‘That’s true.’
Probably because it was boiled, then frozen, then microwaved, then fried. It was an abomination, and he didn’t know how the place stayed open. He’d only worked here a couple days, but he was already desperate to leave.
Trouble is, he didn’t want to move too far away from Tammy. There was no way. Austin was far enough away already.
‘Quit dawdling,’ Burt ordered. ‘Get back to the crapper, Irish.’
Shay sighed. Well, at least he deserved this.
It was only after he had finished cleaning the filthy toilet that he checked his phone. When he saw the message waiting for him, he gave an audible sigh of relief.
Oh, thank god. This could really help.
As soon as he pushed the door open, it was like he’d stepped back in time. Everything in here was an antique. The mahogany bookshelves, the dark wooden table, the leather couch. Even the man sitting across the table from him looked like a feckin’ antique.
‘Thanks for taking the time to see me, Doc.’
‘It’s my pleasure, Shay.’ Dr. Cassius Scott was an imposing man. He was broad and immaculately dressed in a suit that looked more expensive than Shay’s entire wardrobe. His salt and pepper hair — more salt than pepper — was set in a precise side-parting. On a less handsome man, the hair might have looked ridiculous, but Cassius’ broad jaw and strong chin, as coupled with his big, unusually light gray eyes, meant that he could have had no hair at all, and he’d still have been intimidatingly good-looking. ‘I’m always willing to help out an alumnus of The Electric Zoo.’
The BDSM club in New York that Shay had worked at had had its fair share of colorful characters, but Dr. Cassius Scott was one of the most colorful. A genius psychotherapist (or was it psychologist? — Shay could never remember the difference) who was in very high demand. He had a reputation as a particularly uncompromising Dom, and he was very, very popular.
It was a stroke of luck that Dr. Scott had an office in Dallas. Luckier still, Dr. Scott was in town this week, and willing to see Shay.
‘So, what seems to be the problem?’ Dr. Scott asked, shifting in his seat.
‘I don’t know where to begin,’ said Shay.
Dr. Scott smiled. ‘What do you think I’m going to say?’
‘Start at the beginning?’
The older man smiled. ‘Good advice, that.’
So, Shay started at the beginning. It took him a long time. Talking through his childhood, the issues he had with his parents, and the jealousy he felt about his brothers’ relationship with Tammy. He talked about his time in New York, how he’d never felt at home anywhere, until he finally arrived in Liberty. Then, he spoke about how his heart had shattered when he saw Tammy — how he’d just managed to come to terms with his feelings for her when she appeared again, unannounced, in his life.
‘All I wanted to do,’ he said, ‘was tell her how I feel. To tell my brothers that I’d doanythingto share her with them. But she had this deep sadness in her. My brothers seemed to be going about things the wrong way: rushing to get into her pants before helping her sort out her head. I spoke to her dad because I was trying to help her mend her wounds. But it was the worst mistake I ever made in all my life. I hate myself so deeply, so completely, that I feel like I’m never going to recover.’
‘That must have been very hard,’ Dr. Scott said.
‘I feel like I’m never going to see her again,’ he said. ‘I’m going to stay near her, her whole life, to make sure she’s safe, but she’ll never know. I’ll watch my brothers be happy with her. And I’ll be miserable, forever. Guilty, sad, alone.’
‘Shay,’ said Cassius, ‘I’m sorry you’re struggling so much.’
‘It’s depression, right? Bad depression?’
To his surprise, Cassius shook his head. ‘It’s not clinical, Shay. It has come on too quickly for that. Right now, you’re not depressed. You’re sad. That’s not to diminish your feelings — being sad in the way you are is incredibly difficult. But you don’t need medicine, not in my opinion. Not for a broken heart.’
CHAPTER 13
Is there anywhere better in the world to wake up than between two irresponsibly attractive Irish twins?
Despite Tammy’s protests and pleas, last night hadn’t developed into anything sexy. Even so, it had been an incredible experience. From the moment Conor had bent her over his knee, she knew it was going to be special.
But she hadn’t been expecting just how intense it had been. It had been like a BDSM scene and a therapy session, all in one.
‘Mmmm,’ she murmured, wriggling between her two Daddies. The bed was definitely a little snug for the three of them. It was just a double, crammed into a trailer, after all. Two normal-sized people would have had to push up against each other in this space.
Thing is, Finn and Conor weren’t normal-sized people. They were big. Broad, tall, muscular. And of course, Tammy was in there too. Felt like they were sardines, squashed up against each other.