He’d slept like crap for two nights, waiting for her to call. She still hadn’t said no, but he was starting to think silence was his answer.
He took his shot, and unlike the one he’d taken with Bridget, this time his aim was true. The ball swooshed into the net.
“Alex! How about some defense?” Ian Taggart shouted across the court.
Alex McKay shot his friend the finger after grabbing the ball. “Give an old man a break. We’re down by five and I have to meet Eve in thirty minutes. I need a shower.”
“Pussy. Eve should appreciate your manly sweat,” Taggart said, running a hand through his hair. “Kai, find me a tall dude who doesn’t mind tossing his body around. Alex won’t even throw an elbow anymore.”
Kai snorted as he shook his head. “I think Alex would mention that this is supposed to be a friendly game and he’s showing his emotional maturity by treating it that way.”
“Yeah, well, it sucks to lose.” Taggart turned his icy gaze Will’s way. “Who let you in anyway?”
“I think that was you.” He’d learned that the only way to handle Taggart was to speak his language. Which seemed to be sarcasm. “You should improve your vetting process. Don’t feel bad. I got through my undergraduate work on a basketball scholarship.”
Two jobs. Basketball practice. Making sure his sisters were fed and did their homework. Yeah, he didn’t miss those days, but they hadn’t left a ton of time for him to worry. He’d had to keep moving.
Bridget had likely had tutors and housekeepers and a massive college fund.
Two different worlds. Maybe it was for the best.
“You, Kai, do your job and find me some short, unathletic assholes Alex can defend against. I can’t drop him because he’s old and soft.” Taggart’s loyalty was something to be admired.
Alex McKay grinned as he backed toward the door that led into Sanctum. “I’m just glad Charlotte put an end to Ian’s dream of putting a boxing ring in. He’s trying to take his anxieties out on my body.”
Kai turned to Taggart. “You should really spend some time on my couch, Ian. We could talk out your fears about becoming a father.”
Ian ignored Kai. “I don’t need a ring. We could start a fight club without a damn ring. What’s the first rule of fight club?”
Will knew that one. “No one talks about fight club.”
“No, the first person to mention my anxieties gets his nose broken. This is my fucking fight club. I make the rules.” Big Tag stalked inside the club.
Kai rolled his eyes. “Sometimes I wonder why I’m here. In exchange for him footing the bill for my pro bono work, he gave me a list of applicants and then unapproved the only one who was suitable. Do you know what his reasoning was?”
With Taggart, no one could be sure. But Will decided to cut the guy some slack since he was funding Kai’s practice. Kai specialized in the treatment of PTSD in soldiers returning from war. Taggart had renovated the previously unused second floor of Sanctum, and now a steady stream of former servicemen made their way to weekly sessions with Kai. “No idea, man. I wouldn’t even try to come up with one.”
Kai sat down on the bench that overlooked the small court. Someone had taken the space and turned it into a small garden, a tiny oasis of green. The place was fenced in, but buildings rose from all around, reminding Will he was in the city. Will stretched while Kai let his head fall back, obviously enjoying the sun. “He told me he would never have a Dom named Devinshea in his club because it was a douchebag name.”
Will snorted a little. “He’s got a point.”
A laugh came from Kai’s mouth. “He said that if this dude’s parents had wanted him to have a membership at Sanctum, they should have named him something more masculine like Frank or Dan.” Kai shook his head with a sigh. “That man has serious issues.”
“Yes, his name is Devinshea.” He was kind of with Taggart on that one. Poor dude probably got his ass kicked on a regular basis. He didn’t mention that Kai wasn’t a hell of a lot better. Sometimes he was happy his mother wasn’t terribly creative. She’d named him after his dad and then went down a list of L names with his sisters.
“No. I’m talking about Taggart. I think he’s scared of becoming a dad. It can’t be easy for him. His own father left at a young age.” Kai’s eyes were suddenly on him. “It can’t be easy taking on an adult role when you’re still a kid. That kind of responsibility can be difficult to deal with. It can cause a person to go through a kind of arrested development.”
Jeez. And they were back to him. “We’re not talking about Taggart anymore.”
Kai didn’t deny it. “I heard about the scam you ran on Bridget Slaten. I was surprised you would do that. I’ve been trying to figure out why you want to hurt her like that. You’ve never come off as a cruel person.”
“I’m not trying to hurt her. I was trying to herd her to me.”
Kai’s brow rose in a surprised arch. “Really?”
“I was trying to get laid, dude.”
“Huh. Well, then that’s a different story, though I’m pretty sure it still has the same ending.”
He was a bit offended Kai thought he was actively trying to be an asshole. “You thought I was trying to hurt her?”
“Well, I certainly didn’t think you were trying to date her. You have to admit that when you discuss your perfect woman, it wouldn’t be her.”
For some reason that didn’t set well with him. “She’s not so bad.”
“I didn’t say she was bad. I quite like her. She’s refreshingly honest about most things, but she’s also quite independent. I think you might chafe against that independence. You told me you would prefer a woman who was somewhat dependent on you.”
“I don’t think I put it like that. I think I talked about enjoying a submissive lover. I like to be in control. It’s kind of the whole point of being a Dom. If I didn’t need control, I would be vanilla or into swinging or foot fetishes or something.” Though he often thought it would be simpler if he only wanted to suck on a chick’s toes.
“I got the feeling you would prefer a woman who was submissive out of the bedroom as well. Bridget is never going to be that woman. In her own way, she needs control as much as you do. I believe she requires submission in order to let go long enough to find pleasure sexually. In some ways she almost needs permission to find pleasure or relaxation of any kind.”