Chapter 11

I'd have much preferredto be walking into the club with Zoe on my arm, but I was used to showing up alone, and the same familiar excitement I always felt raced through my veins as I pulled the heavy door open, nodded to our bouncer, and beelined for our private owners' lounge. Bas and Nyla were already there, cuddled on a couch in the corner with Nyla tucked onto Bas' lap while he whispered in her ear. She was dressed in a tight leather minidress, making it clear they had play included in their plans for the evening. I took up my usual place behind the bar, ready to play bartender for all my friends, and poured myself a shot of tequila.

"Want anything?" I asked Bas and Nyla, waving the bottle in the air.

Bas grimaced. "Not that. Just looking at it makes me want to vomit. Seriously Lennon, how can you still drink that stuff? I can't even look at it."

"Because this is premium, top-shelf tequila, not the gut-rot stuff we drank in college." I waved the shot glass under my nose, breathing deeply to inhale the spicy scent before tossing it back, downing it without so much as flinching.

Bas shuddered. "Still man, I can't even look at tequila without gagging."

Nyla scrunched her nose, nodding her agreement. Back in our college days tequila had been our drink of choice, often drinking it straight from the bottle with a bite of lime and a lick of salt.

"Suit yourself, pussies," I teased, grinning as I poured another shot, and took it while staring them down. When I finished, I slammed the shot glass on the counter, wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and grinned. "Is there something I can get you, then?"

"White wine, please," Nyla piped up, smiling sweetly.

I didn't miss the reproachful look Bas sent her in response before ordering himself a beer. It wasn't that he had a problem with her drinking, or with drinking himself, obviously; he was just making sure they were both on the same page about limiting their intake before a scene. I knew him well enough to know that. I poured Nyla a glass of chardonnay and popped the top of a cold ale for Bas, coming out from behind the bar to deliver their drinks. As I set them down on the table in front of them, the door to the lounge swung open and larger-than-life Theo entered.

I never stopped being surprised when I saw him, even though the transformation had taken place years ago. The geeky, glasses-wearing, asthma-suffering finance nerd I'd met freshman year had become a tall, bulky, muscular hunk with perfect teeth, laser vision, designer suits, and biceps the size of my head. Of course, money could do that to a person.

"Hey, Theo," I greeted him as he entered, gliding over to the bar at the same time I resumed my spot behind the counter as our unofficial bartender.

"Scotch, neat," he grunted, clearly not in the mood for small talk. I'd barely grabbed the bottle of Glenlivet when he added, "Make it a double."

Wordlessly, I raised my eyebrows, and poured, laying the glass on a napkin in front of him. "Where's Erin tonight?" I asked, even though I could tell asking was not a good idea.

"How am I supposed to know?" he snarled. "She's just a client. What am I, her keeper?"

He was more than her keeper; he was her Daddy, at least under the terms of the contract she'd signed with the club, but I didn't point that out.

"Haven't seen her in a few weeks," I mused, ignoring the growl in his tone. His sometimes-surly nature had been known to turn a few submissives to mush, causing them to whimper and shake where they stood, but I was not one of his many play partners. Even if I had been, I'd known him back in the day, and when I looked at him I always saw the Theo I used to know.

"What's your point?" Theo asked with a scowl, then downed the drink I'd just poured.

Obviously a sore subject.

"No point, just wondering how it's going. You two were attached at the hip for a while there."

Theo looked me dead in the eyes, grabbed the bottle, refilled his drink, and turned and walked away.

"Okay, then." I chuckled under my breath and eyed the bottle of tequila before deciding I needed to pace myself. I could knock it back, but I also usually only had to walk home. As I was going to Zoe's tonight, I'd have to take an uber, and I didn't want to be schnockered when I made it back. No whiskey-dick for me tonight, thank you very much.

Theo took a seat in the corner, sulking as he nursed the whiskey he'd poured. He had his phone in his hand and was staring at the screen with a sneer on his lips.

"Well, this is a fun group tonight," I muttered under my breath, already wishing I'd stayed in bed with Zoe.

Thankfully, before I could give in and pour myself another shot, the door pushed open again and my best bro Archer entered with Audrey, his ex-client, present secretary, and future wife, on his arm.

They both wore wide smiles and designer duds as they walked by Theo with an inquisitive glance, nodded to Bas and Nyla, who waved, and beelined for the bar, sliding onto the stools in front of me.

