Page 98 of Never Tell Secrets
“Wait, like actual spankings or…?”
“It’s club policy,” Alfie laughed, leaving me to wonder whether he was joking or not. “Did you fix things with Keira?”
“Yeah, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about actually,” I paused, taking a breath. “I think Keira needs a break from…well, everything. We’re heading to Greece for a few days.”
“To visit her parents?”
“I…how did you know that?” I stammered, surprised.
“You told me her parents lived there once.”
“Oh. I’m surprised you remembered. It’s been a while.”
“I pay attention to details. You know this. So, when are you flying out?”
“Thursday, flying back on Sunday.” I blurted the words out, my stomach jangling with anxiety as I waited for the manipulation to kick in. Would he try to convince me not to go? Or invite himself on the trip? I didn’t know, but Alfie Tell had yet to make my life easy.
“Alright,” he said, his tone too casual, “have fun.”
I blinked. What had just happened? “That’s it?”
“Wear sunscreen?” he joked but I was too shocked to laugh.
“So, you’re just okay with this?”
“No,” he said, his tone stiff, “I am not in any way okay with you going to another country without me but I’m trying not to be a control freak.”
This was breaking all kinds of boundaries for Alfie, pushing him way out of his comfort zone, but he wasn’t fighting me. For so long when we were together, my independence was what I always wanted. Now that he was giving it to me, I felt uneasy, like he was about to snatch it away any second and laugh in my face with a‘haha! Gotcha!’.
I swallowed my insecurities and tried to put some faith in him. He was trying to be good, that’s all this was. Not a plan, just him trying to be decent.
“I’ll text you when I land, okay?”
“Okay, and I wasn’t joking about the sunscreen. If you do have to be half-naked on a beach, you should at least avoid sunburn.”
“For what it’s worth, her parents have a private beach.” I’d been there once before, it was a beautiful place. They rented their guest house out to tourists who had the luxury of a sea front view and a small private beach with nothing but blue skies and seas as far as the eye could see.
“I know,” he said, his tone wary, as if he was the one waiting for the blow up now.
“Do I want to know how you know that?” I asked, knowing I definitely hadn’t told him that before.
“I had Elliot look into it the first time we were together. Just in case.”
“In case of what?”
“In case you decided to leave me. I wanted to know where you might go so I could track you down.”
My stomach turned. Everytime I began to relax into new Alfie, something came up that reminded me how crazy old Alfie had been. “That’s insane.”
“I know and it’s old behaviour. I’m done with that now.” He took a breath. “I won’t interfere, I promise. Go, have fun, unwind with Keira. I’ll see you when you get back.”
I bit my lip. A part of me wanted to chew him out for crossing boundaries like that, but he was right, it was old behaviour and I couldn’t punish him for it forever. I had to start learning to let this go. “Thank you. I’ll wear sunscreen.”
“You’d better, or Damien and Kal won’t be the only ones getting spanked.”
I burst out laughing, Alfie’s warm chuckle was music to my ears. These gentle flirtations were a sweet innocence we’d never gotten to experience the first time around. It dawned on me that Alfie, at thirty six, was only experiencing them now for the first time. My heart swelled for him. “Goodnight, Alfie.”
“Goodnight, Lo.”
