Page 53 of The Player's Club

“Actually, she’s not a family friend. Not anymore.”

I blinked, confused. “Why not?”

Mac dipped his sushi in soy sauce, looking far away again. “My dad became head pastor of our church when I was a teenager. As a kid, he was the associate pastor. The head pastor was a guy named Dave Bradford. He and his wife Caroline were good friends of my parents. Caroline is the one who has cancer.”

I moved my eyes from side to side, trying to make sense of where the story was going. “Were good friends? What happened?”

“Caroline and I happened.”

Whoa. My stomach dipped. Caroline . . . and Mac? What?

At my shocked expression, Mac chuckled darkly. “She was twenty-five years older than me, but we had a relationship. She was the one who taught me everything I know. I was her submissive. Caroline was—is—a dominatrix.”

Holy crap. I’d known something was missing when it came to the tension in Mac’s family. But I could’ve never predicted this, something more scandalous than I ever imagined. I didn’t know how to respond. A pastor’s wife had been a dominatrix? And she’d had an affair with the son of the associate pastor? What the fuck?

“Yeah, I know. It’s fucking insane when I say it out loud. And I know it’s strange that I’m upset that Caroline is sick, but . . .” Mac shrugged. “It’s complicated.”

Jealousy tore through me, even if it was sad to be jealous of a woman who was dying. But I couldn’t help it. My throat was painfully dry. “Do you still have feelings for her?” I asked, my voice hoarse.

“What? Christ, no! No, of course not. I just care about her, that’s all. And hearing that she’s dying of cancer brought back a lot of bad memories.”

I forced myself to eat some of the sushi I’d ordered, even as it tasted like ash in my mouth. Or maybe it was to stop myself from interrogating Mac further. I wanted to hear all the details about this affair, but Mac looked pained.Or maybe I didn’t want to know. I couldn’t quite figure it out. It was more like I had to know but didn’t really want to be subjected to anything that would make me even more jealous and confused than I already was.

And then I felt guilty because I was jealous of his pain. It hurt that he still cared this much about Caroline. That he was thinking of another woman, even if he denied having any feelings for her.

“Then we should change the subject,” I said, trying to sound cheery, even if it felt like my world had been turned upside down.

We talked about the sushi, about the terrible traffic that always plagued LA, and about how it was supposed to get hot this weekend. All inoffensive subjects that seemed to help bring Mac back to the present.

“Did I tell you that my uncle wants to see me?” I asked. Why not replace one uncomfortable subject for another?

“Your uncle? Is he visiting soon?”

I shook my head. “No, he and his family live here. But I’ve never gone to see them.”

Now Mac looked shocked. “Why not?”

“Um, it’s complicated. He’s my mom’s brother. Her family never approved of her getting together with my dad or getting pregnant before they got married. But since she died, my uncle has reached out a few times, but I always ignore it.”

“Maybe he wants to mend fences,” Mac ventured. “I mean, how old was he when your mom got pregnant?”

I hadn’t thought about it. “He was a teenager, I guess. It was mostly my grandparents who were shitty about the whole thing.”

“You should reply.” Mac looked serious now. “Family is important, Elodie. You know what I’d give to have family who wanted to see me? That didn’t always judge me?”

“I mean, my mom’s family judged her . . .” I felt defensive now.

“Her parents did. You don’t know about her siblings.”

I was annoyed now. Mac didn’t get to lecture me on how I dealt with my own family, just like I couldn’t lecture him on his. “How about we talk about something else?” I said, realizing what a mistake it was to bring up the subject of my uncle.

Mac’s smile was wry now. “Probably a good idea.”

My initial anger faded away. Damn Mac and his smile. It always got me to do whatever he wanted.

After dinner, we returned to my place. The mood continued to be tense for the rest of the night. My imagination ran wild with images of Mac and Caroline. I wondered what she looked like, what he wasn’t telling me. I also pondered the fact that he’d told me he was her submissive. Was his being a Dom now some sort of retaliation for him feeling taken advantage of when he was younger? Or did he truly prefer it? There was so much I wanted to ask him, but I also needed to be cognizant of the fact that he’d just received devastating news about this person. I didn’t want to push him over the edge by prying too hard.

A few hours later, I was finally dozing when I heard movement in my bedroom. It was dark, but I could make out Mac’s figure in the shadows. When he ran into something and cursed, I winced. And then groaned when he turned on a lamp on my dresser.