is

a little bit irritated because the guys

do this like macho eye contact headnod

where it's like you got her cool and

she's like I really don't need to be

handed off. I'm not like you know

the nuclear codes or something where we

need to have like a firm hand-tohand

transfer. very few times where that like

head nod transfer you're like

yeah oh I feel safer

right

this feels better

right she's like in fairness it is sweet

that they're doing this when we're in a

new club and we don't know anybody

that's sweet but also guys I'm a grown

woman hey guys all we do is sex club

what's our hobby

it is the hobby

we've been together for 10 years like

can we chill out no answer is no So,

but on the flip side, we do also love

that they're like, "Hey, it's a new

space and the vibes are off here. We are

going to be vigilant."

Yes. And so, she and Drake are just

hanging out, watching the the

demonstration, and it's a lot, you know?

I mean, there's a fully nude dude there

getting tied up and then blown, I think,

if I'm remembering right. And then the

instructor is like, "You two, beautiful

couple. You would be great for my next

demonstration. and what do you think?

And um Isabelle is like, "Yeah, that

sounds great." And Drake is like, "The

[ __ ] is it? Is it great?"

Um she's like, "What?"

Drake's literally about to like opening

his mouth to be like, "Oh, no, thank

you. We're just here to observe." Yeah.

As Isabelle's like,

"Sounds fun."

"Oh, yeah. Take my shoes off. Put them

there. No problem."

Yeah. She's like, "Oh, I need to get

naked. Cool beans." and she's like

standing there in her underwear and

she's like, "This is not really

something I do regularly, even at our

own club." But again, I trust Drake. The

instructor was really like intentional

and kind with the way he was like

coaching the two of them and, you know,

undressed to your comfort level, all

that kind of stuff. And so just think of

John Melany being like, "So I put on

three sweaters and then I felt safe,

right?"

Um, so, okay. Also, not related to

anything at all. Have you seen photos of

John Molany more recently?

No, not recently.

Damn it, Anna. Okay, we'll have to have

an off-pod convo about this.

I think he got jaw filler.

Oh, yeah.

And I think Vance just thinks he might

be a man now. And I'm like, "No, I

his jaw did not look like that and knew

it in town." No.

Jaws or size is not going to do that

much for anyone.

I have questions.

I'm going to have to look it up now.

Yeah. Like different questions than I

have about like Bradley Cooper's face

right now. But I still have questions

because John Melan's jaw like it's like

Zack Efron's jaw where you're like, "Oh,

no, that shifted."

Yeah. Yeah.

And I don't think it was just like

sucking on hard candies gave you that

definition.

Either way, God bless. As long as you're

happy with your face. But

well, and all Yeah. thinking I'm like,

"Oh, that like any level of

sure

construction is what I was

construction."

Yeah. Face construction

like Yeah, you're going to feel that.

Yeah.

His jaw doesn't look bad by any stretch.

Please do not hear me dogging on John

Melany. It was just more of like a

That's different than it used to be.

All I could think is he said, "Thanks,

Drake." I was like, well, you know,

Isabelle does do a lot of facial yoga by

the end of this, so facial yoga. I mean,

a lot happens.

[Music]

Follow-up announcement time.

Announcement two, Electric Booaloo.

Friendly reminder that if you have any

interest in life coaching or Smut Club

book club with your fellow smut [ __ ]

follow the link in our Instagram bio or

the show notes.

[Music]

Okay. So, like two weeks ago, I went and

tried out a new yoga studio.

Oh, that's always like a kind of a

harrowing experience.

And like, and you know me, right? Like I

taught for years. I feel I feel pretty

confident walking into any yoga space

for the first time that I'm like, I

might not nail everything that's

happening here, but like

yeah,

I can navigate this well.

Comfortable enough.

I thought she was trying to kill us.

Like at the end of class, she was laying

the lavender towels on like all of our

heads and I literally went I was I'm

willing to do unspeakable things for

this towel. Like it was that level. Like

an hour and a half later, I had made it

home, showered, and was still sweating

on my couch.

Oh no.

Oh no. Yeah. I went to a class like that

where I was like, you know, I've been

doing a lot of yoga for a long time. I

haven't necessarily done a ton of like

the ashtanga, like really intense yoga

that I've done in the past, but like

I've still kept up my practice. I'll go

to this flow class. It'll be fine cuz I'

I've been doing flow. And I was like,

"Oh, your definition of flow and my

definition of flow are different

definitions."

I'm like, "We're both flowing. We're

flowing at different speeds and and

rates. Yeah. This class.

Yeah. And depths.

Oh my gosh. Yeah. Like I was like, "Oh,

we don't even have the fans on." Like

the way in which we were just like

building heat in that room.

And as soon as the instructor got on the

mat and like she was one of those women,

I loved her. Like she's the ideal

iconic.

Yeah. lots, tons of tattoos in a small

town that you don't see tattoos. She has

not a ounce of fat on her body. I'm

like, all you do is hot yoga all day,

every day. And you

raw vegan or something.

But yes, as soon as I saw how loose her

her like tight leggings were on her

figure, I was like, I I've made a

horrible mistake.

Oh, no.

Will I go back? Absolutely.

Yeah, for sure.

It was the most humbling thing.

But yeah, it it was Sorry. Once again, I

am really

That's all right. I'm having fun.

We have a book we're we're reviewing

today.

We are. And they're doing Shabari. So,

um, which for the uninitiated, I guess,

is, uh, a particular ti type type of

Japanese rope bondage, um, that's really

focused on the aesthetics of the knots

and the different ties and how they

look. Um, as well as the emotions that

can be pulled up. Um,

there's like a lot of beauty in the

practice and a ton of intention in it.

It is.

It's not just like a we threw we slapped

a sailor's knot on this and called it a

day,

right? There's a lot of safety stuff.

There's a lot of focus on the aesthetic.

Um, all those different things. And

Isabelle is getting more and more turned

on like as they're going through these

things. Um, and then the instructor asks

Drake to um demonstrate thrusting in a

particular like hold. And

um she at that moment realizes that

Drake is also pretty turned on. She's

like, "Whoop! Okie do." Um, which Yeah,

of of course he is.

Yeah. And then she's like, "Oh, good.

Hunter is here.

Oh, so Hunter's tour has ended.

Hunter reappeared and she's like,

"Okay." Um, he doesn't seem mad at all,

but she is kind of freaked out. Um, and

he

Hunter is basically like, "That was

really amazing. Like, you guys did a

great job. That was really cool." Um, so

let's go home. Let's get some rest.

Like, no issues at all.

And the ride home is so awkward. And

we're in Hunter's point of view and he's

like, it is hilarious how uncomfortable

they are right now. He's like, it is not

that deep. Like, y'all need to chill

out. Um, he's like, I know that these

two people would not ever go behind my

back. Like, the fact that they are being

so weird about doing something in front

of my face that wasn't even really doing

anything is ridiculous right now. was

like a clinical shabari demonstration

and they're like, "Oh my gosh,

we're so sorry."

Betrayal. And so he's like, "Also, uh,

that was super hot." He was like, "I

mean, I was kind of turned on, so like,

oh, who cares?"

Like, I think we're all experiencing new

emotions from this

experience. He's like, "Oh, I'm

experiencing different sensations than I

had in the past. Look at that."

Where do you feel that in your body? in

my downstairs. So, sematic therapy does

not work in that moment.

That's where you go.

You do. Um, if I ever said to a client,

where do you feel that in your body? And

they said

in my downstairs.

Oh my god. So, I listened to this

podcast that does a lot of like wellness

stuff and really interesting things. And

they were talking about this medication

or food additive or something from the

'90s that gave everybody like brutal

diarrhea.

And he cannot stand poop talk. That's

like one of the things that he discusses

regularly. He cannot stand it. And he's

like, "Why did I pick this topic?" and

he just kept saying like it makes you

feel funny in your downstairs.

So yeah, shout out to maintenance phase

Michael Hobbs. There you go.

Although if anyone tells me something is

going to make me feel funny in my

downstairs, it sounds like we have

different definitions of downstairs.

Yeah.

Um

Yeah.

So I'll have more questions if if he's

like, "You'll feel it in your

downstairs. Don't worry about it." Oh,

I'm worrying. We have different

downstairs.

Yeah, we do. We do. So,

they get back to the rental. Isabelle

goes um to take a bath, which is kind of

her ritual that she does, like a

lavender Epsom salt bath kind of a few

times a week or whatever.

I don't know if I poured too much Epsom

salt in a bath, but one time I my legs

broke out.

I remember you telling me about that.

Like it. Do you remember like salt burns

where you like do like that? You pour

put the salt and the ice. Like that's

what the backs of my thighs looked like

after this salt.

Yeah, I think you

But there wasn't a there wasn't a lot in

there.

So

maybe the water wasn't hot enough. Maybe

it didn't like dissolve.

I don't know.

I don't know either.

