Page 108 of Brat Baby
The attachment on the email has all the details I need, like location, how to find the front door, my actual ticket information, and a list of rules that I must agree to once I arrive. When I see the rules, my nerves settle a little.
Rules. I can follow those.
Okay, yes. So, yeah, I’m actually doing this.
I mentally flip through the wardrobe I packed and figure that layering might be the best option. I’ll put on the black lingerie, add the garter belt and stockings, then put on the semi-sheer, black floor-length shimmery slip that was a part of my first lingerie haul.
Oh, and I can wear the black stilettos that Hudson purchased for me last weekend.
I’ll be mostly covered, and then can take layers off, depending on what everyone else is wearing. Plus, I’ll put an oversized sweater dress over the top to make sure I’m completely covered up for the travel portion of this mission. Hopefully the club has lockers or something where I can stash my things before I go in.
Happy with my plan, I pull my dinner back in front of me and try to eat a few more bites.
Something tells me that if I can pull this off, I’m going to need the energy.
Chapter 56
Derek
“So, let me get this straight,” Thayne starts once we’ve finished explaining the situation to him, his dark brown eyes narrowed and his jaw tight. “She accepted your invitation off the SugarLife app, you met her at a hotel for the night, extended her contract over the weekend, extended her contract again for six months, and after all that, found out she was a student the next daybecause you thought with your cocks the entire weekend and never once asked her about anything?”
I shift in my seat on the overstuffed leather couch in the main mingling area of Obsession, the heavy music and mood-lit atmosphere increasing my tension.
Thayne is my mentor in both kink and career, as well as one of my closest friends, but it has been many years since this particular look of disappointment has been aimed at me. “Essentially, yes. That’s the background of the situation.”
His brows raise, almost disappearing into his salt-and-pepper hair. “That’s just the background? There’s more?”
We all agreed that I should be the one to drive this discussion, but as I try to find the words to explain to him how we have further fucked up the situation, none come forth. They are lodged somewhere between my stomach and my throat and won’t come out. I rub my palms against my slacks and force myself to look him in the eye and not be intimidated by the stern face and sharply angled features practically glaring back at me.
But before I can get any words out, Xavier opens his fucking mouth. If we weren’t trying to show a united front, I would launch myself across the small coffee table that separates us. Instead, I clench my hands into fists and watch as any hope of salvaging the situation goes up in flames.
“I knew that she was a student before we all signed the document.”
Motherfucker.
I whip around to glare at him and have absolutely no problem finding my voice now. “Xavier.”
He looks right at me, a direct stare into my soul from his usual spot in the armchair at the end of the coffee table, before turning back to look at Thayne opposite him.
“They had no idea until after it was signed. I haven’t stopped being with her. And I don’t plan to,” he states with a dead stare.“If that’s a problem, then my request for contract termination is waiting in your inbox.”
“Yes, I saw,” Thayne mutters, unhappiness coloring his words.
In all his years as a master and as the dean of the university, I don’t think he has ever had to deal with a situation as entwined as this one.
Both of his subs shift on their knees from their position by his armchair—Hudson’s usual seat—his tone clearly upsetting them. Thayne reaches over the armrest and places his hand on Abigail’s head, and she instantly calms. Reaching for her boyfriend, Wyatt, who kneels beside her, she links their fingers together in his lap.
My heart aches at the display between the three of them, so incredibly happy that Thayne has finally allowed himself a connection beyond the physical ones he has sought since I’ve known him. He’s never spoken about it, but from what I can gather, his first sub—his wife—died, and he blames himself. I believe he has carried the weight of not having saved her like his own personal cross.
What the three of them have, I am hoping to achieve with Emery and the three assholes who are determined to make this situation more difficult than it needs to be.
“You know mine is there as well,” Darcy offers from my right, and I turn around to face him on our shared couch, my jaw clenched and irritation evident.
His tattooed chest is on display as he slouches in his corner of the couch, arms positioned along the back and armrest, as relaxed as the man can possibly be. “I’m with Xavier on this one. Do I want to leave my students behind? No. But if there is a choice between them and Emmy? I’m picking Emmy. Every time.”
How is it so easy for the both of them? And why is it so hard for me?
I know she is perfect for us, for me. Every piece of her, even the brat. And I am man enough to admit that I have been an absolute fucking mess for the past few weeks, knowing that she is out there and not being able to be with her.
