Page 6 of Ruin Me, Daddy

That much was clear from the look on her face to the annoyance ringing in her tone. “All right. I’ll head home soon, but I can’t leave just yet.”

“Why the hell not? This is Play Me Like That we’re talking about, Ice.”

“Yeah, I get that. But I made some people here promises, and I’m a man of my word, Amanda.”

“Jesus Christ.” Throwing her hands in the air, she sent him a look that could only be described as exasperated. “What promises could you have made that could possibly be more important than our band?”

“I don’t appreciate you putting words in my mouth, girl.”

He’d deliberately used the generic term he used with all his submissives, because he knew she’d hated it so much during their scenes at Roulette. Pissing Amanda Sterling off was one of the few pleasures he still had in life, and he damn well wasn’t giving it up just because she’d said they couldn’t be together.

As he’d expected, her nose crinkled at the term. “Don’t call me that. We’re not in a scene.”

“Don’t push me, then. Saturday is the earliest I can leave. I’ll see you back in California.”

“Fine. At least tell me what’s so goddamn important.”

He was tempted to tell her to fuck off, but that would be a true asshole move. It was one thing to take some time to himself to nurse a broken heart. It was another thing entirely to treat her like shit because she’d been the one to break it. Above all else, she was still one of his best friends, and he intended to keep it that way.

Even if it hurt like a bitch to do so.

“The club is having an auction. Like a sexual fantasy type deal. I told Braden I’d help monitor the event, make sure things run smoothly.”

“I thought the Elliott brothers shut down that whole auction thing.”

So she’d done her homework before crashing his club. Good girl. “They did. But the members apparently really liked the idea, so Braden found a way to make it work legally. The first real auction is tomorrow night.

Her dark eyes lit with interest. “That could be fun to watch. Maybe I’ll stick around.”

Fuck. The last place he wanted her was here, in his club, where he’d have to watch all the other Daddies of Club BDE drool over her lush curves. But telling Silver “No” was the quickest way to ensure she would do exactly what he didn’t want her to do, so he simply shrugged. “Sure. Whatever.”

They sat for a moment, staring at each other from across the table, until she finally sighed. “I’ve missed you, Ice. I’m sorry things are weird between us now.”

“No reason for them to be.” He forced himself to shrug again, another show of nonchalance he didn’t remotely feel. “You were right. Ace would lose his fucking mind if we got together, and nobody needs all that drama.”

Her smile was tight and didn’t reach her eyes. “Right. Exactly.”

Silence stretched between them, heavy and awkward. Needing to escape it, he downed the rest of his whiskey and slid from the booth. “Well. Enjoy your night. I’m headed down to the pit.”

“Are you going to play? Sorry.” Closing her eyes, she shook her head, her curls flying around her heart-shaped face. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, you shouldn’t have.” Because the answer will only hurt us both. “See you later, Sil.”

“Yeah. Later.”

Turning on his heel, he forced himself to walk toward the stairs, away from the woman he loved, yet again.

It didn’t suck any less the second time around.

CHAPTER 3

SILVER

Well, that could have gone worse. Possibly. At least he hadn’t had his buddy kick her out of the club for good. Which meant she still had access to him, and she was stubborn enough to keep coming back until she got what she wanted.

The problem was, she wasn’t sure exactly what she wanted.

She wanted him to come home, sure. The band needed him. But now that she’d seen him, talked to him, everything she’d felt after Roulette had come rushing back to the surface. And she was more certain than ever that even if she could get Ice back to California, nothing would ever go back to normal.

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