Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 114284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Ty never responded, which was good. He left one of those thumbs-up impressions on my last text, and that was that. This was how it was supposed to be.
I spent the next few hours convincing myself that I had no place in the Mclean community, because no matter what direction I walked in, I’d be on Ty’s territory. He was making friends both online and IRL, and whenever he engaged with me, I would be reminded of the deceit. I wasn’t who he thought I was.
What was even worse…? I insisted I wasn’t who he thought I might be. Because even though he couldn’t put a finger on where we’d met before, he was certain we had, and I’d gone through a whole week in Florida dismissing that notion.
By the time I’d meal-prepped for the next week, both lunches and dinners, I was sure. The only way to distance myself from the lies I’d told was to give up my spot in their community, thus preventing future moments when I had to keep up with the lying.
Which brought me to Macklin. The last string tying me to my brief history with Mclean House.
I heated up one of the food containers in the microwave, then ate over the sink. Chicken, rice, IKEA’s Scandinavian brown sauce. Never got old. Being with Macklin felt like that would never get old either, but what choice did I have?
Our relationship had changed. He’d said it himself on the plane. We were no longer temporary.
I swallowed hard, hating myself for having entertained the idea at all. Like with our short-lived D/s protocol, which had crashed and burned. Christ, it was almost embarrassing. But it was proof, wasn’t it? I wasn’t one of those guys who could just roll with the punches.
I shoveled the last of my food into my mouth and predicted a future in which I was gonna mope around a lot. Because I just…I didn’t know how to say goodbye to Macklin. He’d brightened my existence since the moment we’d met. But he was clearly done with no-strings-attached, and I needed to keep one foot out the door.
He was also now directly linked to Ty, so that settled it.
I was gonna call my buddy Paul and ask if he had any more snakes or lizards I could adopt, because I had a breakup to suffer through. All distractions were welcome.
Once I’d finished cleaning the kitchen and I’d stowed away all food containers, I called Macklin before I could chicken out. He and Walker were on their way out to Mclean House, where they’d spend the night.
Macklin sounded so happy on the phone.
We made plans for lunch tomorrow, and the moment we ended the call, nausea crawled up my throat.
Macklin McKenna
“No problem at all,” Lucian assured. “We might as well push it till seven. More people will have shown up too. I noticed all the guest rooms are fully booked.”
“Perfect, Sir. I’ll let Master know,” I replied.
I left the seating area in the club and began my hunt for Ty. He hadn’t still been in the lobby when I’d passed through the second time.
Where are you, Ty?
I stood up on my toes and tried my best to find him in the sea of people. I didn’t know why Lucian felt we needed a bigger crowd. We were already looking at a full house.
Maybe Ty had found Colt, Kit, and Lucas? I’d spotted them earlier.
The music was louder now, though not nightclub-loud.
“Excuse me? Are you Macklin, one of the founders?”
Nuh-uh. Talk to the hand.
If only I could say that!
Instead, I turned around and smiled politely at the leather-clad man and his grinning puppy boy.
“The one and only—what can I do for you, Sir?” I asked over the music.
The Top looked mildly annoyed. “We wanted to reserve the watersports room for later tonight, but we can’t seem to find the schedule. Is it no longer in the lobby?”
“That’s correct,” I replied with a nod. When were people gonna fucking learn to read community updates? We posted them and sent newsletters for a damn reason. “You’ll find the schedules outside each playroom now.”
“Oh. All right, thanks.”
You’re welcome.
I turned away again, and I disappeared into the crowd and hoped he wouldn’t find me later to complain about the fact that the watersports room was already occupied for the night.
“Macklin!”
Not now!
I didn’t even know who’d called out for me. I didn’t have time. I wasn’t on DM duty anyway. For chrissakes, I was on the prowl here. For much more than Ty, to boot. He was just one part of it.
I slipped in between people, some fully dressed, some not—like me. It was a tad chilly in boxer briefs, I couldn’t lie.
At the bar, I climbed up on the foot rail to gain a few inches in height, and I fucking finally saw Ty in the corner near the demo stage. He was, in fact, talking to Colt.