I'm gonna have to do some more research

because Epsom salt baths sound so lovely

in theory, but I'm like I can't have my

legs

looking

like I've had an allergic reaction

whenever I've done one.

They're just like really the backs of my

thighs that are touching the

bottom of the tub where there's extra

salt,

right? Itchy.

Yeah.

Yeah. Like fully red. Like can't do that

in summer. Not if you're wearing shorts.

Nope. make everyone feel a little weird.

Fair enough.

Okay, so she's taking her bath where she

does not have an allergic reaction to

the salt.

Um, and Hunter and Drake are kind of

having a drink in the kitchen. And

finally Drake like loses his [ __ ] and

starts having a meltdown. Um, and he's

like, "Go ahead and hit me. Like just

hit me. Just punch me in the face. I get

it. I deserve it. I earned it. Like it's

cool. I can't believe I did that shit."

And Hunter's like, "Dude,

what?

Chill out. Like

it was a clinical demonstration, dude.

Yeah. Um

you were not in a private room. There

was an instructor guiding you through

it.

Yeah. Yeah. And Hunter's like, "You

should literally be punching me in the

face. Why are you not punching me in the

face?"

So there's a lot of like

Wait, Drake.

Drake is saying that to Hunter

to Hunter. Okay.

Yes. And so Hunter's like, "Man, I am

really I am really not upset. Like it is

really okay." And so then he goes in to

the bathroom where Isabelle is taking

her bath and basically has the same

conversation with her minus the punching

in the face where she's like, "I'm so

sorry. I can't believe I did that. Oh my

god." And he's like, "Sweetheart, it's

really really okay." Um, and then he

finger bangs her in the tub. And um,

hopefully that made her feel better

about it all.

Yeah. Yeah. Um, and there's a moment

when Hunter is like, you know, Drake

should be here. He's here for everything

else. And then he's like, that's [ __ ]

weird. He's like,

never had thoughts like that before. Big

yikes. Not into that.

We'll call that pre-contemplative.

We will call it pre-contemplative. And

it is hilarious how fast um Hunter moves

through the stages of change. So

the next day they are at like a

roadside, you know, touristy trap kind

of place um where they're it's like a

UFO thing. It's ridiculous. But Drake

has gotten a phone call from his

landlord. He is being evicted because

they sold his building and uh he only

has a month to find a new place. So

Isabelle is immediately like, "Oh, well,

just move in with us, right? Like you've

lived with us before, like way back.

We have the space. Yeah. Stay with us

till you figure out your next step.

Exactly. Um and cuz Hunter or Drake,

sorry, Drake is like, "I'm going to have

to go like I'll just catch the quickest

flight back home cuz I'm going to have

to move and find a new place. I'm going

to have to do this and that." And and

Isabel Isabelle is like, "No, like

obviously just stay with us for a

while." Um

and um Hunter comes out cuz he had been

in wherever they were and Isabelle turns

to him with no context and is like,

"Tell Drake to move in with us." And

Hunter is like, "Drake, move in with

us." Like he's like, "What?

Sure. Okay,

sounds great. Whatever." Um, and Drake

is trying to like

ignore the new tension there is in their

dynamic that hasn't been there before.

Why?

Cuz he's uncomfy. And he's like, I

really want to just leave because this

is so [ __ ] awkward for me right now.

Because Isabelle is kind of the girl of

my dreams, but

I have never allowed myself to look at

her that way. Because from day one,

Hunter was all in. and I would never

ever do that. And so now that I have

allowed myself to sort of consider that,

I'm kind of freaking out. And so, um, it

does feel good that they are still

kind of goofing off and joking in the

same way. Um, and Hunter and Isabelle

still very clearly want him around.

They're like, "No, man. Like, this trip

was for the three of us. Like, you can't

leave. like

we're doing this together. Um, but he's

like, "How am I going to feel

living with them again and having to

listen to them together?"

And like I can't bring people home.

Like

I could have before, but like I don't

think I can now. Like I feel real weird

about all of it.

So, um, Hunter

is having an internal dialogue about

like, "What kink have I unlocked

cuz something is different?" And, uh,

I've done a lot of research on all the

kinks. And he is like, "Uh,

is it cuckleding?

Is it hot wifeing?"

Which is a kink where like you share

your wife cuz she's hot or whatever. Um,

and he's like, "I don't think it's

cuckleding." Cuz it's not about like my

embarrassment or like the humiliation of

watching your partner with someone else,

which is for some people the kink.

He's like, "That's not it."

So, what is it? I'm not really sure, but

it's something cuz woo. All right. Yeah.

We're moving into contemplation for

those of you who are

following along with the stages of

change,

following the motivational interviewing

stages of change.

Um, but he does think about it and he's

like, it is only Drake though. Like if I

think about

even one of his other friends from the

club, he's like, "No, don't like it.

Don't like the thought of any of them

with her." Um, it is literally only

Drake I feel good about.

And so Isabelle is like in their

apartment, whatever that they're staying

in in the next town, and she is like

scrolling through different brunch

options. She's like, "Where should we

have breakfast?" You know, she's looking

and Hunter just blurts out like, "Hey,

would uh you and Drake want to have sex,

you guys, the two of you together with

me watching?"

And Drake is [ __ ] livid. Like he is

so angry. He is like, "How dare you say

that [ __ ] to me?" And like takes off.

Like leaves.

And um

he's like, "I'm going to get a drink.

I'll see you when I see you." And is

gone, right? And so Isabelle is like in

tears and she's like, "Oh,

is

well that was uncomfy,

right?" She's like, "So you don't want

me anymore? Like this is your way of

telling me?

Oh, I misunderstood some different cues

that I thought I'd been picking up on."

Yeah. She's like, "Okay, so you don't

want me anymore, and this is your way of

like telling me that? Like, what are you

doing here?" Because there was no

context. They're like hanging out

deciding where to have breakfast and

he's like, "You guys want to fuck?"

Like, "What?"

And he's like, "No." And I'm so mad that

you would ever imply it that I'm going

to leave. And then you're like, "Oh,

well, now I'm just in this awkward

moment." So then Hunter does explain

himself. He's like, "Hey, listen.

Watching you guys do that Shabari

demonstration like really turned me on

and if you would be into it, like I

would enjoy watching it, I think." And

so like, you know, yeah, but if you say

no, I will never bring it up again. And

she's immediately like, yeah, no,

no,

no need to bring that up. Thank you for

asking.

And there is no like,

why would you even [ __ ] think of that

or anything like that. It's very much

like,

I'm not trying to shame you, but this is

arguably the most important person in

our lives. I refuse to potentially

damage relationships by doing this for

you to explore your kink just for fun.

Like that is not gonna I'm not

comfortable with that.

And so Hunter is like,

"Yeah, don't put us in the line of fire

for your curiosity,

right? Because what if it turns out

you're not okay with it?" Or what if it

turns out like Drake and I get weird

feelings? Or what if it turns out like

this could destroy our marriage? the end

like our best friend like wow that's a

lot you know

yeah for you to throw it out there so

flippantly

right and I don't think Hunter was

considering all of that he was just like

that's hot

full stop

yeah if they want to explore it let me

like make it a safe space for them to do

so

right but that his intent did not match

his impact on that

no intent versus impact very much

matters

100% so Hunter then takes off to find

Drake. And we switch to Drake's point of

view. He is drinking alone. Um, and he

is basically of the mind that Hunter was

just testing his loyalty. He's like,

"Oh, that'd be gross,"

right? He's like, "I pushed him too far

with that Shabari thing." And so, like,

this was his way of testing if I would

cross the line, right, given the

opportunity. Um, and he is livid that

Hunter would do such a thing, which he

did not do, but he is really upset even

at the idea. Um, and so then Hunter

shows up and uh he's like, "No, it's not

a test, [ __ ] Like, that was really

hot. Like, you guys are hot. I don't

like you guys are hot. There's clearly

some sort of tension between you. I had

really just been trying to create a safe

space for y'all to have a conversation

and explore it if you'd like. I realized

maybe how I worded it didn't make y'all

feel that way.

Yeah. Yeah.

But but no, it was never to test you. It

was just because I love you.

Yeah. Yeah. And so

Drake is like, "Yeah, I don't believe

you." like like I I don't believe that

you would want to watch another man have

sex with your wife. Like that's I don't

believe that. And so Hunter's like,

"What about this? Let's make a bet. We

have a new club to go to tonight." I

think they're in Austin, Texas at this

point.

And he's like, "What if you guys go to

the club together and pretend that

you're together and just behave as if

you're on a date, right? and let's just

see how it goes. Let's see how it feels.

And as long as Isabelle is on board, if

it goes badly, if I get crazy jealous or

if anything weird happens, um I will

never bring it up again.

And so that's what they decide to do. So

they go to the club, which again is not

the vibe. It is very bright. Like as

soon as you walk in, it sort of has like

um almost strip club energy where all of

the women are topless, like serving

drinks and stuff, which is fine,

but they just weren't really prepared

for that. And there's a lot of

It's a different club energy than than

their club for sure.

