Page 137 of Dmitri

“She comes home tomorrow,” Daelyn says quietly.

“So do you,” I remind her.

Our time is up.

Funny, when the club gets a Butterfly for a month, the dayscrawl by so slowly, it’s downright painful. It might be fun, but it’s always a lot of work. By the end, the Dom needs a long mental break, and the Butterfly is set free to live her best life with the experiences she’s gained here.

Daelyn isn’t a Butterfly. And I can’t keep her, no matter how badly I want to.

“Are you hungry?”

She shakes her head.

“Tired?”

She nods.

Not giving a fuck about how we can’t both fit, I lay down on my cot and tuck her next to me, holding her tight. My eyes burn from exhaustion, but there’s no way I can fall asleep. Daelyn cries silently, facing away from me, and knowing she’s trying to hide her misery, and that I’m pretending I don’t see it, kills me.

Finally, exhaustion takes her under, and she passes out in my arms.

That’s when I get to work.

???

The next morning, we head back to Daelyn’s house. Every time I try to leave, she comes up with some excuse to make me stay. I don’t like clingy women. But I love how Daelyn wraps her entire precious body around me when she begs me to stay a little longer.

“I take it back,” I say, pretending to be annoyed. “You’re not a firefly, you’re a damn koala.”

“I’m baaaack!” yells someone from the living room.

Daelyn and I break away from each other like we were just electrocuted.

“Yay!” Daelyn rushes out of the kitchen and straight to Addie. “You’re home early.”

“Yeah, too early by the looks of what I just cockblocked.”Addie beams a big smile at me. “Hi. I’m Addie.”

Daelyn’s face loses some of its color as she gawks at me, not knowing what to say.

“I’m Dmitri. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Your eyes are crazy bright.”

“Uhh, thanks.”

“Sorry, that was random. Annnd awkward.” Addie shakes her head, looking just like my mom would when she was embarrassed. “I’m gonna blame this on sitting in the car for way too long.”

Daelyn grabs her bag from her. “What time did you leave this morning?”

“Saul wanted to drive most of the night so we wouldn’t hit too much traffic. I couldn’t sleep though, so I just watched a million hours of anime, and now my brain’s mush.” Addie slips past us and heads to the kitchen. “Ugh, I’m starving. Do we have stuff for pancakes?”

This is my chance to bow out. “I’ve gotta hit the road, Dae.”

“Don’t leave because I’m here,” Addie calls out. “Have pancakes with us!”

“No, no, he’s got stuff to do,” Daelyn argues. “We can’t hold him hostage with pancakes.”

“A hostage situation would be so lucky to have my pancakes involved.”

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