"Lennon, my man!" Archer exclaimed, offering his hand for the complicated handshake we'd perfected when we were roommates our sophomore year, while Audrey looked on, giggling.

"How's it going with the art professor?" The question was asked with the wink-wink, nudge-nudge tone he'd also perfected during our college days.

"It's going." I tried to hold back a grin and not show my hand, but probably failed miserably.

He rubber-necked to look around the lounge. "She didn't come with you tonight, so it can't be going that good."

My pride forced me to answer, even though I should have ignored it. "She's not a prior member," I reminded him. "It's not exactly her scene."

"Oh, right. ‘Cause she's old enough to be your mother."

"Shut up."

"No, seriously. How's it going? Tell me about your trip to Cougar town."

The glass of scotch I'd poured him was halfway to his lips when his arm jerked from the hard nudge Audrey gave him, sloshing the amber liquid all over the mahogany bar top.

"Ignore him," she told me. "It's been a rough week in court. I've noticed that the harder he has to work in court, the more juvenile he becomes out of court."

"That makes sense. He did the same thing during finals week."

"And before the boards," Bas piped up his agreement from across the room.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Archer dismissed our good-natured teasing with a flick of his wrist, as if he were shooing it away. He took a swig from his glass, then narrowed his eyes. "Is it really going good, ‘cause like… I know you have a thing for her and all that, but she really didn't seem like she was interested in anything but accountability."

I rolled my eyes. "Like you would know. You were doing nothing more than the bare minimum and taking everyone at face value."

I could tell my words hit with a zing they weren't intended to have. Archer's eyes narrowed. "It's a business. She was a client. It's her job to tell me what I need to know, not mine to drag it out of her."

I eyeballed him and poured myself another shot. It's not like I was upset that he hadn't paid her any mind. It was clear his attentions were elsewhere, and he'd been detached from his clients keeping things strictly professional, something the majority of us hadn't been capable of.

"You're right," I agreed jovially, "And I'm certainly not upset that you didn't, and I got to take over your contract. But also, I don't feel bad for digging deeper. This was my one chance to shoot my shot. Of course I had to take it."

"Of course," Archer agreed smoothly, grabbing a napkin to wipe up the spill he'd made and clapping Audrey on the bottom, presumably for making him spill in the first place.

He picked up his drink and walked over to take a seat near Bas and Nyla. Audrey sat in his lap. I joined them. Theo stayed put across the room.

"So, any official business that needs discussing?" I asked Nyla, even though I'd seen her at work the day before and we'd gone over new marketing materials and updated the website. That was the business end of things. The other side, like the actual day-to-day workings of the clubs and the Rent-A-Daddy business were usually reserved for these Friday night meetings.

"Not really." Nyla shrugged, sliding off Bas' lap to sit beside him, leaning forward to grab her wine glass off the table. She held it but didn't drink. "It's been kind of slow. No new Rent-A-Daddy clients. It could be that the need isn't as great as we originally anticipated."

"It could also be that the Daddy pool is dwindling, and now that I'm off the market there's no need for people to sign up," Archer put in.

I knew he was only half joking. Last month, we'd had a sudden influx of new clients, and all of them, including my Zoe, had requested Archer as their Daddy. Archer had so many appointments he'd had to hire an assistant to keep them all straight, and the rest, as they say, was history.

"Anyone playing tonight?" I asked, as Bain and Jasmine entered.

I jumped to my feet to offer them drinks, but Bain gestured for me to sit and stalked behind the bar himself, grabbing two bottles of water and giving one to Jasmine. "We are," he said, holding his beverage in the air as if to explain why he wasn't drinking.

"God, I can't wait," Jasmine exclaimed, sliding into a chair between him and me. "It's been a crazy week, and I feel like I'm about to crawl out of my skin. I've been looking forward to a good play session, hoping it will take the edge off."

"Everything okay?" I asked, concern furrowing my brow.

Jasmine twisted the cap off her water and chugged half the bottle. "Everything is fine, it's just… kids, man. If it's not one thing, it's another. Doctors' appointments, field trips, dance classes, permission slips, science projects, reading logs. Sometimes school is so much, I look forward to summer. Sure, they'll be home and underfoot all day, but at least there's less expectations and deadlines."

"Speaking of deadlines, are you still working from home?"

I didn't miss the glance she exchanged with Bain before shaking her head. "No, we decided I had enough to do as a wife and mother without the added stress of a job."