Right. And there's a lot of people like

openly having sex like out in the middle

of everything. Um

uh but they're still trying to be open

to the vibes and it's very much like um

comfort and support and safety are all

really like you know honed in on and

everything.

I forgot to mention the previous club

they were at no alcohol at all.

Their club is a two drink max and this

club does not have any rules around

alcohol consumption which

is not the norm for most sex clubs.

They're usually very intentional about

any substances just so there are no

questions about consent and stuff. Um,

I haven't spent a lot of time in sex

clubs, but I do feel like a sex club

with an unlimited alcohol policy.

Red flag for me personally.

Yeah. Would make like that just like

makes me very nervy.

Mhm. So, Hunter went ahead of them to

meet with the owner and stuff. So

Isabelle and Drake get there together.

Um they get a few drinks. They talk

about the whole situation with Hunter.

Um and then they start making out. Like

Drake is like, "All right, he said to do

it. Let's do it." So they start making

out. He puts his hand up her dress and

Isabella is like kind of shocked by how

turned on she is. Um, and then Hunter

shows up and like rips her away from

Drake and takes her to a private room

and like apparently he's so turned on he

doesn't know what to do with himself and

so they [ __ ] like crazy in this private

room. Um, and Isabelle is like, "Listen,

has that been explained to Drake as to

why he like pulled her away or Blake or

No, Blake. Drake just saw

Hunter showed up looking ragy, ripped

her away,

when really the ragy was just horniness.

Correct. Yeah.

But I'm guessing Drake is now going to

be like in his head about like, oh,

whoops. Um, and so Isabelle is like,

"Listen, if Drake is down with it, if it

turns you on this much, like, all

right." She's like, "Cuz it also turned

me on this much, so

yeah, had a great time.

I guess we can give it a chance."

Meanwhile, they're having this beautiful

moment and Drake is like, "I am the

worst piece of [ __ ] that has ever lived

on the planet."

I felt it. I felt that.

Yeah. Yeah.

Once again, intent versus impact.

Mhm.

Very much matters.

Hunter is not great at understanding

those things. M.

So, um Isabelle then appears next to him

looking very clearly freshly [ __ ] and

uh tells him like they should go back to

the rental or whatever. And he's like,

"Yeah, no. I think I'm going to hang out

and just hook up hook up with somebody

here. Like I don't want to go back." And

she's really hurt by that. But another

dude overhears

Drake rejecting her.

And so this other dude is like, "Hey,

if he doesn't want to go, I'll come.

Like you don't have to beg, honey. Like

I'll be there." And she's like, "No,

thank you." And like tries to walk away

and he like grabs her and like pulls her

into him. And Drake loses his [ __ ] and

he and Hunter basically start a brawl in

this sex club because this man like

manhandled her and then a bouncer showed

up and also manhandled her like to get

her away from them cuz she was like like

that guy was trying to hurt me like they

were just protecting me and the the

bouncer like calls her a mouthy [ __ ] or

something and like shoves her out of the

way. So, they get kicked out of the

club. Uh, which is no um

not a loss.

I was going to say it's no loss really.

So, they're walking back to the hotel,

which is just a couple blocks away. And

Drake gives Isabelle like a piggyback

ride um cuz she's wearing heels or

whatever. And they get street food and

they hang out and everything seems like

it's going to be okay. um until they

talk about continuing the arrangement

and Drake is like what?

Like are what?

Okay. So, okay. So, you weren't mad. You

were into it, but also like it seems

like for as open as their communication

is, they're not really great at

communicating.

No.

Like they're very willing to engage in

like some like harder conversations, but

like they aren't always great at

navigating them,

right? or like the timeliness of them

isn't great. But um Drake essentially is

like I don't

I don't think my heart can take this

because also up until this point it

hasn't really been highlighted but he's

by and he very regularly hooks up with

dudes and stuff as well. like primarily

it's women, but it's also men. And he's

like, "Yeah,

these are the two people I could fall in

love with, and I'm not sure that I can

blur that line and come back from it,

basically."

So,

which makes sense. They haven't really

decided anything until they get to New

Orleans and there's some kind of um jazz

festival in town and they messed up

their booking and oh my stars, the hotel

only has one bed. So Drake admits to

Hunter that basically he says, "I know

you think that I am just a man [ __ ] and

that I could just bang anybody and not

have emotion around it, but Isabelle is

different

and I don't think I can do that." And

Hunter's like, "I don't think that." And

he's like, "Dude, yes you do, because I

think that." Like, it's not a bad thing,

but I'm telling you that Isabelle is

different. like it's not going to be the

same.

Um so they all get in bed together cuz

again there's only one bed and Hunter is

like maybe you guys should just cuddle

and um eventually like Drake is eating

her out and like Hunter's giving a lot

of instruction. Everybody's very into

it. There's a lot of like pausing and

checking for consent. Everybody's still

good.

All of that kind of stuff. Um, and then

Isabelle goes to like she's like, "What

do I do now?" She's like, "Should I You

guys are both hard. Like, should I do

something about that?" And they're like,

"Just go to sleep." Like, like, "This

was for you. Just go to sleep.

Whatever." Okay. And um they're like,

"No need to reciprocate or anything like

that." And then while Drake is in the

bathroom, Hunter asks Isabelle to cuddle

with Drake. He's like, Drake said he was

worried that like we were just using

him. That is not what this is at all.

And I want him to know that like

he is important and he matters. Um, so

he's trying to be very intentional with

his feelings. And there is I'm kind of

like skating over some of like

Hunter is not pushing it as hard as it

I'm making it sound like. It feels very

organic when you're reading it that it's

not him being like, "Now go eat her

out." It's very like a gradual build

that everybody's on board with. Um,

so

the next day, Isabelle and Drake wind up

in the hotel like gym or whatever, and

they're like, "Hey, so uh, we need to

have rules." Yeah, cuz this is weird.

And so, um, they are like, "Yeah, okay.

No touching in a sexual way without

Hunter present. Obviously,

um, open communication always. If

anybody's emotions around it changes or

if we want to stop, we got to tell each

other immediately.

Our safe word is namaste.

Walls.

Um, and they are going to use protection

every time, like condoms all the time,

even though they're both clean and

everything.

Um, and Isabelle is on birth control.

Um, and then they also say Hunter can

get involved if he wants. So, if he

doesn't want to just watch, he can

partake. Um, and it's a very sweet like

emotional

moment. And Drake is like, I just want

you to know like I am treating this

seriously. Like, I know I'm not always a

serious person, but like

I was there the day that Hunter first

saw you in that green dress. I remember

like, you know, you are you are

important to me and I want you to know

that.

Um, and so Drake also says, "I want what

you guys have and I refuse to settle for

less." I think that's why I've been

single all this time is I'm looking for

that like love at first sight immediate

like feeling

and I know not everybody gets that, but

like that's what I want. I want what you

guys have and I'm not gonna like waiver

from that which is really really sweet.

Yeah.

Um

and so at this Austin sex club they are

at a Shabbar or sorry New Orleans.

They're in New Orleans now. New Orleans

sex club. They are at a Shabari workshop

again.

And um

are the vibes better at this club?

Much. Okay.

Yeah. And Drake gets tied up and there's

major flirting with the instructor. Like

he is flirting hardcore with this woman.

And Hunter is

livid. Like

only for Isabelle's sake, obviously.

Like, how could you do this to Isabelle,

right? Um and he like storms off and

Hunter is like or sorry, Drake is like,

"We've had no discussion about this."

Like, yeah.

What am I?

I'm flirt. I didn't [ __ ] her. Like, I

always flirt with everybody. Like, what?

I don't understand what I did wrong

here.

But he's also on some level trying to

protect himself emotionally because he's

like,

I can't just be a part of their

marriage. So, like,

right,

I can't like what am I supposed to do

here? So, the instructor invites Drake

on a tour of the place. Um, which is

clearly code for like, let's go to a

private room and [ __ ] Um, and he goes

with her, but then Drake is like, I'm

I'm turning her down, I think. Why am I

doing that? Like, she's pretty hot,

but like it doesn't feel right. And then

the vibes are better at the club, but

off with her specifically,

right? And so he winds up, he's like,

"Oh,

this woman is a stranger. I'm never

going to see her again. I am going to

process everything that's happening to

me right now." Which as a therapist is

my worst nightmare. Like on a plane or

whatever is people being like, "Oh,

you're a therapist.

My cousin's

third niece removed from whatever might

have bipolar. Do you think she has

bipolar?" I What? I once had someone be

like, "You're a therapist. Can you tell

me what these dreams mean?"

Yeah. Yeah.

Still no.

No.

Right.

I really can't.

What do you think they mean?

I mean, Google it, I guess.

Yeah. As the person who experienced

them,

right?

Why don't Why don't you process through

that? Oh, you want someone to process

through it with you? No, that I can do,

right? For a fee.

It did. That did happen to me once while

I was getting a massage and I was like a

baby therapist. Like I had just

graduated and I did not know that you

have to lie about your profession

sometimes. And so or just

couch it. Yep.

