Page 79 of Crave Me
“Thank you for the weekend, Little One,” he said, pulling out onto the street. “You’re becoming a well-trained sub.”
I reeled from the force of his words as if he’d backhanded me across the cheek. Nothing could have caused more pain to rip through my chest into my soul.
In one short sentence, he’d slammed me with the reminder this was all temporary. At some point, he’d walk away from me.
“Thank you for your time, sir.”
He didn’t speak to me again until he pulled up to the street in front of my building. My fabulous, contemporary building I’d always loved until I’d stepped foot into his warm and well-decorated home and somehow imagined living in it within a matter of moments.
God. How had everything gotten so screwed up so quickly?
“Will I see you this week?” I asked.
He’d already opened his door but closed it and turned to me. “We have one week left in our agreement.”
“I know, sir.”
“Then yes, I’ll see you Friday.”
“Friday?” It was Sunday. We hadn’t spent more than a day apart since we started this training.
Dragging a hand down his face, he sighed. “I’ve got a busy week, Chloe. First home game is on Tuesday and I have to focus. Then it’s Thanksgiving and I’m assuming you’ll be with your family.”
Was that the problem he was having? My family? Regardless, I said, “There’s still Monday and Wednesday, sir.”
“And I make the rules, correct?” He spoke so harshly, snapping at me with an anger I hadn’t seen from him that my head jerked back.
“What’s going on, Simon? You’re acting angry and I don’t understand where this is coming from.”
“Nothing.” His lie was as blatant as the frustration etched on his features. “We will finish your training next week. While we’re apart this week, I want you to think of what kind of Dom you want to find long-term.”
You. I want it to be you.I wanted to beg and plead and throw myself at his mercy, letting him know how very much I truly wanted it to be him, but that would have been foolish. He’d effectively put me in my place.
“No need to help me out.” I opened the door and hopped out and then grabbed my bag from the backseat of the Tahoe before closing the rear passenger door.
“Chloe.” I let Simon see the pain he’d lashed through me with the force of an ill-used cane. He didn’t even flinch. “You really have become the perfect sub.”
I slammed the door to the Tahoe hard enough to rock the large SUV and hurried into the lobby without looking back.
Then, I managed to fight back the tears and the pain and the failure swirling around me, threatening to choke me with its massiveness until I was firmly inside my apartment, and flung myself onto the bed.
* * *
“Wow, this really is a beautiful store, Chloe!”
I turned to the pretty brunette, rushing through the store, weaving around a rack of shift dresses, and grinned.
“Haley.” I dropped the sweater I’d been folding and hurried to her. “What are you doing here?”
“Jensen told me I’d been working too hard and I needed a day off, so he sent me to the spa.”
Jealousy uncurled inside me with a force I wasn’t expecting. I’d never been one to be jealous of other women. Haley fingered her beautiful collar, her sparking engagement ring catching the overhead lights. She gleamed with excitement, love, and deep relaxation.
“That was nice of him. You look great.”
“It was, and I feel great.” She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed. “And since the spa is just down the street, I wanted to pop in and say hello. Do you have some time to talk or go grab a coffee?”
It was already six o’clock and we’d be closing in an hour. I should have told her no, not because I couldn’t get away earlier. Tyra was in the back and would stay to close if I asked. Being around Haley meant thinking about Simon. I hadn’t heard from him since he dropped me off Sunday afternoon at my apartment. Every minute I went without contact from him spread the distance between us to unimaginable miles. I could have reached out to him, but as my Dom, he’d made it clear we wouldn’t have contact until Friday. As much as thinking about him hurt, I was certain seeing him again would destroy me. But I was determined to see it through, at the very least to get a good-bye from him even though it would break my heart. I couldn’t walk away yet, though, not without telling him everything he’d become to me. I’d throw all my cards out on the table and let him pick them up and cherish them—cherish me—or throw them to the floor and let me walk away.