"You both decided, or Bain decided?" I asked, watching my friends' expressions carefully. Bain was the only one of us who'd truly come from money prior to our record-breaking lottery win a decade prior.

"Well, I mean Bain did, but I'm not complaining. I can take a job whenever I want, but I don't have to. I do a freelance gig here or there and save the money, just so I have some of my own, but…" She reached up and patted Bain's cheek. "He likes taking care of me, and I have to admit it"s a nice change from being the one taking care of everything all the time."

"I do like taking care of you, and that means giving you the release you so desperately need." Bain rose and scooped Jasmine up over his shoulder, strolling out of the room and into the main club while she squealed, squirmed, laughed, and waved.

"Welp," Bas said, also pulling himself to his feet and wrapping his arm around Nyla's shoulder, "I guess that's our sign that this meeting is officially adjourned and it's time to venture into the club. Looks like we'll have a good show to watch."

"Daddy," Nyla whined with a pout, "I thought we were going to put on a show of our own."

"That we are, babygirl, that we are." He reached behind her to smack her ass, smiling when she jumped, and led her out of the lounge.

Archer and Audrey were right behind them. I lingered a minute, pouring myself one last shot, then followed suit. When I got to the door, I looked back at Theo, poking the edge of my loafer out to kick his. "You coming, bro?"

"Huh?" He looked up, blinking as he stared at me blankly, then glanced around the room as if noticing for the first time that everyone had left. "Oh yeah. I'll be out in a few. I'm just gonna…" He lifted his hand, gesturing at the other that was holding his phone, as if that gave me enough information to finish the sentence. It didn't, but oh, well.

"Okay, dude. Don't be a loner. See you out there."

I left him alone and joined my friends in our usual booth.

"I think I'm going to have a drink," Bain announced as I sat. "Just a shot, though, something to smoothe the nerves a bit. Anyone else want anything?"

Nyla and Bas shook their heads, Archer held up the drink he was still nursing and Audrey said, "I'm good, thanks."

Bain looked at me. "Lennon, my man, what about you? What are you drinking tonight?"

I opened my mouth to put in an order, then thought back to Zoe's guarded expression the night before with the wine incident and shook my head. It would take at least another three shots before I'd even approach a good buzz, but the last thing I wanted to do was come home schnockered and make her upset. I could limit myself until I knew just how deep her aversion went. It was definitely something we needed to explore.

"I'm done for the night," I said.

Six heads swiveled as all of my friends turned to gape at me.

"I'm sorry, what?" Nyla yelled, loudly enough that several Doms paused their scenes to look over at us.

"Shoot," she swore under her breath, waving at them with a smile. "Sorry about that. Everything's fine. Carry on."

Bas rubbed his forehead and shook his head.

Archer was the next person to say something as he leaned over and turned his palm, laying the backside of it against my forehead. "He doesn't have a fever," he announced to the group.

For some reason that annoyed me more than Zoe's proclamation had. "Oh knock it off, would ya?" I shoved his hand away. "I had a few shots. Just because I'm not drowning my imaginary sorrows in a bottle doesn't mean you need to get all motherly on me."

"Okay, but the night has barely started. I can see not wanting to get thrashed, but nothing wrong with having something to sip on while you watch."

"Nothing wrong with sipping water, either," I countered.

"No, there's not, but it's a Friday night, and it's you we're talking about. So what gives?"

"What's going on?" Theo joined us, bleary-eyed and wobbly on his feet, and sat down hard in the empty chair next to mine.

"Lennon isn't drinking," Archer announced.

"Wait, what?" Theo squinted at me. "You feeling alright, bro?"

"I"m fine. Worry about your own self." He smelled like a distillery. When had he even drank that much? He must have started before he got to the club.

Bas shut up, and Theo looked like he was about to pass out then and there, but Archer refused to drop it.

He stomped over to the bar, had a conversation with the head server, and came back with a tall glass and a top-shelf bottle of whiskey. My weakness. He poured it and shoved it in front of me, watching expectantly.

I was tempted, I really was, but all I had to do was think about Zoe in her silk jammies waiting for me to get back. I shook my head. "I'm good. Zoe doesn't drink, and I don't want to over-imbibe."

All of my friends stared at me speechlessly. "Lennon, bruh…" Theo managed to get out.

