CHAPTER 20
EDGE
“You got a minute? I asked Zeke as I stuck my head in his office doorway.
He looked up, nodded.
Knowing I could easily find any and every excuse to make an excuse, I stepped inside, closed the door behind me. I paused, waiting for that stupid voice to say something snarky.
It didn’t.
Huh.
“What’s up?” Zeke’s dark eyes scanned over me, as though he was trying to read my mind.
“I need to talk to you.”
Zeke sat back in his chair, regarded me coolly. “About?”
Although I’d gone over this conversation a million times in my head, had even outlined two different endings, I still found it difficult to get it out.
I took a seat, forced my mind to clear, realized it was. There was no voice urging me to do or say anything. It was … silent.
“Edge? What the fuck is going on?”
I sighed. “We’ve been friends a long time, Zeke, and I hope you’ll keep that in mind.”
This time, he frowned, leaned forward, forearms on his desk. “Spit it out.”
I nodded, refused to fidget. “I’m in love with your sister,” I blurted.
With my eyes on the desk, I took a deep breath, geared up to say more when Zeke’s gruff chuckle sounded, drawing my eyes up to his.
Shit. I did it. I pushed him over the edge into insanity.
“Now, before you decide to smash my face in, I need you to understand a few things.”
Zeke smiled. Actually fucking smiled.
“I’m not gonna bash your face in.”
“No?”
“No.” He leaned back, relaxed. “Have you told her yet?”
“Yeah,” I said softly, thinking back to last night. I met Zeke’s eyes. “I’m also in love with Cav. The three of us…”
“I figured as much.”
I frowned. “You did?”
Zeke laughed, a chest-rattling rumble that echoed in the room. “No, man. I had breakfast with my sister.”
I exhaled, and I could’ve sworn I lost a good ten pounds of anxiety with it.
“So she told you that Cav and I are in love with her? That she’s in love with us?”
“She did.”
I swallowed. “There’s more. More we haven’t mentioned to her yet.”
His eyebrows rose, eyes narrowing.
“I’ve decided to buy a penthouse in the Chatter building. We want to ask Jamie to move in with us.”
“Is that right?” Zeke drummed his fingers on the desk. “Are you taking her as your submissive? Both of you?”
Although telling Zeke I was in love with his sister hadn’t been easy, this was the most difficult for me to discuss. Not because I worried about his reaction, more so because I had yet to admit it out loud. Not even to myself.
“In the formal sense, no.” I maintained eye contact.
Zeke didn’t speak.
“But only because we’re not headed that direction.”
Still nothing.
“The three of us,” I explained. “It’s not what we want to pursue.”
Zeke’s eyes narrowed.
I sighed, thrust my hand through my hair, and shot to my feet. I began pacing his office, grateful there was plenty of space to do so.
“Zeke, I don’t think this is for me anymore. I don’t want to be her Dominant. Not full-time, anyway.”
His gaze followed me as I moved, so I stopped, stared at him.
“I don’t want to dominate her. I want to love her, cherish her. Hell, I want to marry her, have babies.”
“So, what? You’re leaving the lifestyle?”
I nodded. “I think I am, yeah.”
Zeke’s beefy arms crossed over his chest. “Why?”
“Because it doesn’t feel right anymore. It hasn’t for a long time.
I spend every waking minute directing submissives to do this or that and …
I’m tired, Zeke. I just want to settle down, focus on work, enjoy time with Cav and Jamie.
” I put my hands on the back of the chair, leaned.
“Doesn’t mean I won’t keep my membership at the club.
I want to stop by, check in with everyone.
” I couldn’t stop the smile. “And yeah, perhaps play from time to time.”
He glared, a look hot enough to incinerate stone.
“With Jamie and Cav,” I clarified. “Jesus, Zeke.”
He laughed. “I knew that. Just checking.” His face sobered. “What about her school?”
“We’ll support her all the way through. Trust me on that. I want her to follow her dreams.” I moved around the chair, lowered myself into it. “Zeke, they’re the most important things in my world. I’ve never had a love of my own, and now I do.”
“What does Gretchen think?” he asked.
“I’m having dinner with her and the family on Sunday. Taking Cav and Jamie to meet them.”
“She’s gonna love my sister,” Zeke noted.
“Everyone is,” I agreed.
He studied me for a moment. “I always suspected there was something between you and Cav.”
“There wasn’t. Not until recently.”
“Not physically,” he said. “Something else.”
Yeah. I’d known it, too, but it had taken far too long for me to accept it.
Realizing this conversation had gone deeper than I’d expected, I pushed to my feet. “I better get out of your hair.” I couldn’t help it, I laughed, touched my head. “You know, if you had any.”
“Fuck you, Edge.” He stood, walked around the desk, held out his hand.
