Page 20 of Masters of Pleasure
“Yes!Come join us, and we’ll chat.”Rae was clearly on the same page… or maybe she was drunk and feeling extra friendly… either way.
They’d show Mitch and Brian.
Even if Domi wasn’t supposed to care what Mitch thought anymore.Yeah, clearly, she was going to need to work on that.
Mitch
He needed new friends.
“Seriously, Mitch, why don’t you want a relationship with Domi?”Kincaid’s cop training was showing, refusing to give up the interrogation.
“It’s nother.I don’t want a relationship with anyone.”That had always been his motto.“Relationships aren’t my thing.”
“Aren’t your thing?”Brian asked incredulously.“Then what do you think you and Domi have been doing these past months?”
Mitch took another swig of his beer to avoid answering and give himself time to think.What had they been doing?Having lots of hot sex.Exploring each other’s boundaries.With just each other and no one else.That made them exclusive lovers but nothing more.
Sex was easy.Make her scream, make her feel good, get her off.No promises, no expectations, and no hurt feelings.
Do you really think Domi’s not hurt?If she wasn’t hurt, she wouldn’t be pulling back.
No, she was afraid of being hurt.That was different.He hadn’t hurt her yet.
You sure about that?
No.No, he wasn’t.And he didn’t like that, either.That was the opposite of what he wanted.He wanted to make Domi feel good, make her happy.Because he liked her.Was going to miss her.
Was falling for her the same way she was falling for him.
Aw, shit.
Could it really be that simple?
“I think I’m falling for Domi.”He said the words slowly, trying them out to see how they tasted.
“Hallelujah.I was starting to think you’re dumber than I realized.”Master Andrew threw his hands up in the air in mock celebration.Mitch scowled at him, but the corner of his lip twitched.A class clown always appreciated another class clown.
“So, you do want a relationship with her?”Kincaid pressed, clearly still in questioning mode.Brian chuckled.Now, Mitch felt like throwing up his hands.
“I don’t know.What does that feel like?”He shook his head.“The last time I had a ‘relationship’ with someone was high school.”
That had ended when they’d both gone off to college.No broken hearts on either side—they’d just drifted apart, easy peasy.After his parents’ divorce, he’d decided his way was better.No screaming, no crying, no hurt, no putting on a brave face, no pretending things were just fine when they were anything but.
“Yeah, I don’t think that counts,” Brian said dryly.
Master Andrew pointed a finger at him.“Hey, don’t knock high school relationships.”
“You and Kate were high school sweethearts?”Mitch was confused.Club gossip said Master Andrew had been a bigger man whore than Mitch before he’d gotten together with Kate.How was that possible?
“We broke up for a few years.”Shrugging with a nonchalance that didn’t seem quite real, the bartender leaned against the bar, his eyes unfocusing and a little smile growing on his face.“I moved to New York, she went to California.Lost touch.Then we both ended up back here around the same time, and that was that.”
“Sure… that was that.”Mistress Lisa stepped around Andrew to grab a bottle on the other side of him, shaking her head.“You’re leaving out an awful lot of drama.”
“The important thing is,” Andrew continued, raising his voice to drown out Mistress Lisa’s commentary, “you both have to be on the same page.If Domi wants a relationship and you only want sex, it’s not going to work out.Or vice versa.”
“But how do I know if I want a relationship?”Mitch persisted, looking around at his friends.Brian and Kincaid were both unattached, but neither of them was anti-relationships the way Mitch was.They were open to them.Obviously, Master Andrew had managed to make the jump from being the club’s biggest manwhore to being monogamous and engaged.Sure, he and Kate might not make it in the long run, but they were making it work right now.
It wasn’t that Mitch thought long-term commitment and marriage couldn’t work out for people.He just hadn’t seen it happen very often.Marriage, relationships… they were all a bad bet a surprising number of people decided to gamble on, anyway.