Bas narrowed his eyes. "Are you going all in with a teetotaler?"

Nyla shook her head. "I never thought I'd see the day."

Bain looked at me sideways. "Listen, Lennon, I mean, god knows you can cut back on the partying; we aren't in college anymore, but…" He trailed off and never finished his thought.

Archer had a look on his face I couldn't quite place as he grabbed both the glass and the bottle and stomped back to the bar. When he came back, he simply said, "I hope she"s worth it."

And I couldn't understand the anger that rose in my chest, but there it was. Bubbling with all the thoughts I'd managed to bite back for so many years, letting my friends fold me into the box that suited their needs.

"You know what?" I burst out. "Fuck you guys."

"Whoa, whoa, what the hell, man?" Bas was the first to jump up. "Relax, we were just having a little fun."

"Right," I grunted, thoroughly annoyed. "You"re always just having a little fun. Usually at my expense. You guys all want to paint me with this party-boy brush, the same one you've been using for the past decade, but it's kind of funny how you've all been allowed to grow and change, yet you seem to think I'm incapable of doing the same. And even when I do, you don't see it. Or worse, you can't accept it. You want me to spend the rest of my life being some drunk loser party boy so you can all feel better about yourselves. Well, newsflash; I haven"t been that person in a long time. I just play the role for you all because that's how you want to see me."

Once I started going, I couldn't seem to stop, apparently, and when I stood and looked out at my group of friends, seven horrified faces stared back at me.

"Forget it," I scoffed. "I"m out of here."

As soon as I turned Archer grabbed my arm. "Hey bro, come on, sit down. Let's talk."

"Talk amongst yourselves," I growled, aware that play had stopped throughout the club and there were a hundred eyes following my trek to the front door.

I didn't care. And I knew my friends and I would make up eventually. Like the song, I just wanted to be mad for a while.

I'd given Lennon a key to use because I figured I'd be asleep by the time he got home. Instead, he strolled in barely after nine while I was sitting on the couch with a cup of tea, a small plate of chocolates, and a Golden Girls rerun.

"Hey!" I cried, jumping up when he entered. "You're back much earlier than I expected. Is everything okay?"

He didn't answer, and strolled past me to the bathroom.

Taken aback, I stared after him doing the slow blink. A nasty feeling settled in my gut. I didn't like his lack of answers or the way he'd ignored me when he came in. It reminded me of my ex, and that just wouldn't do. With a huff, I jumped up and followed him down the hallway to tell him that, but when I reached my room, the bathroom door was locked, and I could hear the shower running.

I could have picked the lock with a coin and joined him, or pushed the matter, but something told me to give him the space. So, even though it was torture, with my mind imagining a million different things that could have gone wrong to prompt such behavior, I sat on the bed and waited.

When he came out twenty minutes later, the smell of mint and cedar clung to him, and droplets of moisture pooled on the still-damp muscles of his chest. He had one fluffy towel wrapped around his waist and was using another to dry his shoulder-length hair.

"Hey," he said, giving me a wry half smile.

"Hi, yourself. You kind of scared me coming in early like that and ignoring my question. Is everything okay?"

He stared at me blankly and cocked his head, as if he was trying to decide how to answer. Finally, he sighed. "No, not really. But it will be, and I don't really want to talk about it."

His non-answer gave me anxiety, but I knew that was more my issue than his, so I just nodded, and tried to wordlessly convey that I was here, willing to listen if he changed his mind.

He didn't say anything, though. Instead, he finished drying his hair, dug in his suitcase, and turned around to dress in a pair of worn sweats, giving me a perfect view of a tanned and dimpled ass and a lean waist. I almost drooled. Any other time, I would have come up behind him and pressed my body against his, but tonight I could tell he wasn't in the mood.

When he turned around he was wearing a smile, and took my hand as he knelt on the bed next to me, pulling me into his arms.

"Tonight didn't go as planned and I'm going to have to deal with it eventually, but tonight I just want to hold you in my arms and sleep. Is that okay?"

"More than okay, Daddy," I whispered, the pain in my chest subsiding. Whatever had been wrong with him when he walked in the door seemed to be better—or at least mostly better now as he pulled back the covers, climbed into bed, and tucked my body against his.

His skin was still warm from the hot shower, the mint of his soap lingered in the air between us, and as I inhaled a deep, sleepy sigh I thought I smelled just a hint of a familiar scent I couldn't seem to name.