“You’re pushing your luck,” Connor warned.
“I’m not yours, and we aren’t at the club, so you can’t do anything to me.”
“But Dominants hold grudges.”
“So do I.”
Sunny held her breath, an uncomfortable fear inside her. It was abadidea for subs to stand up to Doms. It had never ended well for her, and even though she knew Connor, even though she knew he wouldn’t really hurt Kat, some old part of her screamed at her friend to be quiet.
“It’s fine,” Sunny rushed out through her fear-narrowed throat. “It’s really okay. I’m not upset.”
Kat looked over, her smile fading. “You don’t have to worry,” Kat said. “We were just playing around.”
Garrison wrapped his fingers around Sunny’s hand, and for the first time, she realized she was shaking.
Which was strange, since she hadn’t had such a bad reaction to the men in a while. Then again, she’d always been more protective over others than she was about herself.
Sunny took a deep breath then let it out slowly, trying to let the tension drift away with it. “In my experience, subs and Doms don’t joke together.”
“Well, no one let Toya know that, because if she implements that rule, I’m going to be in big trouble,” Kat said, her smirk returning to her pink lips. “Besides, Connor talks a big game, but he can’t really do anything to me. Pity for him, I’m one of the few subs who doesn’t fall for his whole rough, scary Dom thing. I know he is really just a big softie.”
Garrison spoke up next. “You know, I talk to Bradley on occasion.”
The temperature in the room dropped a few degrees, the name alone changing the entire tone.
Who’s Bradley? Is he dangerous?Garrison wouldn’t really threaten Kat with calling someone who would hurt her, right?
As soon as the thought came to Sunny, she dismissed it. There was no chance of that. Garrison, along with the others, worked hard to keep women safe, worked with the shelter to help them. He wouldn’t put one in danger on purpose.
Kat dropped her gaze to her glass. “Yeah, Connor is a softie, but you? You’re mean as they come. I’ll be good.”
Garrison let out a chuckle, as if the woman’s sullen compliance were funny. Then again, Kat looked like she’d put herself on a leash, not like she was really upset.
It still made her wonder what had happened to get Kat to respond like that…
Two hours later, the men were cleaning the kitchen after Kat and Sunny had cooked dinner. They’d all eaten in the living room, with Kat again on the floor since there weren’t enough seats. They’d had spaghetti, which worked well, because as it turned out Kat wasn’t the best cook, and it was hard to ruin spaghetti and premade garlic bread.
“You look good,” Kat said as they sat in the small back yard that seemed to be shared between four of the duplexes. “Then again, a week of amazing sex will do that to a girl.”
The way Kat so openly said these things drew a heat to Sunny’s cheeks, but something about the other woman’s openness made it easier to talk to her. “Who’s Bradley?”
“Oh,that.” Kat let out a sigh. “It’s old history—nothing more.”
“He isn’t dangerous, right?”
Kat shook her head. “Heavens no. Do you really think Garrison would call someone who was dangerous? No, it’s nothing like that. Bradley is my…well, ex seems too simple. Things didn’t work out, but some of the Doms in Sanctuary are worse than teenaged girls with their romantic ideas. Garrison thinks that if I wasn’t so hardheaded, I’d get back together with Bradley and end up with this entire happy life.”
Sunny frowned. “But when you came over that day, you said if you had a chance at what I had, you wouldn’t let it go.”
“Yep.”
Sunny pressed the topic. “So, if that’s what you think, why not take the chance?”
Kat sighed and sat back on the swing, making it move more as she lifted her feet to the edge of it. “Because what you have is simple. It works. Trust me, Bradley is anything but simple.” When Sunny went to say more, Kat cut her off. “I really don’t want to go any more into it. It’s bad enough that everyone else at Sanctuary knows all about it. I really don’t want to have to recall it all now. That’s the bad thing about the club—everyone is in everyone else’s business. I guess that’s what happens when people see each other’s genitals—we feel entitled to dig into their lives. Just trust me—there are problems between Bradley and me that can’t be solved.”
Sunny stared at Kat, at the hurt woman beneath the exterior she used, the smiles and the jokes and the sharp eyeliner, and she understood. She’d seen people hide from the things they didn’t want to face for long enough to recognize it.
Instead of saying anything else, Sunny pulled Kat into a hug. Sometimes that was what a person really needed.