“You know I don’t swing that way.”
Loke chuckled darkly. “Everyone does. They just need the right incentive to step out of their comfort zone.”
“Shhh. I’m busy wallowing in self-loathing. Quit making me think.”
“So what did you do to your lovely Mila?”
“I . . . punished her and let her leave with no aftercare.”
“When?”
“Yesterday morning.”
Loke winced. “You should have fixed that by now.”
“Maybe it’s best if I just leave things. She can move on and have a normal life.”
“Coward. She deserves closure if you’re really ending things, and I don’t think you want to.”
Atlas downed half of his glass. “Everything between us is a lie. She’s lying about why she’s with me and who she is, I’m lying about what I do for a living. Even if I left the business, how would I fix things?”
“So you’re ready for her to move on. To hook up with some other guy. For her to submit to him.”
“Sure. Fuck, Loke, we haven’t even known each other very long. It’s not like I’m going to marry the girl.”
Loke reached into his pocket and started texting someone. He wasn’t usually the type to get distracted by his phone during a conversation, so Atlas watched him curiously. He shoved the phone under Atlas’s nose so Atlas could see the unsent text.
It was to Mila.
You’re too good for him.
Atlas flicked a glare up to Loke’s mocking face.
His finger hovered over the send button, but then he deleted the text instead. “Do the right thing, or I’ll have her wearing my collar within the week.”
“You two text each other?” The seething anger that idea caused made his head pound.
“You forget, we’re friends. Not close. Yet. But I can fix that.”
“You’d collar her just to teach me a lesson?”
Loke snorted. “Idiot. I’d collar her because I want her and I can see her potential as a submissive. I’ve been a gentleman up until now because we’re friends, you and I.”
Atlas let his anger drain away. He couldn’t exactly be mad at Loke for thinking Mila was desirable. It was a compliment to Atlas’s taste. He saluted Loke with his glass. “Sometimes I hate you, you smug son of a bitch.”
“Ahh, but you know you love me, just as I
love you. Tomorrow you fix things with her, or I’ll make her forget you even exist. She deserves a real breakup and closure, if nothing else.”
“Is this tough love?”
“The toughest.”
***
This was the stupidest idea ever.
Atlas rang the doorbell and waited on the dark doorstep. It was the kind of neighborhood where people didn’t walk their dogs at night unless they had very big dogs.