Page 50 of Caught Up

Ryan waved her off. “Even if you weren’t, we’d cover you.”

Taylor rested her head on Ryan’s shoulder, our earlier “altercation” forgotten. “Did you see Ghost Girl’s message?”

We’d spent several hours over the past two days looking into possible hires for Ryan, and there were a couple of great candidates.

“I did,” Ryan said. “She’s like the third person to recommend Ben.”

“Have you seen his work?” I asked.

Ryan nodded. “I did some scrolling earlier, and he’s really good, despite being less experienced than I am. I spoke to several people he’s worked with, and they all said he’s super professional. His style is even similar to mine, so I don’t think it would take much training to bring him up to my standards.”

Taylor prodded their shoulder. “You gonna offer him the job?”

“He hasn’t applied for it,” Ryan said.

“So?” I said. “Why not reach out to him first?”

Ryan grumbled, but together, Taylor and I convinced them it couldn’t hurt to send an email. The worst that could happen was Ben said no.

We figured it would be a few days before they heard back, but Ryan’s phone chimed not five minutes later, and they lifted their head from it, grinning. “He’s in.”

Taylor shrieked.

Walter started barking.

I gave up on trying to calm him down and let him have his fun.

Friday night found me at Velvet, seated in the back corner of the bondage room. Junior and I hadn’t spoken much since our encounter at the arcade, just enough to exchange phone numbers so I could text him what time to be here instead of having to do everything through the Me4U app.

I was nervous to see him. And excited. My body was keyed up, ready for more, desperate to get his hands on me again, and vice versa. Maybe I’d getreallylucky, and he’d finally let me suck his dick. A girl could hope.

My phone buzzed. I dug around in my purse trying to find the device. Cool metal met my fingers, and I pulled out what looked like a quarter, rubbed smooth from age, only twice the thickness of the normal currency. I could have sworn I’d never seen it before, but I had so much random shit floating loose in my purse that it was probably some token from a club or bar that I’d stashed in there and completely forgotten about.

I dropped it back inside and pulled my phone free. Junior had texted.

Running late. Something came up.

A wave of disappointment rolled through me as I texted him back.How late?The show is about to start.

I’m not sure,he said.I gotta deal with this.

I didn’t bother texting him back. The vagueness told me everything I needed to know.

He was standing me up.

Because of course he fucking was. God, I was an idiot for not seeing this coming.

Anger churned in my belly, more directed at myself than Junior. This was what I got for going against my better judgment. He’d already proved he couldn’t be trusted, and I’d stupidly given him another chance to hurt me. At least this time it was only disappointment and not heartache. And honestly? Maybe I should be thanking him for doing this so quickly, for not dragging it out and stringing me along like he had all those years ago, for reminding me exactly why I had aone-strikepolicy. A sub crossed the line? Blocked. Someone I was dating gave off a creepy vibe? Ghosted. It kept me safe, kept me from getting hurt, and I shouldn’t have broken that rule, especially for someone as undeserving as Junior Trocci.

I switched my phone off and dropped it back inside my purse, resolving to forget about him again.

A moment later, a soft chime had me lifting my gaze to the bondage room stage. Sylvia walked out of a side door, her lean frame clad in a black bodysuit andknee-highleather boots, a rope clutched in her fist. She paused, spun on her heel, and tugged, and a few seconds later, Moriah crawled out of the door after her, the rope attached to a collar on her neck.

Oh, god.

Her stunning body was on full display, the white lingerie leaving nothing to the imagination. Watching this alone was going to be torture.

17

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