Page 12 of A Little Discovery

I hit the power button on the phone to turn it off without bothering to look at any other messages that might have come in. Nothing else matters. My life is over. If I can’t go back to school, I’ll never get a decent job. I’ll never be able to set foot in Holloway Industries. Hell, at this point, I’d be lucky if I could get a job at a fast-food restaurant.

Then again, you need an address for an application. Maybe I can use Gramp’s address just for the application. It’s not like they use it for anything important now in the age of direct deposit and email delivery of paystubs. In the meanwhile, I hope my two hundred dollars is enough to fix whatever the hell is wrong with my car so I have a place to sleep.

Grabbing a throw pillow from the other end of the couch, I bury my face into it and scream.

Why can’t she just leave me alone?

CHAPTER 8

SPENCER

The entire house is gathered in the kitchen instead of the parlor because our impromptu house guest is still laying in there. I noticed when Jay, Eric, and I were coming in that the door was shut, so I put my ear to it while the others headed to the kitchen to start the coffee the others would no doubt need. It was quiet, but the sounds of crying were unmistakable. The Daddy in me wanted to go in and gather him up in a hug, but my rational side reminded me that he likely has zero clue who I even am at this point.

At my suggestion, Eli went in to check on him and announced via our group chat that the meeting was moved to the kitchen. When I asked him if Lucky was alright, he just said we’d talk in the meeting so that he wouldn’t have to repeat himself. I’ve never seen rage like I saw in his eyes coming out of that room. Eli might be a Sadistic Dom, but he doesn’t do well with pain that isn’t consensual. Whatever Lucky told him, Eli wants to destroy the person who hurt that boy.

As Jace curls around his cup of creamer with a dash of coffee, Eli taps a spatula against the counter to bring us all to attention. Jay snorts in his attempt to stifle his laugh causing Eli to shrug.

“The bell is in the parlor, so we’re improvising,” he says with a half-smile. The smile disappears when he continues. “I think Jay and Spence are the only ones who haven’t met our houseguest yet, but I’m sure they will agree with me when I say, I don’t wanthim to leave before we take care of whatever brought him to our door.”

Heads nod around the room, and Shiloh raises his hand slowly. Our little kitten is still so very skittish, but he’s growing more confident by the day. Eli hands him the spatula to signify that the kitty cat has the floor.

“I know I should have used the kitchen upstairs, but I was worried about Lucky being down here all alone,” he starts and looks scared that we are going to scold him for using the big kitchen. I walk over and pull the smaller man into my side for a quick squeeze. Shiloh isn’t a fan of uninvited touch, but comfort touches like this where he can break away if he wants to are sometimes just what he needs to know we love him.

He exhales and his shoulders drop, releasing some of the tension he had been carrying.

“The door to the parlor was open and he was screaming into a pillow,” the young man says quietly. “I didn’t understand all of it, but apparently his ex is the problem. He kept saying “Why can’t she just leave me alone? She took everything.”Just that same kind of thing over and over.

“I wanted to give him a comfort cuddle, but I know I wouldn’t appreciate a stranger touching me when I’m like that, so I just pulled the door closed for him and went back to my room,” he says hanging his head. When he looks back up at us, he asks, “Did I do the right thing? Should I have hugged him?”

“Oh my precious negra gatita, you were purrrrrfect,” Eric croons from his perch in the bean bag chair in the corner. He’s still half drunk from our sunrise porch party, but the sentiment is appreciated.

“You can’t call him a black cat just because he’s black,” Scott mutters into his coffee cup causing the rest of the room to bust into laughter. Scott is our singular switch in the house, but before coffee he is almost always stuck entirely into his middle mindset. His middle side is a moody pre-teen who rarely shows consideration for others. Last night must have really affected him. I’m sure the stress of having to be the dominant one coming back to the house before Eli got home with Lucky didn’t help.

One on one or in a support role, Scott can easily be as dominant as the situation calls for. Having to comfort Jace and Shiloh while reeling in Toby with no help couldn’t have been an easy task. Glancing at Eli and Jay, it looks like none of us considered what a toll last night might have taken on more than just Lucky.

Jay grabs the spatula when Shiloh places it back on the island.

“I propose a new house rule,” he says, making sure everyone is paying attention. “If there are more than three submissives in a room, and yes Scott I am including you, one of the Doms of the house must be present, especially if someone is upset.”

I nod in agreement, but Eli takes the spatula from Jay’s hands.

“This will go to a vote,” he says looking at each of us in turn. “I’ll put the box in the… shit. Can’t use the parlor right now…”

“Here on the counter will work,” I suggest before one of the subs, Eric or Toby mainly, catches on to the slip in words and suggests the shitter. “We can have dinner at the bar and order pizza to welcome me back. Australian pizza is totally not the same.”

Eric jerks awake from the light doze his body is trying to put him in to say, “What? Did you miss all of the dangerous toxins and preservatives?”

“Can’t live without ‘em,” I say with a chuckle.

Eli shakes his head and taps the counter with the spatula to get our attention.

“Back to the reason we’re here so some of us can get some sleep,” he says. “Lucky needs our help, but he can’t stay on the couch forever.”

“He can take my room,” Shiloh says softly, causing us all to turn to him in surprise. “I’m not sure I like sleeping by myself in my own room. The nightmares came back.”

When the man lets out a whimper, Toby pulls him into a hug. The pup is the only one whose touch Shiloh never struggles against. “You know you can always come into my room,” he says, rubbing his best friend’s back. “I love a good puppy pile with my favorite kitten.”

Eli looks at the two of them before glancing my way. I nod to show my agreement. If Shiloh moves in with Toby, that puts Lucky in the other room on the top floor of the house with me. I can keep an eye on him, as well as provide him with the space to find his way in the chaos that Kink Manor really is.

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