Jake took the offered hand and gave Chris a bright smile. Way brighter than she’d ever seen him have before. It was a charming smile, a smile that made him sigh worthy. Asshole. “I can understand why, Chris. I hope you give us a chance to explain at some point. For now, we’ll just take this table next to the three of you. I would give you a little more privacy, but obviously that’s not a good idea. We both take her health and welfare very seriously and not just because she’s our client. We care about her. I know you understand.”
Serena wanted to vomit. Jake had figured out exactly how to handle Chris. He’d said he was the one who didn’t know how to deal with people, but that had been another in a long list of lies. Well, she admitted, Chris wasn’t just a person. He was in the lifestyle, and Jake had probably figured it out by taking one look at him. Chris was a big old bottom, and he was already smiling up at the big bad Dom.
“We could get another couple of chairs,” Chris offered.
“No we can’t.” Bridget didn’t even come close to being submissive. “The asshole table is that way. Come on, Serena. I ordered you a swirl. And you better remember where your loyalties lie, Chris. Just because Hottie McHot Ass walks in with his super metro hot best friend, and all those like muscles and shit, doesn’t mean you get to turn into a pile of goo. We hate them.”
Chris sighed, staring at Jake’s chest. He was wearing a T-shirt, but it was easy to see that he was covered in amazing muscles. Jake nodded to Chris, and then Adam after him, as they made their way to the back of the room and settled down at their table.
Bridget slapped Chris across the chest. “What is wrong with you?”
Chris’s mouth was hanging slightly open. She couldn’t blame him. They looked just as good from the back as they did from the front. They both had amazingly hot asses.
“I…holy crap, Serena. You really did both of them?”
Bridget narrowed her eyes at him. “Yes, she did terribly slutty things and then they treated her like trash, so we hate them.”
“I do. I hate them. But holy crap.” Chris looked back over their way. “Did you see them?” He reached for Serena’s hand and held it to his heart. “I’m so sorry, baby. I really am. Are you sure they’re not gay? Because he seemed really gay to me.”
Serena couldn’t help it. She laughed. Chris thought every man with a half-decent body was gay, so Adam and Jake must have set his faulty gaydar in a tailspin. “I assure you—one hundred percent not gay. At least they didn’t feel gay in bed.”
“So they could be gay.” Chris sighed. “But really, we hate them.”
“Yes, we hate them.” Serena said the words. She just wished she could feel them deep down in her soul. She didn’t hate them. She was still crazy about them, but she could never trust them again. She followed Chris and Bridget back to their seats where Bridget started talking loudly about all the men she would set Serena up with when she was ready to date again.
She was never going to date again.
She listened as Adam and Jake ordered lunch. She played with the straw of her swirl margarita. Bridget and Chris started talking about work, normal, everyday things. It was the same as every lunch before except she was a completely different human being.
How could she already miss them? They were sitting not five feet away, but they were lost to her as though they were gone, never to be seen again. She wouldn’t see them again. Not really. She would move through the days, but she wouldn’t really share them. Adam and Jake would be around, but more like accessories when before they had become essential. She’d come to rely on them far more in a week than she ever had her husband, and they had been married for years.
And someday soon, they would catch this guy. She knew they would. They would honor that promise. They would catch him and she would be safe, and they would move on. She would move on. Except she wouldn’t. She hadn’t moved in years, not emotionally. She’d worked on her career and put up barricades to everyone except her small group of friends. When Adam and Jake were gone, she wouldn’t move on. She would simply move deeper inside herself until the only emotion she ever felt was typed out of her soul and placed on the internet for all to see.
“Honey? Are you all right?” Chris asked, reaching out and covering her hand with his.
She shook her head. “Nope. But I don’t have another way to be right now.”
He eyed her for a moment. “Are you sure about that?”
“Chris, you weren’t there this morning. You didn’t hear some of the things he said to me, and Adam hasn’t said anything at all. Trust me. I know exactly where I stand with those two. I was a convenient lay.”