Dropping her purse on the stand next to the door, she headed back to her bedroom, thinking about the difference between her and Michael’s apartments. They were about the same size and had similar layouts, but they were two completely different living spaces. Her apartment was cluttered exactly, but it kind of seemed that way after being at Michael’s. She had pictures of her parents, her brother, and her nephew Austin up on some shelves, along with a few of her favorite books. Her entertainment center was filled with DVDs and little knickknacks she’d collected over the years, and she had a ton of paint and photograph prints up on her walls.

Not to mention the amount of Watson’s stuff which was spread around. His kitty tower, his kitty box, his kitty scratch post, and all the kitty toys strewn around the floor. Spoiled kitty.

Maybe she should get something for Michael for his apartment.

She made a face.

Maybe she should focus on managing a club relationship before she started doing things that definitely were relationship-relationship.

Rather than changing out of Michael’s clothes, she went back into the living room and picked up Watson, who protested the interruption of his nap with a sad little mew.

“Oh you’re fine,” she said, refusing to let him make her feel guilty. “You can come cuddle.”

Despite his protest, he had no problem settling in on her stomach, his orange paws kneading Michael’s shirt on her chest while she petted him. She’d make sure to wash Michael’s shirt and boxers before going to the club tonight, but she didn’t want to take them off quite yet. They were really comfy. That was the only reason, of course. Why bother changing when she was already in comfy clothes?

Made sense to her.

“I can do this,” she whispered, stroking Watson’s ears as he purred encouragement. “We’ll have a club contract. I’ll learn how to handle that. And then we’ll see where we go from there.”

And if the club contract didn’t work out, then she would never need to tell him about what happened with Lawrence.... She didn’t know which option made her feel worse.

12

Since there were no open rooms, and Ellie’s ass was still sore, they’d agreed not to play again until next Friday. Which really sucked, because watching her tonight, Michael wanted nothing more than to drag her off and play again.

Being in a club-only relationship was harder than he’d thought it would be. While she was wearing his collar and he didn’t have to worry about her scening with anyone else, he still couldn’t just take her home with him and do perverted things to her there - an option he’d always had in the past with his relationships. She was worth the effort, but it still wasn’t easy.

The restriction chafed.