AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Right. Sorry.” The false sincerity in Angel’s voice made Lexie start to giggle again, and even Leigh cracked a smile. “So... why would you break up with him?”
“It’s just... if I didn’t know better, I’d think he was cheating on me.” Leigh looked at Lexie, her expression earnest. “I know how that sounds, but Michael’s not the type to cheat.” She rolled her eyes. “He feels too guilty, so he dumps me first, before trying to even talk to another woman like that. It’s kind of honorable, in its own stupid way.”
“But... he’s acting like he might be cheating?” Lexie asked, confused.
“He’s just working all the time. He gets home late, he’s constantly on the phone... we haven’t had quality time together in weeks. Not to mention we barely have sex anymore, and when we do, I have to be the one who initiates it.” She made a disgusted face. “I hate initiating sex, and he knows that. We used to have sex all the time, but now I have to practically throw myself at him. Even then, sometimes he doesn’t always say yes.”
“What?!” Angel sounded totally shocked, which Lexie took as an indication of what Leigh’s sex life used to be like.
Leigh threw up one hand in frustration, her other hand jerking slightly and almost spilling the wine in it, except Lexie reached out to steady it. “Thanks,” Leigh said, giving her a little smile, before sighing in exasperation as she returned to the previous topic. “Last night, I made him a nice dinner - which he was late for - and put on some sexy lingerie under my dress, and I tried to make things all romantic, but as soon as dinner was over, he sat on the couch and turned on the television. Then, when I sat next to him and tried to... you know, get things going, he just kind of kissed me, patted me on the head and said he was tired. And yeah, I know men can get tired too, but we haven’t had sex in two weeks... and goddammit, I’m horny!”
There were tears sparking in her eyes as her movements became more jerky. Lexie rescued the wine glass from her hand and put it on the table as Angel moved in to hug her. Huffing little pants of air, like she was trying to keep herself from crying, Leigh stretched out on the couch, putting her head in Angel’s lap. Pulling the elastic band keeping Leigh’s hair up in a messy bun, Angel started to run her fingers through the long strands, in comforting, soothing motions. Lexie scooted in from behind, rubbing Leigh’s legs, since she couldn’t exactly hug her while she was lying down.
“I just... it hurt, you know? The fact that we haven’t had sex in so long - well, long for us, and then I try and just get rejected... plus, he barely even thanked me for the dinner. It’s like he doesn’t even notice I’m doing all the stuff around the house, making dinners, doing everything I can to make his life easier because I know he’s stressed at work right now... and then when I need something too, I just get pushed away. It sucks. It really, fucking, sucks.” She let out another little huffing pant as both Angel and Lexie made sympathetic noises. Leigh pressed her face against Angel’s thigh for a moment. “I’m sorry guys, I was trying so hard not to be a downer...”
“Hey, no apologies,” Angel said sternly, her hands still gentle as she ran her fingers through Leigh’s hair. “This is what girls’ nights are for. Booze. Laughing. Venting. Whatever we need.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I haven’t had sex in months,” Lexie offered up, although she couldn’t imagine it would actually make Leigh feel better. After all, Leigh was in a relationship. One where she was apparently used to getting sex on a pretty regular basis. But it did make Leigh blink and stop looking like she was about to burst into tears.
“Months? Really?” Leigh shuddered. “I don’t think I could do that.”
“That’s because you’ve had a steady boyfriend since you first started having sex,” Angel said, amusement threading through her voice. “It is possible to live without sex.”
“It just sucks,” Lexie said, her voice wistful.
“Have you been saving yourself for Patrick?” Leigh asked, her mood starting to swing back up. She twisted onto her back so she could look at Lexie, curiosity replacing the unhappiness in her expression.
Lexie laughed. “No, not exactly. But I’m not a big fan of one night things, and my last boyfriend, Trevor, turned out to be a dick, and we never made it to the bedroom. So... yeah. It’s been a little over a year now.”
“Oh you poor thing!” Leigh sat up, only a little wobbly, and threw her arms around Lexie in a sympathetic hug. Angel snickered.
“It’s not that big a deal,” Lexie said, a little exasperated. All of Leigh’s relationship issues, and she was feeling sorry for Lexie? Ouch. “That’s what vibrators are for.”
“They aren’t the same,” Leigh said, shaking her head morosely.
“Oh my god,” Angel said suddenly, grabbing Leigh’s arm. “Please don’t tell me you stay with Michael for the regular sex.” Leigh hesitated and Angel fell back dramatically, the back of one hand against her forehead. “Noooo... come on, Leigh, you’re better than that.”
“What? I like sex! He gives me orgasms. Really good ones. Also, there’s the whole I’m in love with him thing, which I don’t seem to be able to get over, but yeah... the regular sex is part of it. That’s what being in a relationship is, getting regular sex!”
“Amen,” Lexie muttered.
“I’m not staying in the relationship just for the sex though,” Leigh said, glaring at Angel even as she started petting Lexie’s hair. Lexie giggled, pretty sure Leigh didn’t even realize what she was doing. Maybe they were all a little more drunk than they’d realized. “Especially if he keeps taking me for granted the way he has been. For better, or worse, but not for granted. That’s my new motto.”
“You go girl,” Lexie enthused, hugging Leigh around the waist. That was a sentiment she could get behind. Sometimes it seemed like Patrick took her for granted. Especially once he had her working at Stronghold, like he thought sitting at the front desk should satisfy her for the rest of her life, as long as she was in the club.
Being trained by him was actually probably going to make things harder on her than they’d been before. She’d always been able to push for more, to hedge around his dictates, and to sass him as much as she wanted. As a sub, as his sub, she wasn’t going to be able to do that as often. Even if Patrick wanted a strong submissive, someone who would stand up for what she wanted, he would also expect his word to be final. Right now, she could argue with him, and if he didn’t agree with her, she would often just do whatever she wanted to anyway. She didn’t think he’d be tolerating that anymore.
Now he had something to hold over her. They were going to be much more involved, and if she didn’t follow his lead, he could stop training her. Even more, it would show him she couldn’t be the kind of submissive he wanted. Sometimes, Lexie wasn’t sure how well she’d be able to let Patrick lead her, but as long as she was finally getting what she wanted - needed - from him, she’d manage.
When Patrick’s computer pinged to let him know he had an incoming Skype call, he almost jumped in his seat. Even though he’d done his best to focus on work, he’d become more and more nervy while waiting for Jake to call. The muted sounds of the club were still filtering through his office door. Nearly midnight, the club was still in full swing, but he hadn’t been called out of his office to put out any fires so far. Which made it a good night.
Putting down his pen, Patrick took a deep breath and pulled up the screen. As soon as he saw Jake’s face, he grinned. His best friend was looking good. Tanned, smiling, and uninjured. Some of Patrick’s tension immediately leaked out.
“Hey Patty-cake, looking good,” Jake said by way of greeting. Jake was the only one who could get away with calling him that.
“Better looking than you, at least,” Patrick said, grinning back.
“Only because the shower facilities out here leave a bit to be desired,” Jake said. They bantered back and forth for a few minutes, helping to relax Patrick even further.
