Page 106 of Bet On Me, Daddy

But she’d just barely gotten started on the living room where she’d made her sick nest the day before when the knock came. She shoved as much as she could into a trash bag before turning to stare at the door.

“Just go over there, and open the door,” she lectured herself as she stood rooted to the spot. “She’s just a person. She puts her boots on just like anyone else.”

Except she wasn’t just a person. She wastheperson. Ruby had been following her career since she’d been in high school, from Deviant Whispers’ first album all the way through their last world tour. She knew everything about the band, and more about Silver than anyone else.

Silver was her fucking idol and she was here. Waiting just on the other side of the door.

“Ruby? You in there, honey?”

Jumping at the muffled sound of Silver’s voice, Ruby rushed over to yank open the door. “Hi! Sorry. Um. I was just cleaning up a bit. I’m afraid it’s a bit of a mess.”

“Oh, please.” Silver waved a hand as she stepped into Ruby’s apartment. “Don’t make a fuss on my account. Especially when you’re so sick.”

She would have rolled her eyes if her head hadn’t been pounding again. “I’m not that sick. Don’t believe a word Beckett says.”

“The only thing Beckett told me was that he’d fucked up and you could probably use a friend.” A smile spread across Silver’s face. “So I brought you a friend. Oh, and tea. With honey.” She held out a familiar to-go cup from Charleston Brews.

“I thought you said Beckett didn’t tell you I was sick,” Ruby grumbled as she accepted the drink.

“He didn’t. Braden knows, which means all the Daddies know at this point. And what Ice knows, I know.”

“Pretty sure that’s like, a HIPAA violation or something.”

Grinning, Silver lifted one elegant shoulder in a shrug. “Probably. But he means well. Now, sit and drink that tea. And when you’re ready, you can tell me all about mean old Beckett.”

Dropping back onto her couch, Ruby sighed. “You don’t know if he was mean or not.”

Silver settled on the cushion beside her. “Trust me, I know exactly how mean he can be. He helped Ice punish me once and threatened to do it again not too long ago.”

“Really?” Eyes wide, Ruby leaned in closer. “When was that? What did you do?”

“I made some very not nice assumptions about Ice, when we were still in the ‘figuring shit out’ phase of our relationship. They tied me up and blindfolded me, then made me take turns guessing who was doing what. If I got it wrong, they punished me.”

“That sounds awful. I’m sorry.”

“It was sadistic, in the best possible way,” Silver said, a dreamy smile tugging at her lips. “So believe me when I tell you, I know firsthand how mean Beckett can be. But I’m hoping whatever happened between the two of you didn’t really have anything to do with that.”

“Why?”

“Because I like Beckett’s face, and I’d hate for my man to have to break it.”

Choking on the tea she’d just taken a sip of, Ruby coughed while Silver pounded on her back, apologizing as she laughed.

When the fit passed, Ruby sipped her tea again to soothe her aching throat. “To answer your question, no, it doesn’t have anything to do with sex. Or play. We had a fight.”

“About?” Silver prompted, her tone laced with sympathy.

“About him being an overbearing, controlling asshole.”

To her surprise, Silver threw back her head and let out a long, loud laugh. “Yeah, that sounds like our Beckett. But I figured you knew that going in.”

“I did. And that’s why I kept telling myself it was just casual. That it was a bad idea to get in too deep.”

“Didn’t look too casual from where I was standing.”

There was no censure, no judgment in Silver’s tone. And yet, Ruby could feel the weight of it all the same. “Yeah. I know.”

“So, if you knew going in he was a controlling bastard, what tipped the scales? Something obviously happened between you two.”

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