make Domi feel good, make her happy. Because he liked her. Was going to miss her.
Was falling for her the same way she was falling for him.
Aw, shit.
Could it really be that simple?
“I think I’m falling for Domi.” He said the words slowly, trying them out to see how they tasted.
“Hallelujah. I was starting to think you’re dumber than I realized.” Master Andrew threw his hands up in the air in mock celebration. Mitch scowled at him, but the corner of his lip twitched. A class clown always appreciated another class clown.
“So, you do want a relationship with her?” Kincaid pressed, clearly still in questioning mode. Brian chuckled. Now, Mitch felt like throwing up his hands.
“I don’t know. What does that feel like?” He shook his head. “The last time I had a ‘relationship’ with someone was high school.”
That had ended when they’d both gone off to college. No broken hearts on either side—they’d just drifted apart, easy peasy. After his parents’ divorce, he’d decided his way was better. No screaming, no crying, no hurt, no putting on a brave face, no pretending things were just fine when they were anything but.
“Yeah, I don’t think that counts,” Brian said dryly.
Master Andrew pointed a finger at him. “Hey, don’t knock high school relationships.”
“You and Kate were high school sweethearts?” Mitch was confused. Club gossip said Master Andrew had been a bigger man whore than Mitch before he’d gotten together with Kate. How was that possible?
“We broke up for a few years.” Shrugging with a nonchalance that didn’t seem quite real, the bartender leaned against the bar, his eyes unfocusing and a little smile growing on his face. “I moved to New York, she went to California. Lost touch. Then we both ended up back here around the same time, and that was that.”
“Sure… that was that.” Mistress Lisa stepped around Andrew to grab a bottle on the other side of him, shaking her head. “You’re leaving out an awful lot of drama.”
“The important thing is,” Andrew continued, raising his voice to drown out Mistress Lisa’s commentary, “you both have to be on the same page. If Domi wants a relationship and you only want sex, it’s not going to work out. Or vice versa.”
“But how do I know if I want a relationship?” Mitch persisted, looking around at his friends. Brian and Kincaid were both unattached, but neither of them was anti-relationships the way Mitch was. They were open to them. Obviously, Master Andrew had managed to make the jump from being the club’s biggest manwhore to being monogamous and engaged. Sure, he and Kate might not make it in the long run, but they were making it work right now.
It wasn’t that Mitch thought long-term commitment and marriage couldn’t work out for people. He just hadn’t seen it happen very often. Marriage, relationships… they were all a bad bet a surprising number of people decided to gamble on, anyway.
Domi made him want to try.
“Do you want to see her outside of the club? Do you care about how she’s feeling when you’re not having sex? Do you miss her when she’s gone?”
Well… yes.
They’d been texting between seeing each other at Stronghold and Marquis. It had started out as a way to set up their scenes but had evolved to chatting. Never about anything important, but any time his phone lit up, and he saw Domi’s name, it made him smile. He looked forward to her texts. Looked forward to seeing her. Enjoyed having dinner with her at Marquis as much as he did scening with her after.
Shit.
Domi hadn’t been the only one falling all this time. He had as well and hadn’t even noticed.
“That was fascinating to watch,” Master Andrew drawled. “Come to some kind of revelation?”
“I think I want Domi.” He sat up straighter.
“You think?” Kincaid smacked him on the back of the head. “Seriously? You think?”
“Yeah, I think,” Mitch repeated stubbornly. “Even that’s pretty new to me, okay?”
“Argh. Hopeless.” Kincaid gave him a hard look. Yup, between the two of them, Mitch knew who was in charge. “Do not go to Domi with you ‘think.’ Wait until you’re sure.”
“How long do you think that will take?” Brian asked with amusement, talking over Mitch’s head as if he wasn’t even there. “A couple of days before he realizes he’s pining after her?”
Mitch glared at him.
“He might be really dumb and have to wait till he sees her scening with another Dom,” Master Andrew offered, not bothering to hide his