She lifted her head off the pillow to gaze at him. “But not now?”
“No, Chloe.” He gathered her in his arms. When he murmured “Not now” into her neck, she cared more about the warmth of his body than the single word on his mind.
Chapter 16
One week later, sitting atop a wooden stool in the sports bar Mickey’s, Sawyer sipped the crisp beer, scanning the faces of the Club Sin Masters around him. Travis was in jail and Chloe and Ashlyn weren’t in danger any longer, but still, strain threaded through Sawyer.
Chloe had gone back to work today after taking the week off. During that time she and Sawyer had taken a few day trips. One to the Grand Canyon. Another to a lake resort. He had a shift tomorrow morning and looked forward to returning to work. Life should’ve felt like it was getting back to normal. Yet it didn’t. Everything seemed different. He felt different. Which seemed odd to him, considering he was now surrounded by all of his closest friends, the Club Sin Masters. These men had been a solid presence in his life for at least five years, some of them even longer; he should only feel comfort around them.
So then why didn’t he?
Taking in the busy atmosphere of the pub, he gulped down his beer, feeling the cool liquid sliding down his throat. The football game played on the monitors. Loud laughter and chatter spun around him. Sawyer stayed lost in his head. Chloe had texted him earlier, telling him that Kenzie had invited her out tonight. Sawyer had suspicions about that. Now he looked up to address the men around him. “Whose idea was it to have the girls contact Chloe?”
Porter smiled from behind his beer. “Mine, of course.”
Sawyer spun his beer bottle. “What was your intention?”
Kyler answered for him. “Our intention was to introduce our girls to yours.”
Sawyer smiled in gratitude. He liked that part of it. “Well, thank you. I’m sure she appreciates having a girls’ night out.”
“As far as I’m aware, they’re just at Kenzie’s apartment,” said Porter. “Girls’ night in, I heard.” Surprise fluttered across his face when he saw Sawyer’s expression. “Did you not know that?”
Chloe hadn’t told him the exact details of tonight, only that Kenzie had invited her. “No, she never said exactly what they’d be doing.”
Dmitri’s eyes widened. “She didn’t tell you what they were doing?”
Sawyer shook his head, laughing to himself over the shock in their faces. “Nope.”
“Doesn’t that upset you?” asked Aidan.
Sawyer thought perhaps it should. Yet at the same time it almost freed him that she did the exact opposite of what a submissive would do. She didn’t feel it necessary to tell him all the details, as would be expected if he were dating a submissive. She’d drawn a line, and he rather liked it—the line would keep him well aware of when he should act Dominant
and when he should not. “Nope, not upset at all.”
Kyler snorted. “That’s because she’s knocked you on your ass.”
Sawyer shrugged, not denying it.
“Tell us, how is Chloe doing after her ordeal?” asked Dmitri in a more serious voice.
Before Sawyer could reply, two waitresses brought over trays of chicken wings and burgers. They handed out the meals and took more drink orders, then scurried off. Sawyer picked up a hot wing. “She’s a trouper, that girl.”
“I still can’t believe that happened to her,” Kyler said before taking a bite of his burger. “She’s brave.”
“She is that.” Sawyer wiped his mouth with his napkin. “She had a good cry, got it out, and picked herself right back up again.”
Porter chewed on a wing. “She’s always been that way. It’s why she’s so good at her job. Nothing fazes her. She accepts what’s happening around her as something she can’t control and moves on.”
Sawyer smiled. “She is special.” Which reminded him that he hadn’t asked his friends here tonight just to shoot the shit. He’d been away from Club Sin since Chloe’s abduction, only wanting to be with her, and he needed to answer for that. He couldn’t stay in this limbo any longer. “Which brings me to the reason I asked you all here.” All eyes turned to him. He drew in a deep breath, steadying himself for what he needed to do next. “Something’s gotta give.”
Kyler frowned behind his burger. “With what?”
“When Chloe was in danger”—Sawyer pushed away his plate for now, his appetite gone—“it made me realize things. Things that I can’t ignore any longer if I want to move forward.” He read concern on all the faces around him. “Every time the BDSM lifestyle comes up with Chloe, something goes to shit. First it was when she went to Chains and became upset because she thought she couldn’t be what I needed. Then I went to talk to Porter, and Travis abducted her. That’s telling me I can’t have both lives.” He paused, and suddenly all the tension he’d been feeling left him as he said, “I pick her.”
Aidan lowered his beer bottle to the table with a clunk. “What do you mean, you pick her?”
Voice tight, Dmitri interjected, “You want to leave Club Sin?”