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“Of course.”
“And holidays with my son?”
“Naturally.”
“If he’s sick or I can’t get my babysitter to cover me—”
“Eden,” he says to stop me. “We’ll handle it. I’m not just looking for someone to fill the hours of work. I’m looking foryouto make this club better. Your talent. Your experience. Whatever your family needs for support, you’ve got it.”
My lip trembles as I swallow down the burning building in my throat.
“Please take the job.”
With tears in my eyes, I nod. “Okay.”
“Thank you,” he replies with a satisfied smile.
“I’m sorry for reacting emotionally,” I reply with a shake of my head. “It’s been…a rough week.”
“Care to talk about it?” he asks.
“No. I’m too embarrassed to admit how bad I’ve fucked it up.”
He winces before he stands, fixing his tie with a shift of his shoulders. “Well,” he says as he reaches a hand down toward me. “If I’ve learned anything, it’s that you’re never too tough to grovel.”
Rule #44: Growing up is hard.
Jade
“You didn’t bother to discuss those things before jumping into bed with a married guy?”
“He’s not a married guy. He’s Dean, my Dean.”
“He’s not your Dean. He’s Lindsay’s—”
“Oh, fuck off, Lorelai.” I groan. After clicking off the TV, I throw the remote control into the hamper and bury my face in my pillow. No amount ofGilmore Girlsis going to distract me enough not to feel the pain of being not just dumped but double dumped. Dumped by two people at the same time.
Technically, I walked out the door. But neither of them has called or shown up.
The urge to pick up my phone and text Clay is excruciating. We are both mad at Eden, and I want to talk to him about that.
But then I remember…he lied to me too. He had been in love with Eden since before I even came along, and all this time, they both had me convinced it was just a Domme-client thing. Deep down, I knew. Maybe it was denial. Or my eternal optimism.
All Eden does is keep secrets and lie.
We all do.
Maybe Eden is right. Maybe we are all so bad at relationships that we should just be alone.
But my heart aches just thinking about a life without them.
When I hear the door downstairs open and close, I wince. My dad greets his dog, Chief, and I wait for the inevitable. He will come up to my room and check on me like I’m still his little girl.
But I’m not. And it’s dawning on me now just how much I enable him to look at me that way. I hide my boyfriend from him. I moved back into my old bedroom, so he and I can live in the past and pretend nothing has changed.
This situation isn’t helping anyone. I’m tired of bending over backward for the sake of others. I was more than flexible for Clay, never putting up much of a fight when he asked to keep our relationship a secret for a little longer. I didn’t say anything when I suspected Eden and Clay had things about their past they didn’t tell me. Now, I’m living in my dad’s house to help him deal with his own divorce after my mother leftthreeyears ago.
Who is bending over backward for me?
