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Chapter 20
DARREN
Past
To my surprise, Bridget doesn’t rule out the possibility of my using the zapper again, but she says the circumstances would have to be right, and there would have to be a big upside. That’s fine with me. I have a lot of other toys in my arsenal. Plus, I want to resume her ass training, which we started while in Phuket.
She said she should be all caught up with class and work by the following weekend. I don’t want to wait that long to see her again, so I suggest she work at my place.
“Yeah, I don’t see myself getting a lot done at your place,” she replies as I pull up in front of her apartment.
I know she’s not playing hard to get, so she must have more resolve than most women.
“All right,” I say. “Just know that the longer you wait, the more stuff I’m going to come up with for you.”
“That’s coercion,” she accuses.
Which is commonplace in my world. “Life’s a bitch,” I reply.
She narrows her eyes at me. I don’t know if she’s going to let me get away with it or not. I feel myself about to relent. It’s an unusual feeling.
“If I’m caught up early,” she says, “and if I feel like coming over before the weekend, I’ll let you know.”
I smile. “You’re going to feel like it. Don’t even pretend you won’t.”
I leave her alone for the next several days, during which an old friend of my father’s stops by the club to try and talk me into accepting Hao Young’s opportunity again.
“They owe your father,” Tommy explains, “and they’d like to discharge the debt to you.”
“I know,” I reply as we sit on my private balcony.
“It’s a huge role they are offering you.”
“And I’m inclined to take it.”
“What’s stopping you? Your mom?”
Actually, it’s not. I’ve incurred my mother’s wrath several times in my lifetime. But Bridget poses a potential complication.
“I told Hao Young to check with me in a few months. That will give Cheryl some lead time to take over The Lotus completely from me. I’ve got a few outstanding offers that I might rethink before taking over my dad’s old spot.”
A few months also buys me time to figure out what I’m going to do about Bridget. Maybe my feelings will have faded for her by then. That would work out well. If not, I’d have to figure out how to ensure the different parts of my life stay separated. I know triad members whose spouses or significant others don’t have an inkling of what their other halves are up to. But I’d have to be on my toes with Bridget, and I don’t need that stress.
On Tuesday I get a text from Bridget:
Hi.
My response:
You caught up?
Hers:
Getting there.
I know I probably shouldn’t distract her, but she texted me first.
You want to try frog or hogtie next?
