“And?”
“He was sympathetic, but he had warned me. I told him what happened because I didn’t want Aaron coming around the house when I was home after that.”
“And?”
“They were graduating in a month and then going off to summer jobs and then college. My brother was super cool about the whole thing. He said it wasn’t a problem.”
He’d been wildly kind to me. He hadn’t pitied me. He hadn’t given me shit. He’d just pulled me into his arms, hugged me, and then ruffled my hair.
It’s going to be okay, kid.
Somehow, Matthew’s words had meant everything to me.
Everything.
I clung to them forever: as I finished high school, when I moved out to go to college, and even when I landed this job. Even now, when I’m having a hard time, I think about those words, and how they really did change everything for me.
“And he came into the club last night,” Tabitha says, shaking her head.
“Yep.”
“And he wanted to scene with you.”
“Maybe,” I whisper.
Maybe.
I have no idea why he walked into the club. I don’t know why he tried to speak to me. We haven’t talked in years. We haven’t talked since it happened all that time ago, and now...now I don’t know what I would even say to him.
My life has changed a lot since Aaron Winters turned me down.
And I don’t think it’s got a place for him in it anymore.
Chapter Four
Aaron
Once I’ve finished paying my membership dues, submitting to background checks, and participating in all of the necessary interviews, including submitting references from the other clubs I’ve played at, I’m allowed to enter Club Shadows again.
This time, I’m not going to make the same mistakes I made before. I’m not going to do anything to scare the submissives. I won’t do anything that will bother or upset the other participants.
I won’t try to speak to Mallory.
She obviously doesn’t want to speak to me.
The other Dominants may not like me or want to be around me, but I’ll win them over in time. It’s a good thing I’m an incredibly patient man. I’m not exactly new to the lifestyle. It’s just that I started off on the wrong foot with them the other night. I probably should have tried harder, or maybe I should have cleared my head more before I tried to approach her.
Mallory and I have a messy past. We have a history that is both painful and frustrating to think about, but we also have a history that is shared. No one knows what Mallory went through nearly as well as I do because I was there, and more importantly, I went through it, too.
I wish she’d want to speak to me. I desperately want to speak with her, if only for closure. Maybe it’s because in some ways, I always felt responsible for her, too. Oh, Matthew was the big brother, but we both guarded her, protected her. At least, I always thought I did. Maybe I did a poorer job than I thought.
It’s a week after seeing Mallory that I find myself, once again, prowling the club. This time, I actually am looking for her, and I check the stages to see if I can find her. The club is a lovely one, and it’s set up in a way to provide both optimum stage presence and optimum privacy. There are smaller play spaces where people can explore their sexuality with one another, but there are also large, open stages where scenes can be performed and everyone can watch from the shadows.
I don’t see Mallory anywhere.
I thought I’d find her easily. I want to talk to her. Hell, I just want to ask her if she’s doing okay. After everything that happened, it’s strange that the one person who knows how I feel is the one I can’t seem to find or get alone long enough to talk to.
“Looking for someone special?” A Domme says, drawing my attention. I turn to her and smile easily.