Page 16 of Masters of Pleasure
He pressed the call button.For some reason, he couldn’t shrug off her dismissal of him the way he normally did.It felt wrong, though he couldn’t pinpoint exactly why.
This wouldn’t be the first time a woman had broken up with him, though he had to admit it normally happened within a month or two because she either got tired of only being fuck buddies or they fell apart naturally, but he’d always seen it coming.There was a certainfeelto a connection when it started to diminish.Mitch was practically an expert on that feeling.
The connection between him and Domi hadn’t diminished at all, and if he’d been asked, he would have said they were both happily still going strong as friends-with-benefits.
The relief he felt when Domi picked up the phone, rather than letting the call go to voicemail, was disturbingly intense.
“Hello?”
It was hard to tell what she felt about him calling her from one word, which had been imbued with very little inflection.
“Hey, Domi, it’s Mitch.”He paused.Dammit.He really should have thought through what he wanted to say.“I, uh, I was just calling to make sure you’re okay.”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”Amusement tinged her voice.“Is this about my text message?I thought I was clear.”
“You were… I just… I wondered why, I guess.I wanted to make sure I didn’t cross any lines last night or anything.”
“Oh, no!”The almost horrified way she rushed to reassure him he hadn’t done anything wrong loosened the tightness in his chest.It felt as though a burden he hadn’t been aware of had lifted, and now that it was gone, he could breathe a little easier.“No… I, I’m so sorry, I never meant to make you feel that way.I…” Her voice trailed off, becoming hesitant.
“You…” Mitch supposed it didn’t matter much.If she was done with him, she was done, and he would have to deal with it.The thought of never playing with her again hurt him more than he’d expected, but he would respect her decision.
Domi blew out her breath, the way she often did before making herself say something she wasn’t completely comfortable revealing.Mitch had heard her do it often enough, either before or after a scene when he’d wanted to push her limits.What she said next threw him for an unexpected loop.
“I’m starting to fall for you.”She said it matter-of-factly, with very little emotion as if she was talking about nothing more shocking than the weather.“So, I decided we needed to break up.”
Wait… that was his line.Normally, when he sensed a woman was getting involved emotionally, Mitch would break it off—the polite thing to do, the gentlemanly thing to do—but he’d never had a woman break up with him because she was falling for him.He hadn’t realized Domi was starting to have feelings for him.Granted, they’d been scening together for far longer than any of his previous partners, and he’d gotten used to always scening with her… Hell, he hadn’t beeninterestedin scening with anyone else in ages.
“I realize that’s not what we agreed to when we first started playing,” she continued as though she wasn’t messing with his entire worldview.“I don’t want to get hurt, and I didn’t want to put you in a bad position.I think it’s better we end things before my emotions get more involved.”
“You’re breaking off our agreement because you like me too much?”he asked, just to make sure he understood correctly.
Domi snorted.“When you put it that way, it sounds ridiculous, but sort of.I am emotionally involved, and you’re not, which seems like a disaster in the making.”
That was hard to argue with, but it also seemed she was making some assumptions.Like, the fact he wasn’t emotionally involved.Sure, he might not be a relationship guy, but he still cared about her.Liked having her around.Liked being with her.Those emotions might be confined to the times when they saw each other, which were all at Stronghold or Marquis, but they existed.
“I think I’m just past the point of wanting a fuck buddy.”A little note of yearning entered her tone.“I think I want a relationship.I know it won’t be with you, but I feel like we’ve been having a relationship of sorts, and it’s made me realize I might want more.At least, I think I want to try.”
Lots of ‘thinks’ and a ‘might.’She wasn’t sure, then, but even so, Mitch didn’t see how that benefited him.She didn’t want him, not in the way they had been doing things.
“We could just scene together until you find someone,” he said lamely.The moment he started speaking, he’d known it was lame but hadn’t been able to stop himself.While knowing she wasn’t ditching him because of last night had loosened his chest, now there was an unhappy little ball of emotions right in the center of his stomach.
“As generous as that offer is, I’ll have to decline,” she said dryly.
Damn, he was going to miss her dry, sarcastic, sassy sense of humor.
“Yeah, no, I don’t blame you.”He looked down at his feet, staring at the carpet.The bland beige color did nothing to make him feel any better.“I… Yeah.Okay.Take care, Domi.”
“You too, Mitch,” she said softly, almost wistfully.
Hanging up, he stared at the phone and rubbed the achy spot in the middle of his chest.Unhappiness welled, along with the odd urge to kick something.To yell.To unleash the chaos of emotions that were beginning to swirl around inside him as he realized he wasn’t going to get to scene with Domi again.
Wasn’t going to be the one to make her scream, and cry, and beg, and plead, then scream some more as she cried out his name.Wasn’t going to have her dry wit to balance out his own goofiness.Not that he felt particularly goofy now.No more sassy, little sprite brightening up his weeks.
Shit.
Dropping onto his couch, he leaned his head back and stared up at the ceiling.
Now what?
