“You like being hunted, huh?”
“Yes. Yeah.” I’m breathing hard, a little excited, a little nervous.
“I’m a Primal. You want to mess around? Just hang out here. Wrestle or something. On the bench?”
This isn’t my stranger. I know it. Then again, the stranger’s not actually mine, is he? That’s not a thing and maybe this is. Or it could be. I’m going to try. Maybe a new partner is what I need. “Yes.”
“You got hard limits you want me to stay away from?”
My mind goes blank. I glance at the people around us. Limits? “Uh, no anal.” But wait. Do I want to have sex right here with this person? Do I want to do this in front of everyone else?
I turn to look at the cushion-covered bench.
“You got your…?”
The music blares louder, making me lean in. “What? I’m sorry, I can’t hear.”
“Safe word?”
“Oh. Yeah. Yeah, it’s Red.”
“Okay.” The eyes behind the mask crinkle. They’re nice eyes. He seems fine. The whole thing seems totally, perfectly fine, and yet… “I can’t. I can’t help feeling that I’ve got somewhere else to be.”
He gives me space. “You okay?”
I’m nodding non-stop. “Yep. Fine, I just…changed my mind.”
He puts his hands up. “Yep Okay. Need anything?”
“No. No, thank you.” I smile, relieved by the choice I’ve made. “Goodnight, Blade.”
“See you around, Rosebud.”
Out in the night, I breathe air and humidity, the smell of trees and dirt.
“Hey.”
I huff out a breath at the sound of Zed’s voice. “Hi.”
“How’s it going?”
“I almost got involved in a scene and changed my mind.”
“Happens. You need company?”
“No.” I inhale more air, let the anxiety trickle away. “I need a walk.” My hand goes out to stop him from joining me. “I’m serious fine. Just…weirded out.”
“Wanna tell me why?”
I’m shaking my head. “It’s silly.”
“No such thing.”
“I thought he was someone else.”
Zed’s eyes—the only thing I can see of his face—flick back to the tent. “Not the droid you were looking for?”
A laugh bursts from my lips, sounding just like a bark in the night. “Guess not.” I look down at where my sandal’s scuffing the grass, and then over towards the woods where I played the last two nights. “Kinda worried I’ve been ruined for all other droids.”
