“I didn’t get her name.” He winced as he said it.
“Ugh, gross.” I stuffed the rest of my eggs into the container. I’d heard enough. I’d thought he was a good guy. But he was just like all the rest of ‘em. And I didn’t care that I was being a hypocrite. At least I knew Tanner’s real name and his fake name in the Society before I blew him. I knew double the names!
“Here’s the thing, though. I felt terrible immediately after it happened. In a weird way, it made me realize how much I care about you.”
“After the more-than-a-kiss? How convenient for you.”
“I want to be with you, Ash. I want us to be exclusive. I want you to be my girlfriend.”
I gaped at him. This was not how this breakup was supposed to happen. I was so angry with him. But more angry at myself. I was the monster here. Or maybe we both were. Either way, there wasno way we could be together now. There was only one option. I had to come clean. “I hooked up with someone else last night too.”
He waved it off. “I forgive you.”
Wait, what?“You’re not mad?”
“Only at myself for being too scared to ask you to be exclusive sooner.”
We stared at each other for a long second. I had no idea how to respond to that. Part of me wanted to say yes to him. But there was also a part of me that didn’t trust him. And a bigger part of me that didn’t trust myself around him. Because he was saying all the right things. And his face was too perfect.And Tanner.
Dr. Lyons pulled his phone out of his lab coat pocket. “Sorry, I have to check this. It might be the office...”
I took that opportunity to pull out my phone too. I needed advice from Chastity immediately. But before I made it to my text thread with her, I got sidetracked by a notification from the Society app. I clicked on it and the RATE YOUR SEXUAL ENCOUNTER screen popped up. The picture beneath it looked vaguely familiar, but it was definitely not Ryder. The man had a twirly mustache, short brown hair, and piercing blue eyes. His name was Flint Ironside.
Who the hell is Flint Ironside? And why does the Society think I had sex with him?
Stalker Problems - Chapter 38 - Flint Ironside
Wednesday – May 10, 2023
What the hell?I stared at the picture of Flint Ironside. Had I seen him last night at the Met?
“Where were you last night?” asked Dr. Lyons. He stared at me and then squinted and looked down at his phone.
“I was uh… at home,” I lied. “WatchingGossip Girl. Duh.”
“But I thought you said you hooked up with someone?” He was still looking back and forth from me to his phone.
I took a big sip of water to avoid answering.
“Is this you?” he asked, flipping his phone around.
I spit my water all over him when I saw what was on it. It was my Society picture right below the words RATE YOUR SEXUAL ENCOUNTER.
“Are you Raven Black?” he asked.
Oh God no.“Who is that?” I tried to sound clueless, but it came out weird and robotic.
“The girl I was with last night. At the Met. It’s definitely you!”
“Don’t think so, buddy. Last time I checked I have red hair. That girl’s a brunette.”
“Right, because that wig is your Society disguise. All I had lying around was a fake mustache from a Halloween costume, but the disguise wasn’t really necessary anyway once they hid my upper half behind that painting.”
My jaw dropped as I put the pieces together.Oh. Fuck.Ryder really had left for an emergency. And then the security guards directed me to the painting with his name on it.Hazing the Noob.Only I wasn’t the noob being hazed. Dr. Lyons was. And I’d taken it to the next level by mouth raping him while he was trapped in the wall. I was a horrible sexual deviant!
I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, but it didn’t work. I was hyperventilating. It kind of felt like I was having a heart attack. Or maybe I was just going to spontaneously combust.I raped Dr. Lyons. Again.
“I’m so so sorry,” I whispered. God, this was Incident #5. Raping someone for the second time? What the actual fuck was wrong with me?! And no one should be able to have this many incidents in such a short amount of time. I wanted to go back in time before I joined the Society when I only had to dwell onthe original incident. The OG Incident. Just the one! Now I had five to keep me up at night!
