I’m not going to give up on trying to talk to him, to any of the brothers. I can go to the gym, maybe look for Drake or Knox, seeing as they’re close to my age. I turn the water off, then grab a towel, dry off, brush my teeth, and go to bed.
The blackout curtains do their job—the room is so dark I have no clue what time it is when I slowly wake up. As I stretch out my body, I can still feel the ache from last night’s activities, and a smile breaks free as I remember Andrew. It sours and fades quickly when I remember Royal’s anger and disdain and the difficult journey I have ahead of me to make him want me.
Another thing I need to do is find somewhere to live. As nice as the hotel is, I’ve got all my belongings in storage. My phone buzzes, vibrations making it bounce on the nightstand. I reach out and grab it before it falls to the floor. A message from Finn, my best friend for the last seven years, and my business partner. We met at orientation on the first day of uni and clicked straight away, his Love is Love rainbow T-shirt drawing me to him. I open up the message.
Finn: Good morning, Sunshine, I hope your arse aches as much as my hand! Call me, we need to talk.
I chuckle and type out my response.
Memphis: Knowing you, you’ve probably left some sub with welts from the leather strap over his arse. What’s going on? Is everything okay? Can I grab a coffee?
Finn: Nothing bad. Get caffeinated.
I look at the time on my phone. 11:15. I slept for nine hours. That’s unheard of for me. I usually manage about five. The choice to come back here wasn’t the catalyst to leave Simon. I knew that part of my life was over. But in the time I’ve been here, I’ve still had to work, and being long distance from Finn has made it harder. We’re so used to bouncing ideas off each other in person. Now it’s zoom calls or Facetime. It’s all catching up with me. Luckily, this room has a Keurig machine, so I can get a decent espresso in the morning without having to get dressed and go out and pay six quid for one.
With my coffee made, I go back to bed and call Finn. “Okay, spill. What’s up?”
Finn takes a deep breath. “I have to confess something to you. I think I’ve met someone. I mean, I know I’ve met someone. He’s twenty-nine, tall, dark,”
“And handsome?” I say before he can finish.
Finn laughs. “Well yes, but I was going to say hung like a horse. His name is Matt, he’s a mechanic, and he moved here about six months ago. He’s new to the scene. We met through a friend of a friend, so it’s been fun trying things out together, and he’s a perfect sub, not uber-kinky so no whips and chains. We just clicked.”
I join him laughing. “That’s great news. I’m happy for you, but why do you need to confess this? He must be a good person for you to like him. You can suss out an arsehole better than anyone I know.”
“I thought I was going to move with you, so that we’re not working remotely. I met him before you left and had kept quiet until we got to know each other better. But he’s a good guy, and I’d like to see where it can go. Is that going to be a problem for us working? Would it be a problem if I stayed here?”
“I hate not being able to shoot ideas back and forth with you but go for it. You deserve a shot of happiness, and it sounds like he makes you happy. We can do zoom meetings, and I can come back if there’s some things we can only do face-to-face.”
“What about you? Are you making any progress? Have you approached Royal yet?”
“It doesn’t look like I’m going to get anywhere with him. He was there last night, and when he saw me, well, to say it didn’t go well is a massive understatement. He wasn’t pleased to see me, but I’m not giving up yet. I’m hoping his reaction was more of surprise than him really not being happy to see me.”
“I’m guessing it was more the shock of seeing you, not only back home, but in his club too. Don’t be too disheartened. You need to give it a bit more time.”
“I know, I’m going to. I didn’t expect it to be easy, and if it truly has no chance of becoming something, there’s no shortage of hot Daddies at the club.” I don’t want to settle for someone who isn’t Royal. I didn’t uproot my life for him to turn me down, but I’m not stupid: I know when to give up. Plus, Andrew spanked and fucked me through two orgasms.
I haven’t managed to get anything productive done this morning, all thanks to a night of tossing and turning, unable to get any decent sleep because even when I did manage to drift off, I dreamt of Memphis. I’ve never thought of the grown-up adult version of him; he’s been eighteen in my head for the last seven years. And it kills me to see he’s turned into my fantasy boy. How did he discover he was a little? I never picked up on that side of him when was living here.
I storm into the gym and see Saint at one of the running machines, talking to another member, and head straight for him. “I need to talk to you,” I hiss through clenched teeth.
He must see the grim expression that’s been fixed on my face since I woke up. “Gimme a sec.” I stomp to the office because what I need to say doesn’t need to be heard by anyone else.
I grab a bottle of water from the small fridge Knox keeps in here and swallow half of it before Saint comes in and closes the door.
I wipe the back of my hand over my mouth. “Memphis is back.”
I watch as his eyes go wide, and he swallows hard. “What? Where?”
“Bound.”
“What the fuck was he doing there?” He runs his hands through his dark hair before locking his fingers together behind his head.
I close my eyes and the image of him last night is there. The cute pale blue shorts and matching T-shirt that had a teddy bear printed on the front. “He was at the party last night. The Daddies night.”
“He’s a Daddy?” he asks in disbelief as his eyebrows rise.
“No, he’s a boy.” I groan. A fucking gorgeous, perfect, fucking boy. I keep that titbit to myself.
