Page 33 of Bound By Words

In between all the sex, she’d listened to me talk about work, and she’d shared with me about her workaholic tendencies. The Dom in me had wanted to scold her for not taking care of herself, but I knew we weren’t in a dynamic, so I’d kept my mouth shut. I knew she could flourish with the right relationship and support, but it wasn’t my place to be that person for her.

By the time the sun started to rise over the building across the street through my window, I had hopped out of bed because I just wanted to get moving. After I’d gotten out of the shower—trying to groom my beard and my longer than typical hair—my phone buzzed on the counter.

Emory: Tal and I are back in town. Want to grab dinner tonight?

While I needed to fill them in on yesterday’s events, I knew I wasn’t in the mood to hear their ‘I told you so’ commentary about Grace and Marisa. They’d supported both relationships for my sake, but I knew they had opinions on both women they didn’t express to me. I know there were things I’d kept to myself about their relationship when they’d first met.

Nathan: Can’t. Heading to Evan’s to start framing.

The heavy spring rains we’d been having in the region lately would likely hinder my progress, but the foundation was solid when I’d been down there before. I also had a copy of the blueprints Evan had commissioned from one of the architectural firms that often partnered with my company.

I knew it would take longer going down now because it wasn’t like I could make building materials appear with a snap of my fingers, but I had enough materials on hand to get started while I tried to move up my orders on everything else. There was also likely a fair amount of brush I needed to clear out of the wooded area surrounding the foundation.

Emory: Thought you weren’t starting until they returned from their trip?

Nathan: I wasn’t. Plans changed.

Emory: Are you going to share with the class?

I knew he’d have questions, but I just needed to throw myself into a project right now and not dwell on how I couldn’t change other people’s behavior, even if it were bound to lead them to self-destruction. I learned the hard way a long time ago it wasn’t my job to save people.

Nathan: Not at the moment. I can fill you in when I get back. If Marisa contacts you, don’t engage.

Emory: What did she do? Do I need to send Tal to cut a bitch?

Nathan: No, not worth your time. I’m done. Just walking away.

Emory: I thought you already had.

Nathan: Cutting all ties.

Emory: With Grace too? Aren’t they training together?

So he’d known about the mentorship, even though I had no clue. I knew I’d been distracted since we got back to town after the wedding, but you’d think I would have heard about it from someone in our circle.

Nathan: Don’t have an answer for that one. Just taking a step back for now.

Emory: Do we have a problem with G?

Nathan: I don’t know if I want to invest the time to work through the communication issues. I ended our arrangement. That’s enough for now.

Emory: You sure you don’t need to talk?

Nathan: Not yet. I’ll let you know when I’m ready for a postmortem.

Emory: You know we won’t push. Text when you get there, or Tal will worry about you.

Nathan: Only her?

Emory: You know I only keep you around because she has those lumberjack voyeur fantasies.

Nathan: Fuck you, dude. You’re just jealous you can’t pull off plaid and a full beard like I can.

Emory: So jealous, I can’t stand it.

Emory: Seriously, whatever you need, we’re here for you.

Every day for nearly two decades, I’d wondered what my life would look like if I hadn’t followed my instincts and jumped into the kink community. But even with the disappointment I’d experienced over the years when dynamics and play arrangements ended, I knew I’d never find another friend or mentor like Em. He was my favorite human being, in a purely platonic way, despite Talia sometimes using me as fodder for their fantasy flirting.

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