Page 3 of Switch

“Blind date.Free food.”

“No, Wes.Hard pass.Stop trying to get me to go out.I’m fine on my own.”

“You’re not fine.You drift around that mansion like a fucking ghost.You don’t eat.You don’t sleep.You’re scaring Mom.Me too, if I’m being honest.”

He’s not wrong.After tonight, though, I’m interested in my family’s interference like I’m interested in a root canal.

I put my foot on the gas.“Wes, I don’t want to go on a blind date.Worry about your own love life, okay?You sound so excited, maybe you should go on this date.”

Which is a low blow.Things with Wes and his wife seem tense, especially lately.

I’m vibrating with this…this mix of anger and want, frustration that my brother keeps pushing me to get out of the house, and envy over that couple in the cage.Confusion, because right now I want connection, and I also want to be left the fuck alone.

I blow out a breath.“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.I’m not up for a blind date, though, okay?”

“I get it.I hear you.I’m overstepping.The thing is, Mom said last time she saw you there were bags under your eyes.Even I can tell you’ve lost some weight.”

He means well.They mean well.

“If I promise to eat a sandwich, will you get the hell off my back?”

“I’ll get off your back if you have a nice big plate of pasta at Mama Elisabetta’s on Friday.”

“No.Blind.Dates.”

For a brief, blissful moment, I’m convinced I’ve won, until he says, “Just this once.Please?I’ve already set it up with the guy and called the restaurant to provide them with my credit card information.It’ll appease Mom until at least Christmas.One date.”

“The guy?”

He seems to hesitate.“You dated a couple of guys before Marina, right?”

“I’m surprised you remember.”By the time I’d finished high school, my brother was already finishing college.Back then, he’d had no interest in my personal life.Boy, do I miss those days now.

“Look.”Wes clears his throat.“I was talking to a buddy of mine who recently got divorced.He’s been on the dating apps, and he said sometimes he goes out, he sits across from a woman, and then after a while she’s all, ‘I don’t think we have much in common, but I’m up for fucking if you are.’So, maybe even if you’re not all that interested in the guy, you could at least…you know?”

“Are you…telling me I need to get laid?”

“No way.Course not.That would be way over the line.”He clears his throat.“Except, maybe, it might also help.”

“I don’t think so, Wes.”

How do I tell my extremely vanilla brother that if I wasn’t ready for a scene with the most sought-after domme in the Southeast, I’m not prepared for awkward conversation over salad that may or may not, but probably won’t, lead to orgasms?

“Would it matter if I said I can’t get my deposit back from the restaurant?”Wes asks.

Argh.Dammit.It does.Wes works long hours teaching during the day and managing a hotel at night.Meanwhile, I’ve done the bare minimum this past year thanks to the money Marina left behind.

“One date.One.Then you agree to butt out.”

“Got it.No more blind dates.”

“No dates of any kind.Blind or otherwise.”

“Yes!Agreed.All right.I’ll text you the info.”He hangs up before I can say anything else.

As I pull up to my oversized beach house in Belle Argo, I’m already thinking up ways to tell Wes it didn’t go well.Maybe I can cancel.Pay him back and somehow convince him that the restaurant changed its mind about a refund.

Mistress Shanna says I’ll get there, but after tonight’s disaster?I don’t think so.Not tonight.Not Friday.