You know, in a certain way.

I wasn't aware of that. So I had booked

like a 90minute massage which was a big

deal for me on my like very pitiful

fresh graduate money deal.

I but I was like I'm investing in my

self-care or whatever and I go and this

woman no [ __ ] talked for the full time

about like personal family issues she

had and I was like this is the worst

thing ever. I once had a woman talk

through the entire facial that she was

giving me to the point that I've never

respected a business owner more. At the

end of it, she went, "I'm so sorry. I

talked that entire time and this was

meant to be relaxing for you. Let me

reschedu you for next week where we can

try this again."

That is so mindful.

Yes.

So, demure.

Truly,

we love that.

1,000. Yeah. I was like, I've never seen

someone this self-aware in this moment

cuz like while it was happening, it was

kind of like, man, like we're talking.

It's been a fine conversation. Like it

wasn't draining, but it was also just

like

I would have liked quiet maybe.

Yeah, we we've been And the next time

silence.

Incredible. Love it.

But yeah, love that she was like, I'm

aware that this is not what this

typically looks like. Let me redo it.

Incredible. Um, so Drake does not have

that self-awareness

and like basically word vomits on this

woman and is like

who's trying to [ __ ] him,

right? He's like, "Listen, you're super

hot. Please don't think that this has

anything to do with you, but I'm sort of

seeing someone or maybe I'm not. I'm

really not sure." And she's like, "The

couple that you were with,

all of you were making eyes at each

other. That

picked up." I picked up on the vibes.

And he's like, "I can't just like be a

part of their marriage." And she's like,

"Literally, why not?

I'm not understanding if everybody's

into it. Why are you being weird?"

Basically, is her energy. Um, and she's

like, "Hey, you know what? Why don't you

take the key for this private room and

maybe go find them and have this

conversation because you're not going to

solve it talking to me. And if you

decide that they are not for you and you

want to find me later, hit me up. Have a

great day.

Which

we love a self-aware queen.

She is a queen. She's a queen. So Drake

finds them. Um Hunter immediately as

soon as he sees Drake is like, "The deal

is off." And he's like, "What?" And he's

like, "How could you?" And he's like,

"Dude,

follow me. This is some weird [ __ ]

that we're not doing out at the bar in

this sex club. But

this one finally has a communal area,

but we're not using the communal area to

air our business.

Correct. Um, and so Drake then explains

like she was giving me a key to this

room, guys, like so that we can use it

if we want to. And Hunter is like,

we do want to.

Why don't you guys dance? And so he

literally like puts music on for the two

of them to slow dance together. Um, and

there is a ton of dirty talk and a lot

of consent.

I'm glad And I'm glad that like there's

sexual tension in the scene's clearly

going to build because in my head right

now, if Vance was like,

"Dance for me. Go dance with that man

for me." I'd be like, "The I'm putting

on this music for you to dance with that

man."

Literally.

Yeah. It's like some Ed Sheeran song and

I think it's perfect maybe. I don't

remember but it's some Ed Sheeran song

and so like there is a lot of dirty

talk, a lot of consent, a lot of like

buildup and emotion in it. Isabelle is

having a really great time and she comes

very hard while Drake is [ __ ] her and

then Drake kind of like picks her up and

sets her in Hunter's lap and then

Isabelle and Hunter also [ __ ] but when

they finish they realize that Drake is

gone. Like

oh he like did his part, handed her off

and then left the room. Um.

Ooh, that feels weirder.

Yeah. So, Drake is at the bar and he is

really confused. He's like, "Yeah,

that's the best sex I've ever had." And

not because we did anything particularly

different, but because it was Isabelle

and because Hunter was watching. Like,

what am I supposed to do with this?

Like, Isabelle is truly my best friend.

Like, yeah, it's Hunter, but really at

the end of the day, it's also kind of

Isabelle. And so Hunter comes out to

clear the air and he's like, "What what

are you doing?" And he's like, "Well, I

I served my function in the scene,

right? Like I didn't want to intrude on

you guys." And Hunter is like, "Dude,

you are not intruding. You are not like

a rando we picked up at the bar. Like

you're important to us. You're a part of

this with us."

Yes.

And so um he's he's also like and uh we

are doing that again. Like this, you

know, like that was pretty good. Um and

Drake is like, "Oh man,

I really love both of them a lot.

Like

this is going to suck, but also if this

is what I get, I'm gonna take it."

And it's really sad, actually.

My heart.

I know. I know. I know.

Drake is just like, I love them so much.

And like if if I can get scraps from

their relationship, I'll take it.

Yeah, a little bit.

But like neither Hunter or Isabelle want

to give him scraps,

right? They want to give him all of it.

But I don't think any of them are fully

conscious of that really yet.

Like none of them know what they're

doing. Like like the idea of polyamory

has never like come up. This is just

like is it a kink that you have? Cool.

Let's try it. Uh, so

they're on the road to Nashville.

Isabelle is like, you know,

I'm pretty sure that Hunter needs to

explore his sexuality

cuz I don't think he realizes the way

that he looks at Drake sometimes. Like

I see it,

but and this is where we get some

illusion to like Hunter grew up um in a

pretty abusive home. there was a lot of

homophobia going on and so he has a lot

of internalized messages around that

stuff.

Um,

and so she's like, you know,

this is like hot as a fantasy, but

really like

I wish that this were a real

relationship that like we could all just

like be together, but I don't know how

we do that. Like I don't know what that

actually looks like.

And then they get to the Airbnb,

which Hunter booked, which he forgot and

did not tell anyone is a kink Airbnb. So

they walk in and it looks like a normal

Airbnb. And then Hunter or no, sorry,

Drake goes into his room and is like,

"What the [ __ ] There's like a St.

Andrews cross and like a spanking

bench." And then you start looking

around and it's like, "Oh, there there

are eye hooks in the walls in a lot of

places." And that Sha's lounge has some

movable parts that a standard Sha's

lounge does not have. So

Hunter's like, "Oh yeah, I did do that."

So um

they're also like Hunter is like this

could also be a potential like business

making thing if we opened like a small

resort or something with different

cabins that are like dedicated to

different kinks. Like all of these

things like this could be part of the

business. And meanwhile, I'm out here

being like, you know what? I have no

interest in doing

the cleaning crew.

100% for a shortterm rental.

Yes. Yes. Yes. You're correct.

The number of black lights you your

cleaning crew needs to have just to make

sure everything.

So, I cannot credit this person because

I don't remember the name of the

stand-up comedian, but I saw a bit on

Tik Tok, I think, where the stand-up

comedian was like, "Listen, period sex,

there is no shame in it. Sounds great.

You just got to lay a towel down and be

careful and intentional about it. It's

more about me having to clean my sheets

than it is about the blood. But I'm not

here to judge. If other people aren't

into it, you're not into it. I will tell

you in a hotel all bets are off. He's

like, "It's not my sheets.

It's not my sheets." And man, that is a

similar vibe to the Kink Airbnb.

Yeah. Yikes.

I hope their cleaning fee is

astronomical. The number of Airbnbs. And

I'm like, "Wait, why do you want me to

spend as much as I'm spending per night

on the cleaning fee? This is ridiculous.

I'm not going to pay that." Um, a a kink

Airbnb. Yeah, take triple, baby girl. I

will give it all.

That plus tip. God bless. Like, I'm

leaving cash on the nightstand. I am so

sorry. Like, what the [ __ ] So, so

anyway, Drake goes out for takeout. He

brings back Indian food and Isabelle

goes to like grab one of the boxes and

he freaks out and he is like, "I said

the like the box without the X on it is

like what are you doing?" And she's

like, "I'm sorry, Jesus." And he's like,

"Honey, you are allergic to coconut.

Like, those two don't have coconut." And

she's like, "You remembered that I'm

allergic to coconut?" And he's like,

"What?

You have literally been my best friend

for 10 years, Isabelle?" Yes, I

remember. Jesus Christ.

Okay, Isabelle, as someone who's rooting

for you, I need you to respect yourself

a little more. Like,

right. Come on, babe. I do anticipate

that my husband's best friend of how

like

right

knows what I can't eat if I haven't been

able to eat it

the entire time we've known each other

you know

and they're not trying to [ __ ] me

they're just thoughtful humans

correct so like the direct quote that I

wrote is like you've been my best friend

for 10 years of course I remember why do

you think I don't eat coconut cream pie

anymore you always eat my crusts

And she was like, "Oh my god, he doesn't

eat coconut cream pie anymore, but he

did when we first like when I first

started dating Hunter." And like he

intentionally did that so she could eat

his crusts. And he has been doing that

for 10 years.

The crust off his pie.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's never been a sharable crust in my

head.

Me either. That is always something I'm

going to consume.

Like that's not the same as like me

cutting the crust off my son. Like,

right. Eating a PB&J crust. It's a very

niche.

You You always eat the crust off my pie.

What?

Get your own pie.

