"We never really talked to each other," Alex pointed out. "Just at each other." And Alex was more than willing to take his share of the blame in that. He had been, at times, either too pushy or not pushy enough. Like that moment on the steps. He'd wanted to talk, to start over. And Michael had seemed to want to. And then suddenly he didn't. And instead of pushing about what had changed, Alex had just accepted it when Michael pushed him away.

"But after dealing a lot with my past and then with yours, I don't know. Maybe we were finally ready to put the baggage behind us. Or maybe we always would have gotten there eventually. As for whether I regret letting him leave, the answer is no. Because I did it for me and what I wanted. Not even who I wanted because that didn't come until later."

He'd known that Michael and Maria weren't together anymore because she was still one of his best friends, but that didn't mean that Michael hadn't found someone else. With Alex being gone more than he was home, he hadn't really kept up on Michael's personal life.

How bad. "At best you get arrested. At worst, they arrest you, drug you, and basically offer you up to anyone who pays. Actually, no, there may be worse than that, but only if there's a Dominant you have to answer to."