The napkin from breakfast came out of Bryce’s pocket when they got home.
Elara found it on the kitchen table later, unfolded beside his keys. The original list was still there in his small handwriting.
Water closer.
Towels.
Seats where they were needed.
Don’t plan too much.
Give people time to watch.
Nobody regretted it.
Below them, another line had appeared.
Front doors. Privacy.
She looked up at him.
“You were thinking about the barn while we were away.”
Bryce shrugged, one shoulder.
“You weren’t?”
“Not about the doors.”
“With five people, it didn’t matter much. With more, it might.”
Elara leaned against the table. Before they had left, Luke had mentioned two couples he and Erin had known for years. Matt and Sophie. Liam and Joel. People he trusted enough to suggest bringing to the ranch if Bryce and Elara ever wanted to expand beyond the five of them.
“Nine,” she said.
“If everyone comes.”
“And you’re worried about someone opening the barn doors.”
“I’m worried about someone opening them while someone else is halfway through something inside.”
That made considerably more sense.
The existing curtains could close off individual bays, but the main doors still opened directly onto the central aisle. Anyone arriving late or leaving early could expose most of the barn for the few seconds the doors stood open.
Elara looked toward the yard.
“Curtain inside the doors.”
“Two.”
“Why two?”
“So they meet in the middle.”
“Gap.”
“Overlap.”
She smiled.
“You’ve already measured it.”
Bryce said nothing.
“Of course you have.”
The bay curtains had changed the barn months earlier. Dark fabric gathered around the posts when open and turned individual spaces private when drawn.
This was different.
Bryce marked a line across the barn a couple of metres inside the main doors. Far enough back to create a small entry area between the doors and the curtain, but not far enough to interfere with the nearest bays.
Two heavy panels would meet across the centre.
Elara stood outside while Bryce closed the new curtains, then pulled one of the main doors open.
She could see timber.
Concrete.
The dark wall of fabric.
Nothing beyond it.
“Move the middle.”
Bryce disappeared behind the curtain.
The overlap shifted.
Still nothing.
“More.”
His hand appeared briefly, dragging one panel farther aside.
A narrow line opened between them.
Elara immediately saw part of the aisle.
“There.”
Bryce closed it again.
“That’s what I wanted to know.”
She stepped through the main doors and pulled them shut behind her. The small space between the doors and curtain felt almost like an entrance hall without actually being one.
“Someone comes in. Doors shut.”
Bryce nodded.
“Then curtain.”
Elara parted the overlap and stepped through.
The barn opened around her.
The stage at the far end. Bay Three’s bar. Curtains gathered around the posts. The stockade, cross and equipment occupying the spaces they had already claimed.
She turned.
Bryce was still on the other side.
“Come in.”
His hand appeared through the overlap, followed by the rest of him.
Elara caught his shirt before he had fully cleared the curtain.
Bryce looked down at her hand.
“We’re testing it.”
“We tested it.”
“We tested whether anyone could see through it.”
“And?”
“They can’t.”
Elara pulled him closer.
“Then we should test whether anyone can hear through it.”
His mouth moved.
“That isn’t how sound works.”
“Very technical.”
She kissed him.
The entry curtain stayed behind them.
Elara backed toward the nearest bay, caught one of the existing curtains and drew it across.
Bryce stopped.
“Now we’re behind two curtains.”
“Very observant.”
“You’ve been home less than a day.”
“I missed the barn.”
“You were tied up somewhere else.”
“So were you.”
That ended the argument.
Elara pushed him backwards until he caught the half-wall behind him. His hands settled at her hips.
“This is what I meant about nine people,” she said.
Bryce looked at her.
“You’re thinking about nine people now?”
“I’m thinking about what happens when someone wants privacy without leaving.”
She drew his hand lower.
“The barn can stay busy out there.”
Her mouth found his.
“And this can still happen in here.”
Bryce turned them.
Elara’s back met the wall.
His mouth moved down her throat while his fingers found the buttons of her shirt. She worked at his belt, impatient when the buckle caught.
“You’re rushing.”
“I know.”
Bryce caught both her wrists.
Elara looked at him.
“That wasn’t permission to stop.”
“I know.”
He pinned her hands against the timber above her head and kissed her again.
The curtain moved faintly beside them.
Nothing beyond it changed.
No audience.
No need for one.
Elara opened her knees as his hand moved between them.
The first touch made her suck in a breath.
Bryce watched her.
“You were saying?”
“I’ve forgotten.”
“That was quick.”
“Shut up.”
His fingers moved again.
