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 aroundall 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…
6
Phantom.Now.
She’ll be back.
This is a hiccup. A snag. Every couple fights. Even if we’re not a couple by traditional standards…we’ve been play partners for nearly three years.
There are going to be bumps in the road.
Ophelia might despise me right now, but she’ll always come back to the club. This is her home. Her family. And when she does, she’ll see me and she’ll realize…
I was right.
Brody had to go. He was a selfish, cheating bastard.
She’s better off here. With her family.
With me.
The Seekers’ Club opens promptly at seven pm. It used to be word of mouth—you’d need to know a specific phrase in order to enter. But we’ve updated to the twenty-first century. Now, all you need is to download the Seekers Club app and, if you’re approved, you’ll be provided with a four-digit number code thatyou can punch into the lock at front. The lock slides open and you’re in.
The Seekers Club is your place to engage in your most unusual desires, as long as it’s safe, of sound mind, and consensual. I run the club out of my house. On my own. We don’t collect money. I’m not trying to make a profit off of this. It’s simply a safe space for degenerates like myself. This makes my weekly event accessible to those interested. It also gives me leeway to do, essentially,whatever I want, which is how I like it. It’s my house. I can use my discretion with personalities, and I do. Generally, as long as you respect boundaries and speak kindly to the people in the club, you’re in. But I have no problem kicking people to the curb for not playing by the rules or having bad attitudes.
Hell, on a particularly bad day, I kicked someone out because I didn’t like his mustache.
Which…yeah. In retrospect, probably went too far on that one.
Hope he’s okay.
The point is, this place has grown from a space for me to indulge in my own personal kinks into a three-floored haven with spanking benches, suspension rigging, customized rooms and seemingly-private sex rooms for the voyeuristic at heart. More than that…it’s become a family. The people who come weekly, I know them by name. Scene name, anyway. We use pseudonyms to keep reality out of the building. But I know who they are, I know what they like, and I know their birthdays, their accomplishments, and their worst moments, because we celebrate and mourn together. As a family.
