Okay, so pushing it was. She pushed and pushed.
As soon as I am out, I will join the gym and, in the gym, start weight training. As soon as I am out of here, I will call Dad.
She swallowed past the lump in her throat and pushed the door again with all her might.
It sprung open, taking her with it, and Ivy grabbed on to maintain her balance
Yes! Freedom.
Her stomach sank as she saw a silver car and a black SUV parked to the side. Cold sweat broke out over her skin as she recognized that car. It had been following her! It wasn’t in her head. She ran, the grass slippery under her feet.
It would be a trek to the main airport, but she could do it. There were people over there. Maybe she could flag down a car or something. She just had to keep walking. Tonight, she was going to pack her bags and fly home.
She would admire her dad’s truck and bake a pie with her mother, watch whatever reruns her mom was currently bingeing, and relax on the old sofa in her childhood home, cursing herself for thinking it was better to leave it.
That she had to do everything by herself.
Isn’t that why she had a Dom? So she didn’t have to take on the weight of the world by herself?
He could have lifted some of that off of me,she thought and stopped, wheezing as she leaned down on her knees.
But Gabe had the same problem. He was wired to do it himself, though he had to. And he did because his father and brother weren’t there to help him. They had never been there for him.
She bit her lip, stood, and kept walking. She was mad at them, horrible people who couldn’t see the good in their son and brother. He just wanted to help people and play the guitar. Why couldn’t they just let him do that and not criticize him for not doing what they wanted him to do?
She didn’t want to hurt Gabe; despite how he treated her this past year, she loved him.
It almost hurt to love him, but she did.
He made her feel like a goddess in the bedroom and gave her everything her submissive heart needed among the sheets.
But was it enough?
Were those things enough to build a life on?
She didn’t know.
Ivy had been mad at her mother for asking her when she and Gabe were going to get serious. She had meant when Gabe would put a ring on her finger. Ivy shook her off. But they had been together for a long time.
Her mom had a point.
Was he ever going to commit to her?
As soon as she got out of here, she would ask him. Yes, she would. Ivy scoffed, some submissive she was, asking her Dom to marry her.
Well, that was exactly the kind of submissive she was.
And it was time for her to be the confident woman she was when she worked tirelessly at Metric, making a name for herself.
None of the last year was fair, but going forward, it would be different.
She just had to get through this never-ending field.
Shouting startled her out of her introspection. Ivy turned, tasting acid in her mouth as her stomach rose to her throat.
Four big, scary men were running towards her. Whatever it was, Cole wasn’t going to come back for her. This wasn’t some kind of surprise setup that ended on a tropical island.
What could she do? She ran.
