Chapter 9
Ridley
“I’m supposed to beworking on deepening friendships.” The calmly announced words coming frombeside me at the coffee shop had me looking up from my phone and chucklingbecause I knew it could only be one person.
Asa.
Yep. He was standing there scowling at melike I’d been naughty in class, and I couldn’t decide if it was cute or funny.Maybe both. “Master accepted the terms that I would get to know you better whenyou and Warner came to the club, but your absence is making that difficult.”
Asa was just as interesting as the firsttime we’d met, but it was easier to follow along with his thoughts this time.
However, that didn’t mean I knew what tosay.
“I don’t know if I should apologize ornot.”
I was mostly teasing because his reactionswere fun, but his scoff and the way he crossed his arms said he didn’t find meamusing. “It has been almost a month since your first date with Warner, and youhaven’t attended a single event with the rest of his friends or come to theclub.”
He wasn’t impressed with my decisions ifhis frown and the way he was looking down at me were any indication.
“If this behavior doesn’t change, I’m goingto have to attempt to make a new friend.” He sighed like it was aninconvenience he wasn’t prepared to deal with. “Master worries.”
I was pretty sure his Master was right toworry, but pointing that out would’ve been rude—not that he let me get a wordin anyway to point that out.
“At what point are you going to move into amore serious phase in your relationship?” That left me stumped and Asa musthave realized that because he sat down across from me, setting his coffeecarefully on the table like he was getting ready for a very important meeting.
“I need to renegotiate my friendshipagreement with Master and that requires your input.” His expression gave me thefeeling that he was starting to reevaluate his opinion on my mental faculties…andwhether my friendship was worth all the effort.
It was so funny when combined witheverything else that I just answered honestly. “Well, we’re not really dating,so doing things with the rest of his friends seemed a bit disingenuous.”
And honestly, there were only so many hoursin the day. I couldn’t do it all, so I’d focused on our nights together. Kneelingfor him and having him hold me were more special to me than Taco Tuesday or aBDSM club.
Asa sat straighter, shaking his head andlooking at me like I was insane. “Why would you let a good man and someone whoseems to be a good Master slip through your fingers? If you don’t show him thathe’s worth keeping, either someone else will or he’ll think he’s not importantto you.”
He looked so disappointed in me, I squirmedunder the scrutiny. “It’s not like that.”
Dropping my voice so the entire coffee shopdidn’t hear my business, I leaned forward. “He’s a good man and a wonderfulMaster.”
In the weeks since we’d finally started gettingto know each other, he’d been nothing but wonderful. “My life is just reallycomplicated right now and he knows I can’t offer anything more than that.”
Instead of just accepting my explanation,Asa leaned forward with a quizzical expression. “Are you married? Homeless? Areyou in need of legal help?”
His mind had to be a very interestingplace.
“No. No. And no.” I didn’t want him tothink anything wasthatwrong. “I’m a paralegal and I’ve never beenmarried.”
He cocked his head. “Then I fail to see theimpediment to a more fulfilling relationship. Are you hiding your sexualityfrom your family?”
His last question was easy to answer, but abit grim. “No, my parents died in a house fire my freshman year of college, andmy brother died about six months ago. His car was hit by a drunk driver.”
I figured I might as well get it all out atonce so his questions would be answered.
“There’s no one else to hide from.” EvenAnna’s parents hadn’t been shocked by my sexuality.
They’d just had an issue with my age andthey thought Becca needed two parents, but the will had made it clear I was toraise Becca since Anna hadn’t been on the best terms with her parents. Theymeant well, but they’d thought she could have done better than my brother andit’d created friction they’d never moved past.
Asa accepted my answer, but he was far fromsatisfied. “Then what is holding you back? You seemed earnest and excited todeepen your relationship with Warner. Did I misread the situation?”
Something about his tone or expression saidhe thought that was the obvious answer, but I didn’t like the idea of himquestioning himself. I got the impression he did that a lot.