Wondering if he was going to break all my fingers, I reluctantly offered mine.
“Be good to her,” Zeke said, his tone softer than I’d ever heard it. “She’s precious and deserves all the love you and Cav possess.”
I couldn’t agree more. I nodded.
“What about the club?” Zeke asked as he followed me to the door.
“I’m meeting with Trent,” I admitted. Or I planned to.
“Good luck with that. And if you need anything, Edge, anything at all, you only have to ask.”
As I stepped out of Zeke’s office into the hallway, I felt as though I was in an alternate universe.
“Oh, and Edge?”
I turned to look at the big Sadist.
“You gonna be at the club tonight?”
“Yeah.”
He smiled, this one wicked. “Good. I’m gonna need you there.”
“Okay. Something wrong?”
Zeke shook his head. “No. Actually, for the first time, everything’s fucking perfect.”
I stared at the spot he vacated when he disappeared back inside. Perhaps he didn’t have an eloquent way of relaying things, but I had to agree with him. Everything was fucking perfect.
Jamie
“Wow, you went all out,” Tiffany said in that sweet, chipper tone as she stepped into my apartment.
Her eyes instantly shot to the kitchen counters, where I’d placed an array of food.
“Nothing fancy,” I told her.
“Fruit, crackers, cheese.” Her eyes lit up. “Chocolate fountain?” She glanced over at me. “What’s the occasion?”
“We’re celebrating,” I said shyly.
As though she knew exactly what I was about to say, her smile widened, as did her eyes. I could see the expectation there. She wanted me to spill the beans.
“Gotta wait for Jonah,” I told her. “I’m only going to tell the story one time.”
Tiffany squealed. “Oh, my God. You did it, didn’t you? You told them?” She skipped over to me. “Tell me, tell me, tell me.”
It was my turn to squeal. “I did!”
Tiffany fist-bumped the air, then threw her arms around my neck. “I’m so freaking happy for you.”
We were laughing when Jonah walked in. He scanned the scene momentarily. “What’d I miss? What happened?”
He marched over, his hands vibrating as though he couldn’t handle not knowing for another second.
“I did it!” I exclaimed. “I told them.”
They both threw their arms around me, bouncing in a circle like a couple of goofballs.
When we separated, Jonah took my hands, his expression serious. “Tell me everything.” He tugged me over to the sofa. “And I mean everything.”
“Well…” I launched into the story about how I’d gone over to Cav’s hotel to tell them both I loved them.
“They said it first?” Tiffany interrupted, her mouth hanging open. “That’s awesome.”
“I know.” I felt like a teenager, all giddy and silly. But I couldn’t help it. Every time I thought about what had happened last night, my belly filled with butterflies.
“The next thing you know, you’ll be moving in with them.”
I shook my head. “No, not yet. I have to focus on school. That’s the most important thing right now.”
“Doesn’t mean you couldn’t live with them and go to school,” Jonah said.
I was taking this one day at a time, and I explained as much. I wasn’t looking to jump into anything before the time was right. My best friends knew I was practical when it came to most situations.
Then again, I didn’t feel all that practical when it came to Edge and Cav. Right now, I just wanted to spend as much time with them as I could.
“How’s your paper coming along?” Tiffany asked when she headed for the kitchen to load up on snacks.
“I’m not sure this experience is going to get me the information I need,” I told her truthfully. “But I’m hoping Edge might let me do a few interviews.”
“I’ve got a question,” Jonah mentioned as he was pouring wine into three glasses. “Since they told you they loved you, does that mean they’re going to collar you, too? Isn’t that how it works?”
He carried over two glasses, passed them over, then retrieved one for himself.
“I don’t know how it works,” I admitted, crossing my legs and relaxing into the corner of the sofa. “I don’t think it’s an avenue we’re really going to pursue.”
My friends looked as though I’d hit them both with a Taser.
“Really? Doesn’t he manage a BDSM club?”
“We haven’t really talked about it,” I explained, my attention shifting to my glass. “I think I’m going to quit the submissive training class.”
“What?” Tiffany made a dramatic turn toward me. “Why?”
I shrugged. “It’s not really my thing.”
“For reals?” Jonah asked.
“For reals,” I confirmed with a smile. “I mean, I like playing. I enjoy the role-playing, but I don’t see myself kneeling on the floor when they snap their fingers. I’ve got some submissive tendencies, but I’m not a submissive.”
When neither of them spoke, I went on to explain the two scenes I’d witnessed at the club. I told them all about the way the twin Doms had dictated Everly’s actions and the way she’d reacted. It was evident Everly was into it. In a way, I could never be.
“Wow. That’s … hot.” Tiffany grinned. “But I see your point. Not sure I could do it, either.”
“I could,” Jonah declared. “I so could.”