“You should eat something, princess,” Rhys says, frowning at Ollie.
“Not hungry.” She doesn’t even look up as she shoves the now-cold scrambled eggs to the side of her plate.
The muscle in Rhys’s jaw jumps in irritation. I can only imagine how hard his inner Dom is riding him right now. The guy might act like a massive hard-ass, but there’s a softer side to him that demands he looks after those he cares about. Ollie is definitely in that category.
“Sweetheart, you know what the doctor said,” Alex says with a sigh as he brushes a big hand down the back of her head. “His health hasn’t deteriorated at all since he’s been in quarantine.”
Ollie’s face tightens. “He also said that it could be because of the small injection site and that he won’t start turning for at least another day or two.”
Rhys tries to get her to eat again. “Sure, but right now he’s not in immediate danger, and you need your strength.”
“For now,” is Ollie’s bitter reply. Her hand tightens on her fork for a moment before loosening with a sigh. She finally looks up for the first time, a tortured expression on her face as she glances between the three of us. “Am I a bad person if I wish that I already knew if he was going to turn?”
I immediately shake my head. “No, baby. You aren’t. The waiting is probably the worst part of this. At least if we knew he was turning, you could grieve and say your goodbyes instead of being stuck in this limbo.”
Alex leans down and presses a kiss to the top of her head. “You could never be a bad person, sweetheart. You don’t have a bad bone in your body.”
Surprisingly, her lips twitch as she glances up at him. “You can’t use my words against me.”
He chuckles. “I can and will.”
The mood lightens enough for Ollie to force down a couple of bites of food. It’s not much, but it’s more than she’s eaten in the past day. I shoot Alex a grateful look. Rhys watches her like a hawk, and I can tell he’s having to hold himself back from demanding she eat more as she picks up the half-full plate and offers it to Harlow.
“I’m going to check on Bean and the ponies,” she says once Harlow finishes cleaning the plate. The chair scrapes against the floor as she stands.
“I’ll come find you later,” I tell her. This has only cemented my determination to distract her from her guilt and worries, at least for a little while. I just need to get Rhys on board and then I’ll be killing two birds with one stone.
Ollie offers us a small smile before making her way out of the dining hall, Harlow following. It’s only once she’s disappeared from view that I turn to my two best friends.
“I have a plan.”
Rhys cocks an eyebrow while Alex just frowns.
“What kind of plan?” Rhys asks.
“We all know that Ollie can’t keep going on like she is. You’ve seen the bags under her eyes and the little food she eats. She needs a distraction; a way to shut up that beautiful brain of hers.” I turn to Rhys. “That’s where you come in.” If there’s one thing a Dom is good at, it’s shutting off a sub’s brain.
His eyes flare as understanding dawned on his face. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Theo.”
“Why not?”
He huffs. “Because I can’t just spring that kind of thing on her out of the blue. I need to know her boundaries and limits, establish safe words, and understand how much experience she has with this sort of thing.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not expecting you to tie her down and spank her until she’s crying, Rhys.” He can be so dramatic sometimes. “I just want you to shut her mind off a little; nothing hardcore.”
His jaw clenches. “Theo, it’s not that simple.”
“It can be. You’re just scared and making excuses. I get it, being vulnerable with someone can be terrifying, but remember what I said yesterday; sheneedsus. All of us, and right now, she needsyou, Rhys. Not me or Alex.You. So you’re going to put on your big boy trousers, establish a quick safe word or whatever, and then dominate the fuck out of her so she doesn’t have a chance to worry.”
Alex bites back a laugh, having watched the argument between the two of us with quiet amusement. “He has a point,” he says, nudging Rhys with his foot.
The other man scowls at me but he doesn’t argue. Mostly because I called him out on his bullshit and he can’t say shit becauseI’m right. And he knows it. A smug smirk spreads across my lips, which only pisses him off more.
“Why the fuck am I friends with you?” he grumbles before slumping into his chair with a sigh. “I still don’t think this is a good idea. She might not even be in the right mindset for this, not with everything going on.” He shoots me a hard look.
I wave him off. “It’ll be fine. I’ll have her ready for you.”
“Theo…” Rhys’s face tightens with trepidation.