This This one is sweet, but I have

questions.

It is very sweet. Um,

and yes, girl, you've been like that

allergic to coconut.

Yeah. He's like, "Oh my god." She's

like, "Oh my god, he

he he cares."

Set the bar higher.

He does. He does care.

So that night, we're going from 6:00 to

midnight. They cuff Isabelle to the

spanking bench. Hunter Hunter because of

his childhood trauma has never been able

to like spank her even though he knows

she might be into it. And he's like, I'm

pretty sure I could watch though. I

think that would be okay. But like me

doing it feels like like I don't want to

I don't want to be engaging in anything

that could be violent. But maybe it

would be okay if Drake did it. So

they do a spanking spit roast and it is

a lot to experience. Um

Hannah, you've read so much smut. So you

saying it's a lot to experience is like

I'm like you read almost 300 books

a year.

Yeah.

You've read a lot of sex scenes.

I have. Yeah. But it's a lot of like

Okay. Okay. All right.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, sure. Why? Why not? We're doing

that now. Okay. So, um

the question marks return,

right? So, Hunter finds himself making a

lot of eye contact with Drake while they

are engaging in this spit roast and um

he's questioning things himself now.

A little bit. Yeah. So, later he like

Hunter does Isabel like does afterare

for Isabelle and then Hunter goes out

and talks to Drake and Drake is like,

"Is she okay? Did you make sure she had

like a whole glass of water? Like

and Hunter's like, "Dude, you know, you

can help with afterare if you want. Like

that would be okay."

And Drake's like, "Well, I just didn't

want to cross any boundaries." And

Hunter's like, "Hey, I appreciate that

fully and I'm inviting you. Like clearly

it's something that is important to you

and I want you to be a part of it." And

it's very nice. So, um,

yeah, there's a lot Yeah, because then

we go straight into another sex scene

and like,

okay, so Hunter is sitting and Drake

puts Isabelle onto

Hunter facing him and he is still

[ __ ] her. Like Drake is still [ __ ]

her while she's on top of Hunter. Okay.

Which is important because

Drake is then like, "What happens if I

touch his leg a little bit?"

Yep.

Nothing. Okay. Maybe he's into it

actually. Maybe it's not nothing. Maybe

it's a lot of something and it's good.

He's like, "Okay."

And so he's like making a lot of lusty

eye contact and there's a lot of

touching between the two of them. M

um and then

Drake is eventually just more confused.

He's like, is he just not aware that I'm

touching him because I'm [ __ ] his

wife on top of him or like is he into

it? I don't really know. So after they

finish again, Isabelle is, you know,

asleep or whatever.

They are in the kitchen again. It's

another late night heartto-heart. And

Hunter is like, I want to try something.

and then just like kisses him. And Drake

is like, "Okay, um, listen,

that was hot and all, but also we've

been naked together a lot in the last

week, and I don't know if this is like

real life or if you're confusing things,

so it's totally cool. Maybe let's get

some sleep.

Love you. Bye."

It's weird because I feel like there's

both like a lot of self-awareness and

insight and then there are other moments

with like no self-awareness and insight.

Mhm.

And we're all taking turns having both.

Like it's not like Drake has all of the

insight and Hunter has none. No. Like it

feels like all of them are having a

moment of like having their own insight

but then just like having a moment that

like they're missing

Yeah.

within it. Well, and in some ways I

almost feel like that's more real

because I don't think any of us are like

totally aware in all ways and have like

good insight into everything.

It feels so much more accurate of like,

oh yeah, this is a messy thing to to

navigate and figure out,

right? But we can still do it with

intention and then own it when we mess

up.

Yes. Intention and curiosity and not

like this like anger or frustration

along the way. Mhm. So then the next

day, Hunter is kind of freaking out and

he's trying to sort of like downplay his

own feelings for Drake. He's like, "It's

he was right. Like this is just really

confusing. It's none of that. Whatever."

Um, and the other thing I appreciate is

that Hunter immediately is like,

"Isabelle, I have to tell you something.

I kissed Hunter. There was or I kissed

Drake." There was no like hiding it or

like, "Oh my god, she's gonna be so

mad." or any of that. It was immediately

like, "Hey, I did this thing. You need

to know about it." Um, and Isabelle is

like, "Hey,

okay, did you like it?" Like, that's

cool. Like, feel free to

I was sitting on you yesterday while I

[ __ ] him. So,

feels like you guys kissing is not that

deep.

Yeah, not really a problem for my

purposes. If anything, it'll actually

maybe make things a little more fun.

Yeah. Yeah. Feels good to me. So, um,

Isabelle is on her period and not

feeling great. And so, she's like, "Hey,

you had me and Drake try out pretending

to be together at that last club, right?

So, maybe you guys do that tonight

because I don't feel good." And it it's

funny in the book, not like funny funny,

but kind of nice. Hunter is like, "Oh,

yeah. No, I know that you're basically

like out of commission for life on the

first day of your period. I get it." And

he's like, "They're really bad for her.

So, we'll set her up with snacks and

water and everything and make sure she's

okay." It's like, "No stress." Like I

was like, "First of all, relatable."

So, we set her up with some snacks and

water. Yeah. And like movies that she

wants to watch. And like basically they

made her a little nest before they went

to this next sex club. And um Hunter is

like, "Okay, I'm just going to try to be

open

and honest and let's just see what

happens." And this next club is

fascinating. It is in Nashville and it's

called Pitch. And I was like, "Is this a

softball fetish?" It's not. That was

literally my first thought. I was like,

"Pitch, like pitch perfect. Are is this

a chorus?

Is this an ac capella fetish?"

Right? I was like, "What is it? It's

darkness.

So they have three rooms set up, right?

One room is all men, one room is all

women, and one room is for all. Whoever

would like to enter is welcome to do so.

So basically, it's very, very

fascinating. They have like condoms are

mandatory, so you have to put a condom

on before you enter the room and the

bouncer checks, which is a lot, but it's

a safety thing. We're making sure

everybody is safe.

Um, you undress only to your comfort

level and there are bouncers inside that

have night vision goggles for safety and

they do not allow alcohol or substances

of any kind for safety.

Super fascinating. I'm

I was thinking like, can you imagine

being a bouncer?

That's all I'm thinking of.

Yeah. With militaryra

night vision goggles watching people

[ __ ] Incredible.

Even if it only pays $12 an hour, you're

what benefits?

I've done

a lot worse for a lot

for a lot, right? Like

Yeah.

Like Yeah.

It's a little above minimum wage, but

like what a fascinating position to

hold,

right? And you get to see a lot of

fascinating positions held for varying

lengths of time. So Drake when they get

there is like, "Hey Hunter, why don't

you go do your thing? I'm just going to

go to the lounge, you know." Um, and

then he's like, "Actually,

I kind of want to go check out the

rooms." Kind of. I do want to do that.

So there's a lounge and then the three

rooms. So there's a communal area and

then male only, female only.

Yes. And then they have

mixed living.

Other mixed living. Yes. They also have

other like um events and different types

of rooms, but this is really kind of

their

gimmick. This is their shtick that they

do.

Okay.

So, fully dressed, Drake goes into the

men's only room because he's like, I

don't want to be doing that to Isabelle,

right?

Just with his dick out with a condom on.

Fully dressed. Okay. I forget

who this was. Oh god. I just remember

hearing the story at some point of like

a high school boy

Yes. putting the condom on first thing

in the morning.

Yes. Because they're like, "I'm going to

lose my virginity after school." So, he

wore the condom all day.

I'm like, "Did you take it off to use

the bathroom then put it back?" I had so

many questions that I don't want answers

to.

But yes, that is what it made me think

of.

That's the vibe is like all of these

people pre-conumed.

Yeah.

But fully dressed. Yeah. Well, and most

of them are nude. Drake just chose to

Oh, no. I fully understand that. But for

the mental image I have in my head,

they're all just dick out.

It's all just like a bunch of high

school boys who are excited to lose

their virginity. So, they all put the

condom on under their clothes and

they're all doing the wallflower like at

a middle school dance where they're all

just standing there looking at each

other, which is literally what Drake

does cuz he goes in and he's like, "I

don't want to participate. Like, I'm

literally just trying to do research."

the group. He's in the the

the men's only room.

The men's only room. Okay.

So, um

he is like, "This is really

interesting." And then my notes say a

little guy comes up and offers him a BJ.

Basically, he's like a 20-year-old

twink, like very young guy based on the

voice cuz he can't really see him, but

he's like he's very short and he's

touching me a lot and he sounds very

young like, "Thank you, sweetheart.

appreciate it so much. I'm not

participating tonight.

Yeah,

you have a good time.

And as soon as he turns down this guy,

um, suddenly someone is in front of him

and grabbing him and kissing him and

he's like, I'm pretty sure this is

Hunter.

Hunter. I am feeling some um uh night

vision goggles and I really hope it is

not an excited bouncer. Awkward. He's

like, "What is happening?"

But he hears the goggles hit the floor.

