Chapter 5
Ophelia. Now.
“—Like the badass you are! Respect!”
Dove shouts her praise from the running shower. Dove will always hype me up.
Dove is my roommate. My sister—not biologically, but in every other way that counts.
I lean against our tiled bathroom wall. Steam billows around us, and I know I should let Dove have her shower-time, but this is important.
I just broke up with my dominant of three years. I need some Dove-advice.
“I’m making the right choice…right?” With Dove, I take off my armor. I allow myself to be vulnerable.
“He’s your dom. He’s supposed to control the scene. He’s not supposed to control your life. He broke the boundaries, and you told him what’s up.”
“Right. It just…sucks. Because it hurts, and I’m in pain about it, and yet all I want to do is go to the club and let him spank me until I feel better. That’s fucked up, right?”
Dove goes quiet for a moment. “Well…the way I see it, you have two options. You’re both mature adults. You both care about each other, even if he has confusing ways of showing it sometimes. You can try to work things out. Or…”
“Or?” I press.
“Or engage in complete and total warfare.”
Wait a second. That wasn’t Dove’s voice. I frown, grab the shower curtain, and yank it back.
A very naked Dove and Dorian both yelp at the same time. Instinctively, they cover themselves, even though I’ve seen them both in far more compromising positions.
“Sorry!” Dove says. “You just came in and you clearly need to talk so…I didn’t know how to tell you he was in here.”
I groan.
Dove started dating Dorian a couple months ago. On the night when my life completely fell apart, they found each other, fell in love, and have been happily ever after ever since.
The very thin wall between our bedrooms is proof of that.
They, too, attend the Seekers Club every Friday night.
They take turns dominating each other. It’s cute.
Wholesome, in its own strange way. I support it, because when he’s around, Dove lights up, and my tattooed, septum-pierced, badass of a friend turns into a giggly little girl.
But dear goddess, does he have to be around all the fucking time?
I point at Dorian. “You’re paying the water bill this month.”
He salutes. “Aye, aye.”
I close the shower curtain. I leave the bathroom, closing the door behind me, and an idea starts to form.
Complete and total warfare…I hate to admit it, but maybe Dorian is onto something…