"Hey, how's my favorite dom working right now?" Cassidy asked as I was getting ready to leave for the day.

I laughed and continued to wipe down the bed.

"I'm doing just fine, which is fortunate since I'm the only dom working in Kinkee Sensation Studios today," I retorted.

She grinned and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "Anyway, I was just coming over to bother you and to see if everything was going okay. I didn't get a great look at the handsome fella you're spending your time with these days, but I can definitely tell two very important things."

I threw the disinfectant into the trash and began to wash my hands.

"Oh, really? Well, please do share your wisdom, Ms. Paige."

"Oh, I certainly will," she said agreeably. "First, I recognized that your handsome young fella spends a good deal of time in the gym."

I laughed only on the inside, because I wasn't at liberty to share his identity with strangers.

"He's a bit of a health nut," I admitted. "Made me fresh scallops and asparagus to go with our red wine for dinner a couple of weeks ago."

I left out his disdain for oatmeal, or the fact that he mocked anything that wasn't fried. I also left out that he seemed to consider a protein shake to be the panacea to his other questionable eating habits.

"Oh, fancy. He'll have to share his cooking secrets, because every time Lila and I try scallops, they end up dried out and harder than a brick," she noted.

"I think the secret ingredient is red wine," I said solemnly.

I began to bag up the supplies I had brought for the day. I stopped long enough to shoot Eric a text to let him know that I was closing shop and getting ready to leave soon.

"I can never knock red wine as an ingredient," Lila said smoothly, and I knew there was a reason I liked her.

"Anyway, what's the second thing you noticed, oh, she of infinite wisdom?" I asked.

She tilted her head and the long earrings scraped along her shoulders as she contemplated an answer.

"Just that you look good together," she said eventually. "Or more specifically, you look happy together. It's a good look. You should keep it up."

"Oh really?" I asked in amusement. "Is that your professional opinion?"

"It is," she agreed. "You spent two years being miserable and walking around looking like someone was chronically punching your puppy in the face. While you still excelled in your job, you're a much happier presence around here these days. You should keep it up."

"I'll do my best," I promised.

It was a promise I wanted to keep, even if there was an uncomfortable gnawing in the back of my mind telling me that I wasn’t going to be able to keep it.

As I left for the day, I couldn't help but think about just how special the past couple of months with Eric had been. Since reuniting with him, we'd definitely fallen into our own special routine. So much of it was similar to the routine that we used to have, but there was an extra kind of wonderful that had been added since we discovered each others' true kinks. These days, it felt more like we were able to be truly honest with each other, and open up about the kind of desires that we had, both in and out of the bedroom. Every night when I came home, I felt as though I knew an even more emotional side of Eric than I had been privy to before, and that was a kind of openness that I simply hadn't known before we were reunited. The first time around, I had loved him, but this time around, I was able to love even more of him, because that was the side that he was willing to reveal to me.

Of course, we didn’t always have as much time together as I would like. Eric was in almost constant training, while I spent a lot of time at work. When I was working, he was usually training. When I had free time, free, he was still usually training.

But I wouldn't complain about it. I knew how important Eric's job was to him, and there was no way that I was going to stand in the way of him trying to achieve that fourth championship. Still, sometimes I do let myself wonder about the future, and how prepared Eric will be to actually start the family that we both wanted. I had a feeling that I was going to have to compete with the entire MMA field in order to get that family with Eric.

After that fourth championship, how he was he going to feel about coming out of the closet?

More happily, Eric was already home when I arrived. Walking through the door, I couldn't wait to get my arms around him.

But Eric was lying face down on our bed when I walked through the door, much to my surprise.

"Hey," I said, sitting down on the bed next to him. "What's wrong? You look miserable."

He looked up at me, and I noticed that his eyes were red and puffy. Had he been crying? There was nothing wrong with that, but Eric wasn't usually prone to having long crying sessions. He'd been raised with certain notions of the way that omegas were supposed to act, and he spent ninety-nine percent of his time trying to act as though he didn't fit into any of those categories. Long crying fits were definitely out of the question, and he'd looked like he had been crying for a long time.

"I don't know what's wrong," Eric admitted. "Everything just got completely overwhelming today. I'm just upset and nervous and I can't stop thinking about the phone thing from the other day - "

"I thought we already settled that!" I snapped. "I thought you were going to trust me and not try to ruin everything a second time."