Elara’s head tipped back against the wall.
Bryce released her wrists only when she reached for him again. She pulled his shirt open, kissed his chest, then pushed him away enough to free herself from her jeans.
The polished concrete was cool beneath her bare feet.
Bryce looked toward the curtain.
Elara caught his face and turned it back.
“No one can see.”
“I know.”
“That was the point.”
He smiled.
Then lifted her onto the half-wall.
They stayed behind the curtain considerably longer than the privacy test required.
When Elara finally pulled it open again, her hair was loose and Bryce was doing up his belt.
The barn returned immediately.
Open aisle.
Stage.
Bar.
Dark curtains waiting around the bays.
She walked toward the main doors and looked back.
Bryce followed more slowly.
“With five, everyone mostly stayed together.”
“Yeah.”
“With nine, they won’t.”
“No.”
“Someone could be at the bar. Someone behind a curtain. Someone on the stage.”
Bryce nodded.
“Someone arriving late.”
“Or leaving.”
Elara looked at the new entrance curtains.
“They stay.”
“They were staying anyway.”
She ignored him.
“What did Luke actually say about the others?”
“Matt and Sophie have been friends with them for years. Same with Liam and Joel.”
“And Holly?”
“Knows all four.”
“That helps.”
“It does.”
Elara walked back toward the bar.
“But we haven’t met them.”
“No.”
She rested her forearms on the counter.
“You trust Luke?”
“Yes.”
“Erin?”
“Yes.”
“Holly?”
Bryce gave her a look.
Elara smiled.
“Fine.”
He came to stand opposite her.
“I trust their judgement. That doesn’t mean we hand four strangers the keys.”
“We invite them once.”
“Meet them.”
“See what happens.”
Bryce nodded.
“No promises.”
“No expectations.”
Elara looked around the barn.
“And definitely no fucking plan.”
Bryce smiled.
“You wrote that down.”
“You need reminding.”
That evening Elara opened a notebook at the kitchen table.
“Nine people eat a lot.”
Bryce looked up from his coffee.
“That’s your first concern?”
“I have practical concerns too.”
She started writing.
“Food. Drinks. Ice. Towels.”
“We already added towels.”
“More people.”
“Fair.”
“Cleaning stuff.”
Bryce nodded.
Elara kept writing.
“If this happens occasionally, fine. If it becomes regular, we can’t keep paying for everyone.”
“The newcomers contribute.”
She looked up.
“How?”
“Cover charge.”
The phrase sounded strange enough that Elara laughed.
“You’re charging admission to our sex barn?”
“No.”
“That is exactly what you just said.”
“Small amount. Food, drinks, supplies.”
“So admission.”
“Contribution.”
“You called it cover charge.”
Bryce took a drink.
“I regret that already.”
Elara grinned and wrote cover charge? in the notebook.
Bryce leaned across the table.
“Lose the question mark.”
She stared at him.
His mouth shifted.
Elara laughed.
“Now who wants to lose the question mark?”
“Whatever we call it, people contribute.”
She looked back at the figures.
“Four newcomers. If they put something in, that covers most of the food and drinks.”
“And it doesn’t buy anything else.”
Elara glanced up.
Bryce held her gaze.
“No one pays for participation.”
“Obviously.”
“No one pays for access to anyone.”
“I know.”
“The invitation gets them through the door. The money feeds them.”
Elara drew a line beneath the total.
“That I like.”
She tapped the notebook.
“Cover charge stays until you come up with a better name.”
Bryce shook his head.
He called Luke the next morning.
Elara stayed close enough to hear Bryce’s side of it while pretending to organise bottles behind the bar.
“Yeah.”
Pause.
“Both couples?”
Another pause.
Bryce looked toward her.
Elara raised her eyebrows.
“Saturday works.”
He listened.
“No. Nothing formal.”
Elara smiled at that.
“Tell them food and drinks are covered. We’ll work out a contribution.”
Longer pause.
Bryce laughed.
“No, Holly doesn’t get a discount.”
Elara stopped pretending not to listen.
Bryce hung up.
“Well?”
“They’re in.”
“Both couples?”
“Matt and Sophie. Liam and Joel.”
“Nine.”
“Nine.”
Elara looked toward the entrance.
The new curtains hung closed across the width of the barn.
She walked down the aisle, slipped through the overlap and opened one main door.
From outside, she saw nothing beyond the dark fabric.
She shut the door behind her and stepped back through.
Bryce was waiting beside the bar.
“Happy?”
Elara looked around the barn.
“Ask me Saturday.”