The corners of my mouth lifted. “I suppose not.”
We took a few more steps before Ethan spoke up again, “Actually, I came because a friend recommended it. He said I needed to relax and blow off some steam.”
“Interesting friend.”
Ethan sucked in a breath and nodded. “Yeah, he’s something.”
We rounded a corner and faced the familiar entrance to Pink Cherrie. I tugged on the hem of my jacket and tilted my head up. The memory of Jason’s breath rolling down my neck sparked something inside me, something I wasn’t sure I wanted. And although I was supposed to be paying attention to Ethan, that seemed damn near impossible.
“Well, I suppose my two hours are up.” Ethan’s wistful goodbye made me hope that I would see him again, just not under the same circumstances.
“Thanks for the coffee break.” I lifted my half-empty cup and watched his eyes gleam underneath the neon lights one last time.
“Anytime.” He bowed playfully.
I opened the door and braced myself for the swarm of questions waiting inside for me. “See you next month?”
“If you’re lucky.” Ethan’s teasing wink put another smile on my face before he walked into the crowd of people trickling out of bars and other adult establishments.
It was nice to feel normal again, dressed in clothes that covered more than a square inch of my body, with a warm drink in my hand. But I didn’t feel like I belonged in that warm, safe world anymore, even if I longed to.
I sucked in a deep breath and entered the building. When I saw Sarah on the floor with a collar around her neck, I froze. It didn’t matter how many times I was told what to expect; I’d never be prepared to see my friends that way.
She stood when she reached the front desk and shook the hand of the customer trailing behind her. Once he left, her focus shifted to me.
“Tara.” She ran over and wrapped her arms around me. Her naked body pressed into my clothes. “Are you alright?” she exclaimed.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” The owner of the store only tormented me in front of a crowd of horny people and my friends.Everything is just peachy.
But I did disappear with a strange man in the middle of the event, and that wasn’t technically allowed. She was right to be worried.
Sarah crinkled her nose. “I’m sorry about Jason.”
“I’ll live,” I sighed and returned the hug before Jade and Kitty wandered into the conversation.
“Okay, hear me out, we really should put a mandatory multiple orgasm clause on our contracts.” Jade pulled her dark hair down and started the long process of pulling out a dozen bobby pins.
“It wasn’t that bad,” I lied as my body ached for Jason to finish what he started. His last words to me flashed in my mind; they were highlighted in red with a giant circle around the first word.Whenhe fucks me, not if.
“Well, I think he should have asked the Cherries before putting our names into the bowl,” Kitty said with her clipboard still in hand. “That way no one is pressured to participate unless they volunteered.”
Kitty met my eyes, and I nodded, knowing that although it was embarrassing, if the situation was different, and Jason and I were in the workshop… never mind that. We agreed the system was flawed. Next time, I told Kitty to leave my name out of it.
“At least it’s over.” I tugged off my coat and revealed the sparkling lingerie underneath.
“Yeah,” Jade laughed. “And at least you got a hot date out of it.”
I frowned, glancing at my coffee on the desk beside me. “It wasn’t a date.”
They brushed off my objection and Sarah continued, “I saw how he was holding you.”
“And I saw howhardit was for him not to finish what Jason started,” Jade snickered at her word choice.
“He’s just nice,” I tried to defend him.
“Just nice?” Sarah feigned offense. “That man is gorgeous!”
I struggled to disagree, and they laughed. Ethanwasgorgeous, and funny, and kind in a way that Jason wasn’t. I didn’t want to tell them the truth, that I had been comparingevery man I saw on the street to Jason, wondering when he would make good on his promise.
