“Trinity,” Jekyll repeats. “She used to…come to the club. A long time ago.”
Her eyes flicker to me when she says it, almost apologetically. And—fuck. A bad feeling creeps up the back of my neck.
Trinity spies us. She waves at Jekyll, who waves back, and the woman comes and invades our tight circle. She embraces Jekyll, who gives her shoulder a squeeze.
“Trinity!” Jekyll says. “I haven’t seen you in ages. You look great.”
“Yes, well. I saw this event was open to the public, so I thought I’d show my face. See who was still around. Besides. Nothing like the ghosts of girlfriends’ past to shake up Valentine’s Day.”
Girlfriends past. She’s an ex. Fuck.She’s Phantom’s ex. Has to be. A sickening feeling in my stomach, like suddenly freefalling down a twenty-story drop.
Trinity’s eyes flicker across the group. Carver steps up first, introducing himself, taking her hand, the tactile bastard. Then Ginger herself, and Dove. Trinity’s eyes fall to Dorian. “And Poe. I remember you, of course. Still masking your emotions with a caustic sense of humor?”
“Still an asshole,” Dorian agrees, “but don’t call me Poe. It’s Dorian, now.”
“Dorian. The man in love with his image, correct? Fitting.”
“What’s not to love?” Dorian gives her a sharp smile.
I’m sensing tension between the two. Dorian doesn’t like her, but Dorian doesn’t like anyone. Jekyll seems to like her, so that gives Trinity some street cred. Phantomclearlyliked her, so…
I can’t be the jealous bitch. I have to be the better woman.
The better submissive.
I have towin.
Trinity turns her attention away from Dorian and fixes her eyes on me, the last in the group. “You’re new,” she says.
New? I want to scream.New? I turned this house into a home. I built this community from the ground up, bitch?—
“I’ve been coming here for three years,” I tell her, keeping my voice tamed. “But, sure, I guess it’s all relative.”
“Is that right?” Her blue eyes sweep over me. “You’re so young! You don’t look like you were even twenty-one two years ago.”
“The power of moisturizer,” I say with a smile, when what I really want to say is:fuck off. I see the game you’re playing.
“This club has certainly grown,” Trinity says, and I can’t tell if she means it complimentary or not. “So many different types of people. You-know-who used to be such a curmudgeon…I’m surprised he’s let this many new people join.”
Dorian, of course, addresses the elephant in the room. He puts a hand on my shoulder. “You can call him by his name. We all know the asshole in question. By the way,” he adds, pointedly, “Ophelia is Phantom’s submissive.”
“Was,” Ginger corrects, meaning well.
I correct again. “We’re just…in a…complicated period.”
“Oh,” Trinity says. Her eyes go wide, and her gaze flickers over me, as though seeing me through new eyes. Then she repeats, “Oh.”
She goes quiet and looks away. She, at least, has the good grace to blush.
Strange thorns are prickling my chest.
“So,” Carver breaks the awkward silence, addressing Trinity, “What’s your flavor these days?”
“My flavor?”
“Yeah. Are you still a submissive? Or have you changed it up?” Carver starts listing off the options. “Femdom? Brat? Rope bunny? Switch? Service top?—?”
“Service top isn’t a real designation,” Dorian pipes up. “It’s just another way to say,I’m so submissive, I’ll dominate you, but only if you really want me to.”