He hears Hunter's voice. He's like,

"Okay, I'm pretty sure this is Hunter."

Like, I've never really heard him this

like sexed up before, but I'm pretty

sure. And so

I think we're we're all hoping it's

Hunter at this point.

Yes. And it is. So Hunter basically like

grabs him by the throat and puts him on

his knees and [ __ ] him his face with no

condom. He's like, "Oh, so this is

Hunter." He just like walked in here.

Um, and literally as soon as he comes,

Hunter disappears

and Drake is on his knees in the pitch

dark like what what the [ __ ] just

happened?

That's a valid question.

And he is extremely hurt by that. Um, so

he makes his way out and sees Hunter

like in the main area and he's like,

"Yeah, um, I'm going to go to a bar. do

not follow me. Like, do not follow me

this time. Like, I'm really serious

about this. And Hunter is like, "Please,

can we just talk? I'm really I I really

need to." And he's like, "No, I don't

really care what you need right now. I

am going to a bar.

Follow me." Right.

So, Isabelle is asleep on the couch. and

she knows that something is wrong

because Hunter came home in a foul mood,

like really bad mood, and basically went

straight to bed. And she's like, "I

don't know what happened, but clearly it

was something."

Yeah. You're like, "Drake's not here.

Hunter is livid about something."

Yeah. She's like, "Something went wrong,

obviously." So Drake comes home drunk

off his ass

and she gets him into bed and she lays

down with him, which is something that

they have done in the past, like you

know, so it's not weird or anything.

And Drake tells her everything.

And she is really disappointed in

Hunter. She's like, "I am so sorry that

he did that to you, Drake. like you did

not deserve that. I am really sorry that

Isabelle decides to stay in bed with

Drake and just like basically holds him

all night cuz he's really emotional and

everything.

Yeah.

And one thing that this is just an

aside, but I did appreciate the reality

of sometimes I will sleep on the couch

when I'm on my period because my

insomnia is really bad. And so like if

my cramps feel funny or if like I just

don't quite feel right, I will just go

like snooze on the couch. If anything

isn't right, like Princess in the Pea

style, I was like, "She gets it. She

really does."

Um

that does not work in my relationship

with Vance. If I go to the couch, he'll

be like, "Oh, we're going to the couch."

So, so years ago I was going through a

really bad spell of insomnia and Matt

had started snoring a little bit at

night which is like

you might as well run a chainsaw for me,

right? I am very

a very soft snore and it's still like

well there goes the whole night. I'll

try again tomorrow.

Like we could make the argument that

you're just breathing like that level of

snoring I'm out. And so he got so upset

about me sleeping on the couch so much

that he just started buying all of these

different like snore remedy things like

a band to go around your head to keep

your mouth from opening and like all of

these different things. And it's mostly

fine now. But he did he would get really

upset every time I would go like sleep

on the couch.

Well, like even like cuz I've been like,

"Oh, like I'm sick. I should go sleep in

the guest room,

right?

And Vance is like, I've already been

exposed to your germs 15 times today. Do

you think being exposed overnight will

make a lick of difference to me?

You are not sleeping in another room.

Okay.

Same energy.

It'll be like 2:00 a.m. and I'm like,

"Yeah, I think I'm just going to go like

turn the TV on something stupid and like

maybe sort of snooze cuz I'm not really

going to sleep tonight." And Matt the

next morning will be like, "What

happened? Are you okay? Was I snoring?

What? I You should You should be You

should be in in the bed.

Why were you there? Why were you not

where you're supposed to be?

Yeah. What? What?

Like what? What? I don't I didn't like

it.

I don't have a deviated septum, but I

did buy the thing just in case I have a

deviated septum because I want you in

bed.

Yeah. Literally. Um

what a beautiful angel baby.

I know. Bless is the most precious

person on the planet.

So,

okay. to the point where I have to tell

this very cute anecdote about my

husband. So, I told you a couple of

friends of mine found a couple of

kittens.

Yeah.

And gave them to different people,

whatever. And we were trying to name one

of them a very sweet little black boy

cat.

Mhm.

Totally precious little snuggle bug.

Just as like happy to be in people's

laps. And so I was texting Matt about it

and I was like, "Yeah, so these are some

of the names we thought of, but like

none of them are hitting." And I got

home and Matt presented me with a list

that he had written. He was like, "I

also brainstormed. Here are some

thoughts that I have. Maybe share them

with Aaron, who's my friend who had the

kitten." And I was like, I took a

picture and I sent it to her. And she

was like, I literally love him. I was

like, I know. It's so cute.

He's like circling the ones that he

liked the most. Like

so precious.

And the funniest part is I've never met

your husband in person. We've text.

We've never we've never met in person.

For those who have never even seen a

photo of Hannah's husband does have like

a little bit of like an like when you

look at photos of him, you don't think

this is like a warm, cuddly, you don't

think that

man who's like

just wants to take care of everyone and

the animals around him.

That is not the vibe that his look

gives. No.

No. His aesthetic does not align with

his like

I'm not even going to say golden

retriever cuz I wouldn't say he's a

golden retriever.

Cinnamon roll.

Yes. Very cinnamon rolly.

Yeah.

But you would not anticipate it from

from photos.

No, you wouldn't. You wouldn't. I love

it so much.

So anyway, the next day.

So, okay. Isabelle stays in Drake's room

that night and it's now the next day.

I've got it.

Yes. So, Hunter wakes up alone um after

having very weird and chaotic dreams

about like his dad and Hunter and Drake

and Isabelle all together doing weird.

He's like, "What the fuck?" He's like

super overwhelmed and freaked out. Um

and he realizes that Drake and Isabelle

are in bed together and he's like sort

of standing there in the doorway and

he's like, "You know, even if they did

do something together, I probably

deserve that." But then he's like,

they're fully clothed, so clearly they

didn't do anything. And also Isabelle

wouldn't on the first day of her period

just cuz of how she feels physically.

Yeah.

But like I [ __ ] up real bad. And

however Hunter chose to deal with that

is probably okay.

Drake.

Yes. However Drake chose to Sorry.

However Drake chose to deal with that is

kind of okay.

Mhm.

And so he admits to himself that Drake

has done nothing wrong. He has been

incredible and perfect.

Do we have insight into why Hunter did

that at this point?

So, not yet.

Okay.

But he is like, "Yeah, I [ __ ] up real

bad." And so, he gets into bed with

them.

Um, as Drake is waking up and is

immediately like, "I am so sorry. Like,

I never should have done that."

And he's like, "Listen, I just got

really freaked out and in my head and I

should never have treated you that way.

Like, you are not like disposable like

that. Like, you're important to me." And

basically, they talk about they're about

to go home and Drake is like, "Listen,

this was a fun road trip experiment or

whatever and I get that it's coming to

an end. We don't have to talk about it

anymore." like

and

Hunter is like I don't Isabelle wants to

continue this and so do I. I think that

like maybe we could still explore it

when we go home and I would really like

a second chance because I know that I

messed up and I want to make it right.

And Drake is like

no. He's like no thank you. Um,

like it's one thing to be with Isabelle,

but the way that you treated me was not

okay and I'm not comfortable like being

vulnerable with you like that anymore.

Full stop. And so

way to hold that boundary.

Yeah. Really? So, they're on their way

back and Isabelle is driving the last 4

hours back to LA when she sees a sign

for Vegas and is like,

you know, shit's been real weird since

yesterday. Why don't we check out Vegas

and see what happens? And so, um,

they go out together, like all dressed

to the nines. They're all dancing

together and all of them are making out

and just having a really good time. And

um my notes say DP threesome to end the

night which is a lot but a good time for

everybody apparently.

So um

I mean we did go from we're not going to

explore this any further to

right

DP threesome.

Well they're all like just because we're

going home doesn't mean we have to stop

like you know. Um, but Drake, I think,

is very much trying to protect himself

from getting hurt. So, he just assumes

it's gonna end rather than like actually

having the conversation. So, the next

night, um, Drake is like, "Oh,

we're not really [ __ ] anymore, are

we?" Like, this is emotional. Like,

there's a lot of like emotion coming up.

Um, and he's like, "I don't know really

what to do about that

because I'm moving in with them." So,

like the next day he's moving all their

[ __ ]

I forgot about that.

I Me, too. They're moving all of his

[ __ ] into their house. Um, and Drake and

Hunter go to the the their sex club for

a meeting to kind of talk about the trip

and everything they learned and blah

blah blah.

And Drake is just hanging out at the

bar. Um, and he has genuinely no idea

what the [ __ ] is going on between the

three of them because they've talked

about like it'd be cool to continue, but

they haven't talked about that means

we're exclusive or that means the three

of us are in a relationship or anything

else. So, he's like,

normally I'd be here [ __ ]

Yeah. So,

but also not going to like piss him off

by

Right. So, like

flirting with Rand.

Should I be [ __ ] He's like, I'm not

really sure. I don't know.

And so, um,

he's like, "What's my role here? Just

someone tell me."

