dramatic.
“I realize I misread her intention and shouldn’t have tried to bring kink into play without having a discussion with her first, but I don’t understand why she completely lost it,” he said, even more irritated because the two women were looking at him with smug, ‘you poor dumb bastard’ expressions. “Or why her solution was to kick me out, why she was mad. I had asked her to take over bedtime for one night.”
Now Marie was starting to look pissed. She opened her mouth, but Trish stopped her wife with a finger to her lips.
“I got this one, hun.” Turning back to Logan, her expression was almost gentle, but not in a nice way. No, this was the way she would use when talking to someone she considered an idiot. “Logan, how much downtime does Felicity get when she gets home from work?”
“Well, she picks up the kids on her way home from work, so I guess… uh, none really. But since I always do bedtime…” His voice trailed off. Oh. Oh.
“So, you get home from work and get to kick back and relax for a bit before it’s your turn to take lead on the kids, right?”
Logan nodded, his chest clenching. Crap. He really hadn’t thought of it that way.
“So, her first chance for downtime is when you take the kids to get ready for bed. And she didn’t even have that while you were away. Did you suggest she get a sitter for an overnight while you were gone? Or think about whether she might want her time after a weekend of basically being a single parent?” Trish’s voice was becoming less gentle and more pointed.
“No, but… she didn’t ask for it either…” he protested weakly.
“Uh huh. Does Felicity often ask for things for herself?” Trish raised her eyebrows pointedly because all three of them already knew the answer.
Felicity almost never asked for things for herself. In fact, the only thing she’d asked for in months was tonight, when she’d asked for a weekend away with her friends.
I’m a dickhead. No wonder she called me selfish.
He’d thought she was overreacting, but she was dead on. If anything, she’d been underreacting for so long, it was no wonder she’d bubbled up and exploded all over him. He’d been so wrapped up in what he wanted, he hadn’t stopped to think about what she needed. Hadn’t even stopped to think about the fact she was expressing a need. When he really thought about it, he’d kind of steamrolled right over her.
“Do you think because Felicity is a woman, she should have to shoulder more childcare duties than you?” Marie asked, finally speaking up—and her tone wasn’t pleasant.
“No! Of course, not…” His voice trailed off again because while he said it, he knew his actions didn’t seem that way. It wasn’t because she was the woman, though. At least, he didn’t think so. He hoped not. But he couldn’t ignore the fact he hadn’t had a second thought about securing a babysitter for himself but not for her. His blatant hypocrisy was downright embarrassing.
“Uh huh, is that why you get to have a babysitter and a bunch of ‘you’ time while she’s away, and she had to watch the kids all weekend while you were away?” Marie wasn’t letting up, and he honestly didn’t expect her to. “You know what I heard a lot of while you were talking? A lot about what you wanted, what you needed. I didn’t hear much about what Felicity might want or need.”
Shit.
He really fucked up, far beyond what he’d initially thought. No wonder Felicity had blown up at him. No wonder she’d been practically brimming with resentment.
“I’m a shitty husband.” He closed his eyes, a lump settling in his chest—not just a shitty husband but a shitty Dom. The challenge he’d set for himself and his friends suddenly seemed a lot bigger than it had before. He knew they’d been stuck in a rut, but still thought the biggest changes to himself were physical. He’d been wrong. Ten years ago, he wouldn’t have set his wants and needs above Felicity’s. Ten years ago, he’d prided himself on how well he took care of her, sometimes even making her tell him what she wanted or needed, even spanked it out of her a few times. Ten years ago, he wouldn’t have taken her for granted.
Should she have talked to him at some point? Yes. Should she have kicked him out tonight? Maybe not, but