Page 51 of Pretty ’n Peak

“Yeah?” This was news to Austin.

“Just a lot of, I have to fetch this for my Dom. He’s blind, you know.”

That hit him in the chest like an ax, breaking through bones.

Somehow, he could excuse all of Cam’s other behaviors, justified by his failure as a Dom. But this was crossing a line.

In their relationship, Cam had always acted like a supporter. He’d say right out that Austin’s blindness didn’t matter, even though he was obviously frustrated sometimes by Austin’s limitations.

At the time, it had seemed fair. There were plenty of moments when Austin was frustrated by his limitations.

But then he remembered some fights near the end when Cam had grown more cruel, listing Austin’s blindness as one more of his shortcomings when it led to other failures. “Are you for real?”

“Yep. I heard him say it to a bartender once, and another time to a whole table of people at a munch. Like he was some fucking saint for looking after his poor, disabled Dom. I stopped wanting to do scenes with him after that.”

And Austin hadn’t even noticed. He hadn’t known.

At least now he was angry instead of hurt. God, he wanted to hurl.

A strong hand came to rest on Austin’s shoulder. Carlos. “I feel like we let you down, Austin. You were in a shit relationship, and we just walked away. I just didn’t know the extent of it.”

Austin shook his head. “You didn’t let me down. You’ve been amazing, both of you.”

“Can I add something?” Neil asked.

“Sure.”

“I don’t claim to know your whole situation. But I think you might want to talk to Sebastian. I never met Henri, but I saw the effects he had on these two. Can I share this, baby?”

There was a blur of movement, which Austin realized afterward was Jamie settling back onto Neil’s lap. “Go ahead.”

“When I met Sebastian he was… well, I still think he was the best Daddy Dom in the world. He was so supportive of me, and I could see how much he loved Jamie. But he didn’t trust himself as a Daddy Dom or boyfriend with someone new. And when things got rough, he pushed me away.”

Jamie made a small sound of distress.

“I think he’d been holding back a lot of pain from Henri’s behavior, and it was what I’d categorize as abusive. Because of that emotional manipulation, Sebastian thought that the breakup was his fault—that he hadn’t been a good enough Dom.”

“My therapist calls it a hostage situation,” Jamie added. “Henri was holding us hostage at the risk of withdrawing his affection. It just took me a long time to see what was going on and have words for it.”

“Now, you might not be going through the same thing,” Neil continued, “and I never met Cam. But Sebastian might have some insight into what it was like to try to be a Dom to a sub who made him feel unsafe.”

It felt like ice was creeping down Austin’s spine. What they were describing felt all too close to what he’d experienced.

His head was spinning as old memories poked out and slotted into new places.

Emotional manipulation. Hostage situation. Abusive.

He wanted to say it wasn’t true. He never would have applied those words to his relationship.

But if all three of them saw it…

He drew in a shaky breath. He really couldn’t hear any more right now. “I’d like to talk with Sebastian. But… God, I… I need some time to think.”

“Want us to leave? Or one of us can stay here,” Jamie offered softly.

Austin’s eyes stung. They were all being so kind to him. More than understanding.

And… fuck. It just brought home how different things had been with Cam. Jamie was practically the poster child for brattiness, but he’d turned it all off the moment Austin needed to talk. That was the difference. The line that Cam had never understood.