He does have the thought. He's like, "I

probably need to start like [ __ ]

somebody. Like, I this has to end. Like,

I can't just be their third wheel

forever. Like, this is worse now than it

was before. Like, I want a relationship.

I don't want to keep doing this." And

so, he starts flirting with the

bartender.

And um Hunter is feeling very

overwhelmed and he's like

in this room board meeting with all of

his friends and he's like they're all

going to know. Everybody's going to know

that we've all been [ __ ] Oh god.

Oh, I don't think they give a [ __ ]

Like they can't see it on you, dude.

Like

you're not wearing a name tag.

You work in a sex club. It's not like

you work in a nursing home or something

and the board of directors is going to

take issue with you having a threesome.

You literally started this business

because none of you could find a safe

space to show up authentically

and you're literally doing the most

vanilla [ __ ] of anybody else in the

room. Like

dude, chill out. Like chill out. Um but

he does share about like all the ideas

that he has for all these different

things and he's like, "Yeah, um we

thought about quickie closets, right?

Like rooms where it's like we don't need

to rent a full room for an hour. We just

want a spot to bang it out like real

quick, you know?" And one of the guys

was like, "Oh, did you guys like try

that out?" And he's like, "I was with

Isabelle." And they were like, "Yeah,

but like

Yeah. So, did you try out a closet like

that with Isabelle?

Did you think like maybe Drake could

build one is what we were asking you?

Like what are you doing?"

Um, and it's very, very awkward. And

it's clear that everybody in the room is

like, "What? What? Are you good? You're

being [ __ ] weird, dude." So then he

finds Drake flirting with the bartender

and is mad. And Drake is like, "Hey,

we all said we would like it to

continue, but we never said yes, this is

what we're doing. I can't keep doing

this." Like,

yeah, it's an it's a bit of a no man's

land right now. We need a little bit

more clarity.

Exactly. So then Hunter says some

hateful stuff to Drake about his mom

because Drake's mom kind of had a

revolving door of men throughout Drake's

childhood and stuff.

No.

And immediately, like as soon as it

comes out of his mouth, he's like, "Holy

[ __ ] I am so like that. I'm like, I

didn't mean it like that. Oh my god."

And Drake is like, "Hey, you know what?

you did mean it and that's okay.

I understand. And I've been thinking for

a while now that maybe it is time for me

to settle down. So, um I think I am

maybe going to start dating.

Um so, yeah. No, I know. I know about

myself. Thank you.

And Hunter is like he can't quite get

the words out of like, please don't do

that. Like, please just come home with

me. And so he just leaves Drake there at

the bar and goes home.

Hunter is the person I'm getting annoyed

with the most throughout all of this.

And that is like the consistent theme is

like Hunter is the one that seems to

lack the most insight and to struggle

with the communication the most

because then Isabelle is very

disappointed in Hunter's lack of

willingness to open up about his

feelings

because he comes home without Drake and

Isabelle is like what happened and he is

having a very difficult time kind of

processing it and she's very gentle with

him but she does kind of call him out.

And she's like, "You need to be honest."

Um, but he just keeps saying like, "I'm

straight. I'm straight. I'm straight."

And she's like, "Okay."

And it's cool if you're not, right?

Yeah. And if you're not, what does that

Right.

Nothing in our dynamic has to shift

unless we want it to.

Yes. So then that night, Drake gets home

pretty late and Hunter is asleep. So

Isabelle goes out and they have they do

like all of their heartto-he hearts at

like midnight in the kitchen.

They really do. So Isabelle goes out and

has a heartto-he heart with Drake and

they basically declare their feelings

for each other and they're like yeah

like I love you and I have loved you for

a long time and this trip has kind of

like opened it up into a different kind

of love that I wasn't expecting but like

I do like I really care about you and

without Hunter being fully on board

this has

yeah we can't continue and So, um, Drake

then says like, "You've always been my

girl and you will always be my girl."

And I think it's at this point he

reveals that like Hunter didn't remember

the green dress, but Drake remembers

like he's the one that remembers the

green dress when they saw her for the

first time and stuff like that.

So,

Drake decides he is going to go out with

the bartender.

We're going to go on a date and see how

it goes. and he's like, "Yeah, the spark

just isn't really there." Um, and he's

like, "Yeah, I could [ __ ] him, but like

the desire to wake up with him and like

do life with him isn't there."

Mhm.

And he just goes home feeling more

confused and sad.

And he finds Isabelle doing what I refer

to in my notes as baked baking, which is

where you get high and bake.

which is one of my favorite activities.

Yeah.

And so she's like dancing around the

kitchen and she has not clocked that

he's there and Hunter comes in and

Drake or Hunter.

Hunter comes in.

Okay. and Drake is while Drake is

watching her and they kind of have a

laugh at her antics and stuff and um

they suddenly engage in some like light

food play ex like and it starts to

escalate and stuff and Hunter like sucks

whipped cream off of Drake's dick

and then

things did escalate quickly. They then

do

DVP

and

that one

makes me drier than the Sahara.

The thought of DVP

like locked up. Yeah. I'm like, that

seems like a I was reading a book where

he shoved his fing like two fingers in

with his dick and even that I'm like

see that I'm more like but

I think it depends on I'm also like why

right

who's that for in this moment

right who is that for

because I feel like there are times

where it sounds hot but then I'm like in

practice not is it

yes okay so DVP

Yep.

And um Drake then starts to admit to

himself that like the reason that he

didn't feel that spark with the

bartender is because

he hunter,

right? He feels it with the two of them.

Yeah.

Right. So the next few days they're

respectfully. We've all [ __ ] known

this.

Oh yeah. Like literally everybody.

Oh what? This is brand new information

that we've been watching the three of

you figure out this whole time.

Shock and all. So, the next few days,

um, Drake is doing renovations at the

club for the the Quickie closets. Um,

and Hunter goes in to help. And then he

finally admits how attracted to Drake he

is. Mutual handies in the shower at the

club. It's all very hot.

And Isabelle wakes up as the guys are

coming through the door. And she hears

them like kind of banging around.

and go into the guest room and she's

like, "This is it." She's like, "This

has landed.

It's finally happening."

She's like, "Nobody panic." And so, um,

she eaves drops on them while they are

[ __ ]

Mhm.

And she is like touching herself in the

hallway, but then also really emotional

that like they're finally getting there.

I, as respectfully as I can say this,

it's taken them so long to get there. I

kind of don't give a [ __ ] at this point.

I'm like I feel like we like needed to

get there like 15 back and forths ago.

Yeah. Well, and I think that that is one

of the only qualms I have with this book

is that it is like we could have done

this in like a hundred fewer pages and

had like one or two less of these. Um,

and it would have felt maybe a little

bit more like exciting when it finally

happened. But regardless, the next

morning, Hunter tells Isabelle

everything. Um, and uh they're like,

"Okay, so like what do we do now?" And

um lots of like calling each other on

their [ __ ] of like this is serious.

Like Drake is important to us, blah blah

blah stuff we already know.

Yes.

Things you've been telling him for the

last 150 pages that you like weren't

acting out in practice. Hunter.

Hunter is like, "I'll think about it."

Which,

oh my god,

Isabelle's like, "Okay,

shut the [ __ ] up, Hunter."

So, a lot of stuff happens where like

the Shabari instructor from New Orleans

shows up because they liked her so much

they brought her in to do a workshop and

then Drake's like, "Oh, balls." Um,

and basically she's like, "Hey, have you

ever thought that maybe you deserve

better and you should ask for that?"

Like, "Love you. Bye." She's like the

drive by therapist throughout this whole

thing. She's like, "Um, that's [ __ ]

Have you thought about not doing that?

Call me later." Like, that's her energy

the whole time. So,

yeah. Basically, Drake finally confronts

Hunter. Um, and he's like, "How long are

we going to do this? This is [ __ ]

stupid."

I'm saying,

so Hunter is like, "Please tell me what

to do." He's like, "I just don't know

what to do." Like,

oh my god, Hunter, what the [ __ ] do you

mean you don't know what to do at this

point?

Yeah. So, at this point, Drake's vibe is

similar to your vibe where he's like, I

[ __ ] figure it out, dude. Like

seriously,

do you want me to be a part of this or

do you not want me to be a part of this?

Stop saying I matter and I'm important

and then be like, but I just don't know

what to do with the fact that he

matters.

Right,

Hunter?

So, at this point, Drake is like, "Yeah,

so um I have a job offer from that sex

club in New Orleans. I've made a lot of

my own connections. Maybe it's time for

me to go." Like, I this is hurting me.

Like, I can't do this anymore. And

Hunter is like, "Oh my god, don't leave

me." Like, and so

basically then Hunter goes home and

packs all his bags and waits for them to

come home together. So they show up and

he's like, "Hey, listen. You told me to

fix it and the only part of this that is

broken is me. So I'm going to go fix

myself and then I'm going to come back

and we're all going to be together.

