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“How are you so good at this?” Lexie muttered, as Maria wiped away the last of her runny make-up.
Smiling, Maria winked at her. “Oldest of three sisters, remember? I’ve had practice.” And now she was looking after Lexie.
The Stronghold women really were like her older sisters, the ones she always wished for. Plus, unlike the guys, they didn’t act like she was a little idiot who couldn’t think for herself or make her own choices.
“Still clear?” she asked Jessica.
“Yup. I don’t see Olivia either, I bet they’re in his office.”
Good, maybe Olivia could talk some sense into him. Lexie hurried out the door. Across the club, at the bar, Rick and Justin both stood up. Obviously they’d been sitting and waiting, watching the door to the locker room. Moving towards the women, Rick reached out his hand, and Maria immediately veered towards him, which made Lexie’s heart ache again, in envy this time. That was what she wanted. Neither of them even seemed to stop and think about their responses to each other, they just did it.
As soon as the guys reached them, Lexie had the familiar feeling of being the fifth wheel. Rick slid his hands around Maria’s waist, while Justin reached out to hold Jessica’s hand.
“Patrick wants to see you, before you leave.” Those were Rick’s first words to her.
“Hi Rick, nice to see you too,” she said coolly, and he at least had the grace to look abashed for a moment. “Tell Patrick I quit, and he can go fuck himself. Good night.”
Spinning on her heel, she ignored both Justin and Rick as they called her name. A quick glance over her shoulder showed they were both being hindered by their submissives. Which immediately made her tear up again, to see how her friends were doing what they could for her - even to the detriment of themselves. Another instance in which they were probably going to end up being punished, because they were helping her instead of listening to their Doms, inside Stronghold.
When she burst through the door into the Lobby, Jared frowned at her.
“Lex-“
“No,” she said, fiercely, dashing the tears from her eyes and pointing at him, as if ordering him to stay in place. It felt like her emotions were starting to go a little haywire again, even though she was doing her best to suppress them. She just needed to get out of here. “I’m leaving. Don’t try to stop me, or I swear to god, I’ll start walking home if I have to.” She looked over her shoulder at Freddy, who was manning the desk, hand hovering over the phone and looking torn. “Don’t you dare, Freddy. Just get me my purse, and then you can call him, if Rick or Justin haven’t already.”
Behind her, she heard Jared sigh, but she knew he wouldn’t stop her. Out of all the Sentinels, he was the soft touch. Seeing she was upset and wanted to get out, he wouldn’t stop her as long as she maintained enough control over her emotions to keep from actually crying. If he thought she was too emotional to drive, he’d never let her leave. Freddy looked relieved that Justin and Rick were both also on the hook for letting Patrick know she was escaping - and that’s exactly what it felt like - so instead of picking up the phone, he turned and grabbed her purse from the cubbies behind his chair.
“You shouldn’t leave without talking to him,” Jared said softly.
Her chin tilted up stubbornly. “I need to go. He needs to know he can’t keep doing this to me. I’m not going to let him take me for granted while I keep coming back for more and twist me around on strings just because I love him.” Lessons learned from watching both Leigh and Jared’s relationships, not that she was going to rub it in Jared’s face. As long as he didn’t try to keep her there.
“Here Lex,” Freddy said, tossing her larger bag to her. She stuffed the smaller one, with her plug, inside of it and practically ran for the door.
Bursting through the door, she bolted for her car. It was amazing how fast she could move in very high heels when she put her mind to it. Maybe because her body realized it was really important this time, and not just because she might break her ankle.
Slamming the car door shut, she could see the door to the club flying open as Patrick came through. Fuck! The fury on his face was enough to make her pulse stutter. She slammed on the gas pedal, putting her car in reverse and then shooting forward. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him getting into his own car. He wasn’t seriously going to follow her home, was he?
He did.
The entire ride, his headlights were shining into her car. Lexie gritted her teeth, shoring up the defenses around her heart as she went through everything she wanted to say to him about what a totalitarian jerk he was. How much it hurt that he wasn’t fighting for her, the way she did for him. How much it hurt that he’d obviously chosen Jake over her without even knowing if a choice needed to be made in the first place. She really didn’t think Jake was going to have a problem with it if she and Patrick got together, she really, really didn’t. But even if he did, she and everyone else could point out it wasn’t his decision and he was being a jerk.
The arguments piled up in her head, her knuckles turning white because she was gripping the steering wheel so hard. By the time she pulled into her complex and parked, she was more than ready to face off against Master Mold. Her emotions were rigidly suppressed, her arguments marshalled... and the fucker just kept on driving. Went right past her car, back out to the main road and left.
What the fuck? Had he just followed her home because he thought she might not get there safely? Because she was so upset from sub-drop?
Lexie let out a frustrated scream, pounding her fist against her dashboard as all of her emotions welled up again. Damn him, damn him, damn him!
Exhausted already, even though it was only eleven o’clock by the time he got back to the club, Patrick felt as though he was actually dragging his body around. The burden of Lexie’s emotional breakdown was weighing on him. He should have kept control. He shouldn’t have rejected her so quickly and harshly after she kissed him, should have been prepared for something like that. Lexie had been open and vulnerable, more than usual, after such an intense scene, and he’d fucked up.
He didn’t blame her for running off the way she had - not because of his actions, but because he realized she wasn’t quite in her right mind. Which is why he’d followed her home, needing to make sure she got there safely. Olivia had told him Maria and Jessica had been taking care of her in the locker room, so he was reassured she’d been hydrated and fed. Once she’d started in on the candy bar, she wouldn’t have stopped until it was all gone.
An intense scene like that could bring up all sorts of emotions. Follow it with a rejection, both emotional and physical, and he’d been able to see her emotions flood up and overwhelm her. Not just from the scene, but from the past years, when she’d tried to pretend there was nothing between them but friendship. She’d been swamped with perceived rejection, and he fucking hated that he hadn’t been able to catch her before she’d made it to the locker room.
If he had, he’d have been able to take her into his office, cuddle her, explain... keep her there until her endorphins had normalized. Not being able to finish aftercare was detrimental to a submissive, and even though he knew Maria and Jessica would have done some of it, his fingers itched at being so out of control. Especially since she obviously still hadn’t been alright when she’d left the club. Rick had told him she’d quit, before she’d left. Hopefully she’d change her mind once she calmed down.
Walking into the lobby, Jared gave him a sympathetic look, and Freddy cowered behind the desk. Patrick sighed, knowing Freddy had given Lexie her purse first, rather than alerting Patrick to her departure. He didn’t really have the energy to deal with it, but he needed to maintain discipline.
“Freddy, report to Mistress Erin tomorrow for a punishment scene,” he said, passing by the desk. He sounded more tired than stern, but the submissive still hung his head in guilty misery.
