CHAPTER 43
TREY
Anthony and Danielle broke up for forty-eight hours.
The group learned this because Anthony left THE COMMITTEE.
Then rejoined.
Then left again.
Malcolm texted Trey privately.
MALCOLM: Are we adults?
Trey walked through his own house afterward and saw it differently.
There was room for Paula everywhere, but that was not the same as the house becoming theirs.
Her books could fit on a shelf. Her clothes could fit in a closet.
The harder work was allowing her taste, routines, and decisions to alter a space he had controlled alone for years.
TREY: Unclear.
The issue was Ava.
Danielle had canceled plans after realizing Anthony expected her to attend a school event without asking Camille first.
Anthony took it as rejection.
Danielle took his reaction as pressure.
Paula took Danielle’s side.
Trey took nobody’s.
This irritated Paula.
“You have an opinion.”
“Yes.”
“Say it.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because they are our friends, not our clients.”
Paula stared.
“That has never stopped you before.”
“It should have.”
She sighed.
Two days later Anthony called.
“I apologized.”
“Good.”
“Danielle apologized too.”
“Good.”
“We’re having dinner.”
“Good.”
“You have no personality.”
Trey hung up.
Paula, listening from the sofa, laughed.
“Are they back together?”
“Apparently.”
“Good.”
She returned to her laptop.
Trey looked at her.
“What?”
“You enjoy other people’s drama.”
“Because it isn’t mine.”
He smiled.
That night they had no drama of their own.
Just sex that began playful and stayed suggestive rather than structured.
No rules.
No titles.
No cuffs.
Afterward Paula said, “I like this too.”
Trey knew what she meant.
Kink did not have to consume every intimate moment.
Sometimes they wanted power exchange.
Sometimes they wanted each other without architecture.
Both were real.
Neither invalidated the other.