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“What makes you think that?” Chandler asked, his lap missing her.

“If th-they g-got s-spanked or punish-ed because of me…” she stammered, then squeezed her eyes shut.

“Take deep breaths,” Chandler advised.

Aaron reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Theychoseto help you, Chyanne.”

“He’s right. You didn’t make ‘em do anything, darlin’,”

Chyanne’s eyes opened and she looked back and forth between them, her expression betraying her skepticism. “But…”

“No.” Aaron shook his head. “No buts.”

“If everything you’ve said is true, then they volunteered to help you,” Chandler added.

“Except Veronica,” she muttered.

Chandler swallowed back a chuckle at the sour look on her face. “Right. But everyone else did, right?”

She gazed at him with watery eyes for a moment before nodding.

“Okay. Then that means if they earned any punishment, it was their choice, right?”

Chyanne’s brow furrowed adorably as she considered his question. “I… I guess so.”

“Also, I think you’re operatin’ under the assumption that I talked to the girls’ daddies, and I didn’t do that, darlin’.”

Her green eyes rounded with surprise. “You… you didn’t?”

He could hear the hope in her voice, and it made him smile. “No. Now, some of them might have already been caught not bein’ where they were supposed to be, and if that’s the case…” He shrugged.

“But that wouldn’t be your fault, Chy.”

Chandler arched a brow at his fellow dom. He’d never known Aaron to be soft enough to give a girl a nickname.

If Aaron knew what he was thinking, he pointedly ignored him.

“I-I guess that’s true.” She reached up and wiped her cheeks dry. “I… I just don’t want them to be mad at me,” she admitted in a small, sad voice. “I… I’ve never had a real friend before. I liked it.”

Chandler’s heart squeezed with sympathy for her. “I thought this was just a job for you. Are you saying you want to stay?”

His question made her eyes widen again, and her bottom lip began to quiver.

Shit. What did I say?

“Th-that’s the other thing.” She took a deep breath, clearly trying to fight off more tears. “W-what if N-Nate gets mad at me? What if he…”

“Doyouwant to stay?” Aaron cut in.

Wordlessly, she looked between the both of them and nodded.

“Well, then, let us handle Nate.”

A smile curled at the corners of her mouth. “You… you can do that?”

We can try.“We’ll talk to him. Let him know you’ve been punished for your bad decisions.”

Aaron cleared his throat. He waited until he had Chyanne’s attention, then he said, “Speaking of which, we’re not done.”