“Okay.”
He pressed a kiss to my forehead, and Lex squeezed my shoulder then kissed my lips as they passed. “Press the button onthe smaller fob fifteen minutes before you come out so it’s nice and warm for you.” He paused and I nodded. “See you soon.”
The door closed behind them, and suddenly it was just Iris and me in the too-quiet cabin.
“Sit,” I said, gesturing to the couch. “Do you want coffee? Tea?”
“No, I just...” She sank onto the couch and immediately started crying. “I can’t do this, Cami. I can’t be in a triad. I thought I could, but I can’t.”
I sat beside her and put my arm around her shoulders. “What happened?”
“Everything. Nothing. I don’t know.” She wiped her eyes. “The guys were never really with me, you know? They were just... doing their own thing and I happened to be there. And after what happened with the safe word violation, I realized I’d been making excuses for them for months. Telling myself it would get better. That I just needed to try harder. Be more like the other submissives.”
“Iris, you don’t need to be like anyone else.”
“Don’t I? Have you seen the women here? The ones who’ve been doing this for years? They’re so confident, so experienced. They know exactly what their Dominants need without being told. They can take intense scenes without breaking. And I’m just... I’m not that. I’ll never be that.”
Her words hit me somewhere deep, but I pushed the feeling away. This wasn’t about me.
“You’re enough as you are,” I said firmly.
“Am I?” She looked at me with those desperate eyes. “Because it didn’t feel like enough. It felt like I was constantly failing. Constantly disappointing them. And I kept thinking, when are they going to realize they can do better? When are they going to find someone who actually knows what they’re doing?”
My throat tightened, but I kept my voice steady. “What are you going to do now?”
“Go home. Lick my wounds. Maybe try to find a single partner who won’t make me feel like I’m competing with someone else for attention.” She laughed bitterly. “I’m not going to the rest of observation week. I don’t have a triad anymore. No point.”
“There are singles observing too,” I offered. “You could still learn.”
“Maybe. I don’t know.” She looked at me. “What about you? What’s the plan after you leave here at the end of the week?”
The question caught me off guard. “I... we haven’t really discussed it.”
“You haven’t discussed it?” Iris’s eyebrows rose. “Cami, you leave in four days. And you don’t know what happens after?”
“It’s been busy. The workshop, and?—”
“That’s not a good sign.” Iris’s voice was gentle but the words cut deep. “If they wanted you to stay, they would have said something by now. Trust me. I know what it looks like when you’re just convenient for the moment.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Isn’t it?” She stood and grabbed her purse. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be negative. I’m just... I’m processing. And maybe I’m projecting. But, Cami, protect yourself, okay? Don’t assume they want the same things you do. Don’t wait for them to tell you you’re not enough. Ask the hard questions now before it hurts more later.”
She hugged me briefly and left, and I sat there in the silent cabin, her words echoing in my head.
If they wanted you to stay, they would have said something by now.
Don’t wait for them to tell you you’re not enough.
You leave in four days.
I looked around the cabin that had felt like home. Majesty’s jacket on the back of a chair. Lex’s book on the coffee table. My own things scattered among theirs like I belonged here.
But did I?
I shook my head, trying to quiet the thoughts. Iris was hurting. She was projecting her situation onto mine. This was different. We were different.
Weren’t we?