It was wrong to say not just because it was said out of anger, but because Eric was sitting here and revealing a vulnerable side of himself that I had never seen before, and I was responding in the most selfish way possible.

Eric's eyes grew wet with tears again, and all of my anger immediately left. The phone thing was frustrating, since I had no idea where it came from. I wasn't cheating on Eric and I had no desire to cheat on Eric. There was nobody I wanted to share my life with more than my current boyfriend – more than my fiancé.

But as frustrating as it was, it was not worth hurting Eric over, especially not now when he was sharing this vulnerable side with me. I needed to be supportive right now. We could always deal with our problems later.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. "That was out of line. I'm frustrated about the phone thing too, because I have no idea where it came from. But I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

He shook his head and rubbed at his eyes.

I tried again. "Tell me what you need from me," I pleaded. "Let me help you feel better."

"Just ... hold me?" Eric asked. "I just need to be held for a few minutes."

"Okay," I agreed readily. "Holding you is the easiest part of my whole day."

I pulled him close, and breathed in the warm scent of my boyfriend. He'd definitely trained hard today, and I could smell the familiar musty scent of the gym mingled with the minty body soap that he preferred. Wrapping my arms around his body, I noted that the hoodie was even thicker today. Was he getting cold? Usually, my Rhode Island raised baby liked to complain about the winters in Raleigh being too mild for him. His usual refrain was to say that "If there's not a foot of snow on the ground, it's not a real winter," while mocking me soundly in my heavy sweaters.

Maybe he was finally adjusting? Or maybe this was another sign that his body was being pushed to its limits.

"It's probably just training," Eric murmured into my chest.

"You've been pushing yourself extra hard for that championship," I acknowledged.

Eric looked up at me and scowled. "Of course I have! It's very important! Do you want me to just pretend it's not important? To just give up!"

"Hey, no, no," I said quietly. "That's not what I meant at all. I just meant that maybe your body is looking forward to having a break, that's all. I'm very proud of you, Eric, and of your accomplishments. You've worked so hard, and I can't wait to see you bring that championship home."

At that, he gave a faint smile.

"We'll celebrate, right?" he murmured.

"Of course," I answered. "We'll pull out all the stops. Champagne, caviar, steak, an entire ballroom full of family, friends, and defeated enemies."

I thought it sounded nice, but for a moment he wavered between his smile and crying again. What was the problem? Where had all that newfound honesty that I had been enjoying gone to?

"Color coded?" he finally teased, and I let out a laugh.

"Only the best color coding for your party," I promised.

He laughed too, but winced.

"You alright?" I asked. "Did you hurt yourself in training?"

"I don't know. Maybe you're right and I over did it. My back is killing me."

"Would you like a massage?"

I didn't mention that I had perfected the technique of giving a massage thanks to my job. Not everyone came in wanting an overbearing dom. Sometimes people wanted a strong alpha to hold them and take care of them, without restraints or spankings. Sometimes, they just wanted to be touched by someone who was in control, and Eric was definitely one of those people who responded so well to touch.

Maybe a good massage would help him.

"I'd love one," he admitted.

Gently, I untangled myself from his arms and waited for him to roll back over onto his stomach. I began at his shoulders, where I could tell that he was full of stress by the tension that greeted my fingers. Well, that wasn't really a surprise, all things considered. I began to knead my fingers into the knots of tension, starting at the shoulders and working my way down.

"That feels nice," Eric murmured. "You ever think about becoming a massage therapist?"

"Nah. I like my job," I answered, moving my fingers down his back.

I reached the middle of his back and started to move forward to the front when I hit a bump. I didn't have time to consider what that bump might have been before Eric burst into tears.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked. "Did I hurt you?"

"N- no. You didn't. I just need some time alone, okay?"

At that point, Eric physically moved away from me.

I frowned, but was determined not to put my foot in my mouth for the second time today.

"If that's what you want. Do you want me to sleep on the couch?"

"I think that's for the best," he answered.

"Okay." I kissed his temple lightly. "I love you."

"Love you too," Eric muttered into the pillow.

It wasn't the most convincing thing I'd ever heard anyone say, but I tried to tell myself that he was simply tired.

Later, as I lied on the couch, I could hear Eric's phone as it went off. I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but I heard him mention having a physical. He didn't sound happy about that either.

As I closed my eyes, I was truly baffled about what was going on with my boyfriend. I supposed that maybe he was just worried about the upcoming match and figured it would all blow over eventually.