I’m a professional musician, which means I know how to stick with the program even when half my brain is somewhere else. However, just because I have that skill doesn’t mean I should use it. Not here. People here are observant, and a checked-out Dom is dangerous, even if all he’s touching is a keyboard.

I shoot Jackson a wry look, because he just morphed his beat to something a three year old could follow, and get my head mostly back in the game. Scorpio’s warming up the crowd, getting them going with some of our standard covers. Softening them up for marshmallow Quint and his ballad.

I’m trying to figure out which parts of me I need to firm back up.

I glance at the back couch where the siren from my past is sitting with Ari, looking for all the world like she’s just stopped in for social hour. That’s a skill she’s always had, right from the first day of high school on the base in Heidelberg where we met. Me, I always looked like the new kid, even when I wasn’t—awkward, shy, and a little lost unless I was on my way to the music room.

Chloe knew how to land somewhere and make it her own.

I shake my head as she elbows Ari and they both laugh. Apparently she still does.

Scorpio swings us into another one of our classics, which I suspect she’s doing mostly out of kindness to me. I can’t take my eyes off the girl who once dared me to make myself whole. I know why we lost touch, but in this moment, watching Chloe’s sexy legs and laughing eyes and expressive hands, I want to kick my younger self around the block.

She meets my eyes and I see the same confusion that lives in mine. Two people trying to overlay this moment on ones that are a whole lot older. It’s a strange feeling, like a chord progression that hasn’t resolved. There’s a tension in the air, a next step waiting to happen.

I add a flourish as Scorpio drags us into the chorus. Eli of the present, trying to reassert a little control—because control matters to me almost as much as the music. It’s how I finally escaped awkward and shy and lost and became the person Chloe always thought I could be.

Right now, though, I’m more fascinated by who she’s become. Her eyes are curious, wandering the lounge. Focused in particular on the subs in skimpy lingerie, which is interesting. I frown. She’s not putting out a Domme vibe—just classy, self-assured poise. If I’m guessing, which is always dangerous from a distance, she’s self-assured and vanilla. She’s too obviously curious for someone who’s spent any time in a kink club.

I realize where my head has gone and give it a mental swat. Trying to figure out if Chloe is kinky is putting the cart before a whole herd of horses. A lot can change in twenty-six years. She could be married, lesbian, or completely uninterested in the guy who once kissed her with far more ardor than skill. I know better than to read too much into trembling breaths and shaky legs at an unexpected meeting, especially when it was mostly me doing the shaking.

She might not know that, though. Doms learn some interesting things, and so do professional musicians, and pushing the nerves deep underground where they can’t be seen has served me well in both of my chosen realms.

Quint comes up behind me and snorts. Loudly. I check—I’m still playing the same song he is, but it’s fairly embarrassing that I have to check.

Chloe has visitors now. The boss man himself and the gorgeous ray of sunshine he convinced to be his sub and the love of his life. Chloe flows off the couch, radiating surprise and pleasure, and gives Emily a huge hug. Clearly they know each other—and clearly neither of them expected to meet here.

I aim a pointed look at the young, blonde troublemaker sticking to Chloe’s right shoulder, who probably has all the answers.

Ari winks at me and turns to say something to Damon.

I growl. Quint snickers behind me and manages to mess up his guitar riff.

Scorpio turns our way, amused as fuck and looking like she might brain the entire band with her guitar. Which is a serious threat—they don’t call us Doms on the Bottom for nothing.

She shakes her head at the two of us and steps up to the mike. “It appears we have some distractions that require our attention, so we’ll be taking our break a little earlier than usual tonight.” She raises her hand and waves at Chloe. “Hello, nice lady in red. Do me a favor and put my keyboard player out of his misery one way or the other. The songs after the break actually require his brain to be attached to his fingers.”

The entire lounge is laughing, which was absolutely Scorpio’s plan.

Chloe isn’t. She’s watching me. Waiting to see what I do next.