AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her reaction was completely unreasonable and illogical, which was part of why he suspected sub-drop. It had been an intense scene, for both of them, followed immediately by rejection... but he hadn’t had a choice. She just kept pushing and pushing, without thinking about any of the consequences, as far as he could tell.
“LEX!” She hit the door to the ladies room, shoving past it, and he almost roared out his frustration. There was always the possibility he might be able to make it in there before anyone –
Fuck.
Mistress Lisa stepped out of the room, eyes cold as ice. He skidded to a halt, panting. Looking him over, a quick flash of sympathy skittered across her face.
“You know I can’t let you go in there.” Her tone was almost apologetic. Patrick really fucking regretted making the locker rooms so out of bounds to opposite sexes. Although, to be honest, he’d never had any control over it, but he had encouraged it.
Frustration bubbled inside of him, ready to boil over. He almost snapped when a hand patted him on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Patrick, we’ve got this,” Maria said, her voice full of concern as she hurried past him. Jessica shot him a look as she went by, right on Maria’s heels. Mistress Lisa turned her body slightly to let them pass, her arms crossed over her breasts, as if she was standing guard. Apparently she didn’t trust him not to go into the room without someone actively blocking his way.
Good on her.
Clenching his fists, as if they could somehow hold in his uselessness and rage, he stormed towards his office. If he stood outside the door, waiting, his temper would just boil over and he’d end up punching someone. Probably someone who didn’t deserve it.
Inside his office, he could throw things. Shout. Send his chair flying across the room. Thank god for soundproofing.
Grabbing the phone, he hit the direct connection to the bar.
“You okay, man?” Rick’s voice, laden with worry, didn’t do anything to help his temper. Like he needed to be reminded that everyone had seen him lose complete control, not just of the scene or his submissive, but also of himself. He couldn’t remember who was supposed to be behind the bar tonight, but apparently they’d decided to let Rick deal with him. Which meant all the assholes out there were probably already speculating about what had just happened.
“Call me as soon as she’s out,” he growled. “Don’t let her leave without talking to me again.” He slammed down the phone and barely resisted the urge to throw it across the room as well. He was going to need it so Rick could call him and let him know when Lexie finally came out of the locker room.
“FUCK!” he yelled, pounding his fist into his desk.
Which hurt like a bitch.
If Lexie wasn’t barricaded in the women’s locker room, he’d already be on his way over to Liam’s dojo to blow off some major steam. Come to think of it, doing so was practically becoming a Stronghold courtship ritual. Had any of the other guys not done so while in the process of solidifying their relationships? He didn’t think so. That made him feel marginally better.
Unfortunately, the tiny loss of anger meant other emotions were able to take over. Misery. Helplessness. Frustration. He couldn’t get to Lexie, and even though he knew her friends would be taking care of her, it wasn’t the same. Patrick wanted to be the one to hold her and give her water and...
Ha.
There was something he could do. Yanking open the bottom left drawer of his desk, he grabbed one of the king size Twix candy bars. Lexie’s favorite. Considering how fast she dropped, one of the things she was going to need was sugar. Going back to the door connecting his office to the club, he poked his head out. Lisa was still leaning against the wall next to the women’s locker room. Close enough to hear him.
“Here, make sure she gets this,” he growled, tossing the chocolate to her.
Nodding, Lisa turned and pushed open the door to the locker room. Try as he might, Patrick couldn’t see more than the first few feet into the door from his angle.
Having done the only thing he possibly could do for Lexie, he went and picked up his chair and set it up behind his desk so he could plop down into it. Pressing his head into his hands, he closed his eyes and tried to calm the headache starting to grow in his temples.
“Fuck this,” he muttered, sitting back upright and turning towards his computer. He shot off a quick email to Jake, requesting Skype contact as soon as Jake could manage it.
Yeah, he’d meant to wait till Jake came home, but that was only a few weeks away anyway. He needed to talk to his best friend, because he didn’t want to go through anything like tonight again. Once Lexie calmed down and her mood equalized, he was sure she’d listen to reason, but he didn’t want to keep holding back in the scenes.
It was pretty obvious they worked well together, and he couldn’t really test that any further without actually trying to date. Hopefully her parents would take it well, although he was less worried about them than Jake. They knew what kind of club he ran, but they didn’t know how involved in the scene he was, whereas Jake knew exactly what Patrick would want from his baby sister. Hopefully, Patrick wasn’t just setting himself up for a beat down when Jake got home.
Sitting on the bench, tucked in between Maria and Jessica, Lexie managed to get out most of what had happened downstairs between her and Patrick. Standing across from them, Olivia leaned against the lockers, listening quietly. None of them interrupted her or tried to hurry her, which she was grateful for. She pulled at the edges of the blanket which Maria had wrapped around her, occasionally shivering despite the warmth. Maria had gotten it for her while she’d been in the bathroom stall pulling out the butt plug, which she’d cleaned off with shaking hands.
Olivia had brought a water bottle, which Lexie now had clutched in one hand. It was already halfway empty. Between the scene and then her emotional upset, she was parched. It felt like she’d already cried a gallon of tears. Fortunately, Jessica had had the foresight to grab a roll of toilet paper and had been tearing off pieces for Lexie to use. There was a gross little mountain piling up in front of her, which, if she hadn’t felt so devastated, would be kind of funny.
“I’m just so pissed,” she said, sniffling and knowing she didn’t sound the least bit pissed. She sounded miserable. Throwing her current tissue down onto the mountain with force, it was almost frustrating when it just floated down to land softly. “It was our first kiss and he ruined it. I know he wants me. He knows he wants me. But apparently he has to ask Jake permission first. Like I’m some dumb little girl who can’t make her own goddamn decisions!”
Both Jessica and Maria leaned in, rubbing her back and making soothing, supportive noises.
“He’ll come around,” Maria said. “I’m guessing it’s hard going from seeing you as a little girl to a grown woman he’s interested in. He’s known you for a lot longer as a little girl.”
