Page 64 of Praised
“How?” Grayson interrupted.
“I told him.”
Archie scoffed.
“Of course you did,” Grayson muttered. “The whole bunch of you, I swear. Go on.”
“I told him to give me a chance and he did. He saw that I was right. But he wasn’t all in, you know?”
“Oh,” Archie mused. “I know.”
“So then I said give me thirty days. Thirty days to show you that this is worth your while.”
“Fool.”
“I know,” I agreed.“I don’t want thirty days. I can’t do thirty days.” I scrubbed a hand down my face, shaking my head. “I can’t be the man I want to be for him if Iknowthere’s an expiration on it.”
“And you can’t take it back?” Archie asked.
“I would rather thirty days than nothing.”
“Liar.” Grayson slashed his hand through the air, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms in front of his chest. “You want all or nothing.”
“Can you blame me?”
“All of you are the same,” he said.
“You’re no exception to the rule, Grayson,” Archie countered, brow raised. “You can give us your cute little Trophy Doms nickname, but you’re not exempt from the moniker yourself.”
“Being dominant and rich aren’t the only membership requirements. Do you really think that’s all the five of you have in common?”
I threw a sideways glance at Archie, and he shrugged, as lost by the comment as I was.
“I’ve been told no more times than either of you will ever,” Grayson said under his breath. His features flashed with sorrow, but he was quick to shake it off. “None of that matters. We’re talking about you and your resistant little flower.”
I rubbed circles on my temples and sighed.
“So you want him to be as in as you are,” Grayson surmised.
“I want him towantto be in.”
“I’m starting to think you’re the one who’s making this complicated.”
“If he would stop being resistant to”—I gestured at myself—“me, then this wouldn’t be an issue.”
“Resistant how?” Archie asked.
“With…the money.”
Archie laughed, and so did Grayson.
“Trophy Dom,” he cackled.
“Speaking as someone who also has a partner who is resistant to money…” Archie cleared his throat and turned his back on Grayson. “There’s not much you can do besides wait it out. He has to see that you’re more than your money.”
“Patience isn’t a strong suit,” I said.
“Another mark of a Trophy Dom,” Grayson chided.
