Page 70 of Daddy's Lesson
“Not her,” I interjected. “Not ever. I’ve never seen her act anything like that before. I swear.”
“Okay.”
The more I thought about it, the more sure I was that this outburst had been insanely out of character for Zoe, and that whatever was going on, she was in serious pain.
And if she was in pain, and going home alone… I hated that. I wanted to be there for her. Even if she screamed at me. Even if she slapped me again. Even if it meant we were over.
“I have to go. I have to go to her. She’s upset. I don’t want her to be alone.”
“No.” Archer had his Dom voice on and was directing it at me. “Lennon, you have to let it go tonight. You can’t chase after her. You’ll just make it worse. You can try to contact her tomorrow once you’ve sobered up.”
Ignoring him, I stood, swaying on my feet. “She’s alone. I don’t know if she even has anyone to call or talk to when she’s upset.”
“She’s fine,” Archer insisted. “Bain and Jasmine followed her out. They’ll check on her and make sure she doesn’t drive in that condition. I don’t know if she’ll talk to them, but if anyone could get her to, it would probably be Jasmine.” He stepped closer and laid a hand on my shoulder. “We’re all here for you, even when it means being there for her.”
That made me feel slightly better, but I jerked away from him. “She doesn’t know them. What if she won’t talk to them?” Yanking my head up, I narrowed my eyes at him. “At least she knows you. Why didn’t you go after her?”
“I could have, but Audrey was indisposed, and I thought it would be better for her to have a woman to talk to, since we don’t know what exactly the trigger with alcohol is. Besides, you’re my best friend and I wanted to be here for you.”
He was making perfect sense, and I knew they were both right, but I couldn’t help the way I felt. Not going to her was killing me. The door to the lounge swung open and Audrey and Theo entered. Theo took a seat near the door, and Audrey beelined for Archer, who shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders before turning and kissing her softly on the lips.
“I’m so sorry I left you, babygirl.”
“It’s okay, Daddy. No harm done. That was a crazy interruption nobody could have expected, and you were the only other person besides Lennon that she knew. You were the best choice to get in the middle of things. Besides, it's not like you just stranded me. Theo helped me up. I'm okay.”
The door swung open again and this time it was Bain and Jasmine. Standing, I rushed to them. “Is she okay? Did she say anything?”
Jasmine shook her head. “She wouldn't talk to me. I’m sorry, Lennon.”
“Fuck.” I swore under my breath.
“She’s okay, though,” Bain assured me. “We stayed until she was calm and we were sure she was safe to drive, at least, but that’s all she would let us do.”
“Well, thanks for that.”
I stood in the center of my friends, feeling lost, embarrassed, and restless. Everything in me screamed to go after her, but I knew they wouldn't let me, and more than that, I knew I shouldn’t.
Sinking back into the chair, I buried my face in my hands again and groaned. How had tonight gotten so messed up? All I wanted to do was have a good time.
“So, what are you going to do?” Bas pulled up a chair next to mine and echoed my own thoughts.
“Not much he can do,” Bain answered. “She made it pretty clear she was done with it, and doesn’t want anything to do with him.” He nudged my elbow. “You want one of us to go get your stuff tomorrow, so you don't have to?”
I rubbed my hands over my face, trying to find a different ending, desperately wishing I had a time machine I could jump in or a reset button I could hit. “I guess,” I finally croaked out.
“No! Fuck that!” A roar from across the room had us all turning in shock when Theo lifted the back of the chair in front of him and slammed it against the floor. “Women, man.”
“Excuse me?” Nyla, Audrey and Jasmine cried in unison.
Bain, Archer, and Bas looked ready to fight for theirs. I closed my eyes, hoping we weren’t about to have another dramatic scene tonight.
Luckily, Theo backed down. Sort of. He rubbed his hand through his hair, gave a ragged sigh, and plopped down on the bench. “I just mean… she came in here attacking him, with no explanation, mad that he’s ignoring things he says she hasn’t even said. Women can be so fucking impossible sometimes, especially submissive women.”
The girls looked ready to pounce again, but Theo shook his finger at them. “No. Don’t. Being a Daddy or a dominant man is hard fucking work. It’s like a full-time job, and one that can be very rewarding and wonderful, but it can also be exhausting and impossible.”
Nyla opened her mouth, presumably to argue, and Theo cut her off with a look.
“I’m just saying, if you women mess up, you get punished, and we all move on, but if we mess up, we aren’t given the same grace. If we mess up, it’s the end of the world.”