Page 15 of Roll With The Punches
It had always secretly irritated Brandon that he had been the single dad, also working full-time, and yet had been the one to get Emma to most of her events after the divorce.
Hell, even before the divorce.
He’d even volunteered as a parent chaperone for school trips when Tracey said she couldn’t go because of her work schedule. That shit had always fallen on him.
I guess I wasn’t a very damn good Dom in that relationship.
Truth be told, he’d known there was trouble long before Tracey had. Maybe he hadn’t pushed her harder, had taken on more than his fair share of the load, knowing the inevitable was always just over the horizon.
Guilt.
Loads of it, spread all around. More every day he’d remained married to Tracey and tried to force himself to live a lie. Most of their BDSM dynamic had existed in their bedroom, and had only involved sex and a little bit of restraint, not impact play or an overall dynamic like he had with Stuart and Jeff.
At least Emma was happy living with him now. Far happier than she’d been shuttling back and forth between their houses all the time.
Except it hadn’t been too bad before Tracey had met and married Pat. She’d been more attentive to Emma, morethereduring that time. Once she’d met Pat…
These weren’t things he’d pointed out to Emma, they were mental comments he knew were best kept to himself.
Well, and somewhat to Jeff and Stuart, now that they were a part of his life.
* * * *
I think I’ve earned a cookie.
Stuart personally thought Brandon was acting far more charitable to Tracey than she deserved. Especially after Emma had spent plenty of time bending his ear and Jeff’s and venting to them about her mom in a way he’d never really heard her talk to Brandon before.
He also resented Tracey being there, intruding on their time with Emma. Wasn’t his fault Tracey had shitty taste in second husbands and drove her daughter off. At least she wouldn’t be there Saturday morning.
Brandon hadn’t ordered him or Jeff to keep quiet about Tracey around Emma and Grace, but he had asked them to please exercise restraint.
Out of respect for Brandon, they did.
He still couldn’t believe it’d taken Tracey this long to finally show an interest in Emma’s life.
Then again, considering his own mother had told him he was going to Hell, and he’d basically lived in fear of his secret being discovered before he’d moved to Florida, maybe it wasn’t that much of a stretch after all. At least Jeff’s family had accepted him into the fold. And Grace’s parents were amazing people, as much an extended family as Jeff’s were.
He didn’t have much contact with Brandon’s family. Brandon wasn’t very close to his two brothers the way Jeff was with his sister. While Brandon’s parents lived locally, Brandon didn’t see them very often. Even then, usually only for things like holidays, or when they wanted to see Emma. Brandon had told him and Jeff one of the reasons he’d married Tracey in the first place was that he’d thought it’d earn him approval from his family.
And they all knew how that had ended up.
It took maturity and Emma’s birth to make Brandon see that the only person he could live for was himself, and he shouldn’t live his life trying to get people to give him affection they weren’t capable of giving.
Especially not when it made himself miserable in the process.
The meet lasted nearly two hours, and Stuart enjoyed cheering Emma on with Brandon and Grace.
Tracey didn’t seem to understand what was going on, and Brandon apparently took pity on her, explaining the events Emma was participating in.
Finally, when it ended, Emma rounded the pool to speak to them before heading inside to change. “Did you want to go out for dinner?” Brandon asked Emma.
Stuart hung back with Grace, watching.
Emma’s gaze darted to her mom, then back to her dad. “We’ve got a lot of leftovers at home. And Jeff’s leaving tomorrow. I’d rather go home. Plus I have to study for tomorrow. And I need to take Grace home first.”
“Okay. No problem. We’ll wait for you outside.” He patted Stuart’s shoulder and indicated for them to go, leaving Tracey there with Emma and Grace.
Once they were through the doorway into the building, Stuart leaned in. “She’s not exactly warming up to her mom being here, is she?”
