Page 18 of See You Sometime
And with Darryl’s son living with them, and a baby on the way, they’d found their happiness.
Wistful thoughts tenaciously attempted to sneak into her brain.
Don’t go there.
She would find her Sir Right somewhere. All she had to do was stick to her plan. She was scheduled to work Friday and Saturday nights at the club with Cali, and they’d even invited her to a private party they were hosting at their house the Saturday after that.
See? Back in town a week and my weekend social calendar is already filling up.
It would only be a matter of time before she saw results.
No way would she settle for less than she deserved this time around. Red flags would not go ignored or unchallenged.
Skye Bauer 2.0 was in the house, and she knew she could rebuild her life.
Everyone had been very friendly last night during the volunteer meeting. Apparently, Marcia and Derrick’s partners in the club had suffered a serious vanilla-life bump in the road, and people were rallying around them to pitch in and help out so they could focus on what they needed to and not stress out about the club.
She was also surprised to learn that Cali, Max, and Sean were the owners and proprietors of Two Crafty Bastards Toys. They made good stuff. Kelly had several pieces he’d ordered from them in his implement bag.
None of which had made the move with Skye. She hadn’t wanted any of his BDSM gear. In fact, the cuffs and collar she now had, she’d bought herself a few years ago, because she’d wanted a specific set and he wouldn’t buy them for her because of the price. He’d told her if she wanted them to buy them herself. He didn’t care what she wore.
So she’d bought them for herself, with her own money.
Just more proof he hadn’t been right for her.
At the time, it had stung when he’d said it so casually. In reflection, it was yet another symptom of the larger problem—that Kelly was an asshole and had been cheating on her already.
She also had her own ball gag and blindfold, because she’d never wanted to share those with anyone, no matter who they were.
That was like the kinky equivalent of sharing a toothbrush or something.
Blech.
She easily found the address and pulled into the driveway, seeing several cars already parked there. Hopefully she wasn’t holding up their start time.
When she walked up to the front door, she didn’t even have a chance to ring the bell before Rusty opened it.
“Hey, you made it!” He leaned in for a hug and whispered, “Remember, not everyone here is in the lifestyle. Just those of us who were there Sunday. It was a dinner with friends in common.”
“Gotcha.”
Eliza poked her head out from a hallway and swooped in for a hug, then Darryl, Grant, and Susie appeared from somewhere to welcome her. Darryl’s teenaged son, Kyle, looked so much like him it was breathtaking.
Behind Skye, the front door opened, and she turned. “Milo? Are youkiddingme? Wow!” They hugged.
“Holy crap, Skye. I haven’t seen you since, what, graduation?”
“Thereabouts. Oh, my god. This is great!”
“So you’re the new player, huh?”
“Yeah, looks like it. I’m pretty rusty though.”
Rusty cleared his throat and Eliza playfully swatted his shoulder.
Skye held up the Publix bags. “I brought cookies for everyone, and hard cider for me. I earned that.” She grinned. “I can now legally drink, unlike the last time I played D&D with y’all.”
“Come on,” Susie said. “I’ll show you around.”