Yeah. For a couple of months. He leaves

for a couple of months

and goes and stays with a friend and

they have almost no contact for a couple

of months.

So Hunter is like, "You guys stay here.

Take care of each other. I love you guys

so much. We'll get through this." So

yeah, she and Drake are basically

platonically supporting each other

because they don't feel good about like

exploring sexual stuff without Hunter

there. So 2 months later, Drake is very

pent up because they've had no sex for 2

months. And so um he's also really

depressed because

Hunter is just like not around. Like

they see him in the distance at the

club, but like they have no interaction

with the club. Yes, he's staying with

one of the other owners.

I thought he like at least like went

from like LA to Vegas. Like he was gone.

No, he's just lurking around.

I'm okay.

So, he sometimes calls Isabelle to do

brief check-ins of like, "Are you okay?

How's things going? Hang up." Like,

oh, good for him, checking on his wife.

He gets all of the kudos and credit for

that. I love how agitated you are with

him right now.

So,

and with each new thing you say,

get more mad.

It's just like twisting the night. I'm

like, "Hun, I know. I know. I know." So,

Drake gets home to a sobbing Isabelle

cuz she cut all of her hair off. So, she

had really long like auburn hair like

down to her ass and she cut it up to her

collar bones and she's like sobbing her

eyes out and she's like, "What if Hunter

hates it and he doesn't come back?" And

it's very like clearly her own childhood

stuff coming up. And Drake, who also has

long blonde hair, is like, "No stress,

babe." And shaves his head. He's like,

"See, it's just hair." And he's like,

"What have I done?" Like, like in the

moment in his head, he's like, "Oh,

that might have been too far." But it's

a lot of very sweet support for each

other and like showing up together. And

then they finally [ __ ] and declare their

love for each other. They've been

holding off for 2 months and they're

like, "Yeah, no, we do love each other

without Hunter present."

Hunter is finally ready to come back and

to admit that he is by. Um, he comes out

to all of his friends who are like,

"Uh-huh." Yeah.

The reason you've been living with us

for the past 2 months, this is brand new

information. Well, they're all like,

"Dude, we've literally thought the three

of you guys were [ __ ] this whole time

for years." Like,

okay,

should we throw you a party or

something? Like, what?

Oh my gosh.

And Drake has or Hunter has obviously

like really built this up in his own

head. So, then Hunter shows up at

Isabelle's yoga studio to apologize with

like, you know, a bouquet of flowers and

everything and says he's ready to

commit. Um,

I know, I know, I know, I know.

I'm sorry. I

I know. So then he's already married to

her.

He showed up with flowers for his wife.

His wife wife who he has a legally

binding contract with and is like, "I'm

finally ready to commit to you, baby.

File our taxes together. How much more

committed do you need to be? [ __ ]

We've bought property together and

you're telling me now that our name our

name is on the property deed of a of a

place and you're telling me now you're

ready to commit.

Good. We've only been together for 10

[ __ ] years, dude.

Muscle top hunter like what what do you

want a cookie? Like

oh my god. So they go to the club. They

find Drake. He takes them to one of the

rooms he has recently built and it's a

pitch dark room that he built and so he

shuts all the lights off. Um

Hunter tells Drake to [ __ ] him while he

[ __ ] Isabelle. It's a very big moment

for everyone.

Um they have a debrief conversation

afterwards clearing the air. Everybody's

committed. Hunter is like while I've

been away. I've been doing research

about polyamory. I understand now we're

all together. Open communication blah

blah blah. What are the boundaries? Like

it's a really good like conversation

related to my a decade of doing research

for the sex club he opened and this is

the first time where he's like and now

that it's applicable to me.

Yeah, I finally get it.

And then they a few days later do

they have sex in her yoga studio in like

her aerial

area. Oh.

Um, so that was a lot suspension. Um,

I was going to say I too have had sex in

the yoga studio I was working at.

There was there were no straps. It was

I was going to say in Ariel's because

that's like I'm impressed by that. That

feels like a lot of coordination.

No. Bless my husband who had attended

the class that I was teaching and then

stayed as I was mopping the floors.

Hot,

right? Yeah, that's

so at the epilogue 6 months later,

Isabella is pregnant with twins. They

don't know who the dad is, but they are

going to find out. She's like all that

weird [ __ ] about like it's everybody's

baby. She's like, okay, like we're not

going to treat them any differently, but

if these kids are Drake's, I would also

like Hunter to have his own biological

children. So, like we're going to find

out, which I appreciated cuz in a lot of

these it's like we don't need to know.

And then it's like but look into his

cornflour blue eyes just like his

father. And it's like okay.

Or my favorite is when like it's reverse

her and the men are multiple races. And

they're like we don't need to know. And

I'm like respectfully you will though.

No DNA test needed.

Respectfully. Um so um they are happy

and healthy. The club is doing great and

that's the end. They're getting their

their nursery ready for the Bet.

So, I will say what I liked about this

one was a lot of the angst did not come

from where I thought it was going to

come from. Like, it didn't come from any

secret keeping or like hurting each

other in that way. It was much more

Hunter needed to work through his own

[ __ ]

and Drake needed to work on his own

self-esteem, but like it wasn't the

I needed like at I needed at least four

to five less back and forth.

Yeah, that is my only complaint.

Like at at some point I'm like, "Okay,

I'm with you. I'm with you. I'm with

you." I'm like, "Wait, we're still we're

we're again

again." I do think in reading it, it

felt more of a gradual build like

than me trying to explain it. It felt a

little bit more like they got deeper

every time and like it was a different

Hey, it was a different vibe reading it,

but it was irritating by like the last

time. And I was I really don't like in a

lot of books where there's a big gap

where they go away from each other and

then come back. I often just personally

dislike that sort of trope.

There are very few times where I feel

like that trope is justified.

Right.

And this is not a situation in which I

necessarily felt like it was justified.

Right. On some level I was like, "Okay,

I get it. you're working through your

own internalized like homophobia and

stuff like okay okay okay um but at the

same time it felt like he did it in a

really hurtful way and probably could

have gone about it differently. Um yeah

because the number of times in which

they're like telling Drake he matters

and that he's important and then their

actions and behaviors

directly

show Drake that that is not true.

Right. Like there are only so many times

that like someone can tell you you're

important and then show you you're not

before you need to accept

that you're not

that yeah that those aren't are never

going to align. And I get like here

there were things that needed to be

worked through but just also like

I will say I liked this one the best. I

think of the three in this series that I

have read. It felt the most relatable

with the messiness of it. Um, but it

also was in some ways the most annoying

for that reason.

Yeah, cuz I do like in some way it

catches a lot of like the human angst of

that like hey like

a coming out process.

Yes, these are hard things to reconcile.

Yeah.

And

Hunter is stunted AF.

Oh my gosh.

Yeah. Maybe you should have gone to

therapy earlier, but

not with me though.

Not with me either.

No, I would have struggled with you as a

client.

I need you to make some make some

choices and commit.

Yeah, this a [ __ ] or get off the pot

situation.

Yes. Okay. What's our rating system?

I don't know. I was just thinking about

that. We could do um spanking benches.

We could do uh

Indian takeout. We could do

shabari ropes.

There is a lot more chabari in there

than I

mentioned. There's a lot of shabari.

Hell yeah. Let's do shabari ropes. Okay.

So, I'm gonna say

out of

Oh, I was going to say three cuz there

are three of them, but that doesn't feel

like enough out of five cuz I think they

went to five sex clubs. So,

I would give it like a three, three and

a half. Like it was an enjoyable read.

Yeah. And I think I was not as irritated

with Hunter as I was reading it as I was

when I was explaining it.

Is it my irritation with Hunter that's

really being fueled?

No, because I did have the thought when

he was like, I have to go away for 2

months where I was like, [ __ ] what?

Okay.

Do you though?

Right. Like I don't feel like Okay. All

right.

Okay. But you didn't go away. You went

down the street and still showed up to

work where we also all work. It was

really like, okay,

like that was a moment where I was like,

yeah.

Yeah. You're like, I guess this is how

this can play out.

Yeah.

Three out of five Shabbari ropes.

Yeah. I'm going to settle on three. It

was an enjoyable read. I would recommend

it because again, I felt like it was

more honest about the dynamics than a

lot of other books are. Um, and it also

feels like it's like a pretty accurate

portrayal of a lot of those dynamics

that have to be navigated.

Yeah. Mhm.

Um, versus so many books we read, we're

like, they don't talk about anything.

No. And then all of the plot comes from

the fact that they aren't communicating.

Yes.

And it's very annoying.

Yeah.

So, this was annoying differently and I

appreciate that.

We We do appreciate that. All right.

Three out of five. Shabari ropes.

Let us know how many ropes you would

rate this book. Don't forget to like,

subscribe, comment. Let us know what you

would like us to review next. And we'll

see you next time. Bye, smudsluts.

Bye.

Well, that's it for this week, Smud

[ __ ] We hope it was good for you cuz

it sure was great for us. If you're

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And we'll see you next week. Stay

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