“Tell him thanks for the heads up.”
Theo nods. “Gonna head home so Kenny can leave before it gets much later.”
I look at my watch and mentally calculate everything. Ten minutes for Theo to get home. Ten minutes for Kenny to pack up all of her studying stuff, another ten if Callie is still awake and is reluctant to let her go, fifteen minutes to drive from Theo’s to the ranch. “Alright. If she looks tired, have her stay put and I’ll come pick her up.”
“If she looks tired, she can crash in the guest room,” Theo argues with a small smile as he climbs into the cab of his pickup, cranking the engine before I can respond. Honestly, Kenny spending the night there would make me feel better, anyway. I’m worried she’s taking on too much.
Jameson’s eyes don’t leave me as Theo drives off. “Don’t say it,” I grumble.
“Wasn’t saying shit,” he responds, though his big ass grin says enough. “She’s testing you, you know?”
I snort. “I’ve been wondering, but I can’t decide if she is or not. I can’t get a good read on her and something tells meoutright asking her if she needs her ass spanked isn’t going to help the situation. Especially after tonight.”
“So don’t spank her ass,” he says with a shrug. “There’s a million other outlets for her. Instead of asking her if she needs her ass spanked, just ask her if she wants to be dominated in the first place. Discuss limits and go from there. C’mon, Maddie, you know this shit.” He grips my shoulders and jostles me playfully.
“It’s different,” I argue and then shake my head because it’s hard to explain. I haven’t had many subs—given my low sex drive—but while I definitely respected the women I had dominated, none of them were anything more than sex to me.
Austin would be much more… if I allowed myself to go there. “It wouldn’t just be sex, and I don’t even know for sure if she would be interested in a dynamic. Plus, she’s leaving.”
He nods like he understands, sliding his hands back into his pockets and gazing at the mountains in the distance dimly lit up by the moon. His mouth opens, like he has something he wants to say. Whatever it is, he shakes his head and decides not to bring it up. “Better head back.”
TWENTY
AUSTIN
I could shootmyself in the foot for crying on Maddox Whittaker’s chest like that. I rarely cried, but when I did, it was always ugly like that—a volatile mix of bottling shit up for too long, never having time to break down in private, and a childhood full of moments where I was yelled at for crying. Now I’ve gone and made Maddox feel sorry for me and he’s added me to the list of people he worries about, as though he needed that list to be one person longer.
The patrons feel bad for me, so my tips are stellar for the rest of the night. Maybe I should cry in public more often after all. It might just be the thing that gets me out of here.
Dad is passed out on the couch when I get home and, technically, I could take the rest of the night off if I wanted to. The tips I made at the bar tonight, considering it was supposed to be my night off, have already put me ahead of the game. I tell myself I log on to prove to Maddox that I’m just fine, that the crying stint was just a fluke. That he doesn’t need to worry about me.
But the reality is, I log on because I know Maddox is watching for that notification. He logs in less than two minutes after I go live, immediately tipping $250 for a private show.
DamnDan:Fucking Christ, I hate when this guy is on.
“You know, you can text me without paying a dime,” I say as soon as the private chat room connects, adjusting my camera so that my face is showing. He turns his on a second later, gracing me with the view of his ugly—gorgeous—mug.
“Seems the only time you want anything to do with me is when I’m paying for your time, so I figured this would be easier,” he replies. It fucking stings.
“That’s not fair,” I argue immediately. “You’re the one who ghosted me after buying me the stupid lingerie. I told you it was too expensive, and you insisted?—”
“I don’t give a fuck about the lingerie, Austin.”
“What then? You realize you were spending too much on awhore?” I say, emphasizing the word I know he hates just to piss him off more. Things were getting too touchy-feely between us. I need normalcy.
Maddox’s jaw clenches and he pulls his eyes away from the screen like he’s reigning in his temper, which is absolutely no fun at all. For a girl who usually tries to avoid angry men, I sure love riling Maddox up. I’m about to find something else to say to piss him off when he replies with something I never saw coming. “I’m sorry, Tex.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry. It wasn’t fair of me to just stop talking to you and everything. I got in my head about something and I took it out on you and that wasn’t right.”
I don’t know how to respond right away, so, instead, it looks like I’m doing my best impression of a largemouth bass. It’s just that an apology was the last thing I expected out of his mouth when I was purposefully riling him up. Also, in general, the list of men I’d ever known to apologize was short.
“It’s fine,” I finally settle on, trying to pretend it hadn’t even bothered me, like I hadn’t wondered for weeks what I’d done wrong to make him change his mind. “Uh, did you hear me when I called myself a whore again?” I ask, since he hadn’t taken the bait and the whole point had been to piss him off.
He huffs out a laugh with a smirk to match. “Yeah, brat. I heard you. I’m trying to decide if you keep saying it because you just think it’s fun to piss me off or if you’re itching to have your ass spanked.”
I can only pray that the mic doesn’t pick up the way my breath hitches. I grab my phone, pretending a notification came through and distracted me so I can pull my gaze from the screen.
