My world narrowed around the TV screen. There was nothing but Lloyd Exeter.
“Beginning of all great stories.”
“Right? And so, we used to work together at GalacticSolutions, building the Ilium. Remember that shit show? Long story short—she was the reason that the Ilium wentkaboom, so we don’t work out, she gets fired, ends up working at some sex toy company. And I sorta, you know, I don’t keep tabs on her or anything, it wasn’t that serious, but she comes across my feed every so often. One day, I see this video of her, up on stage, at some orgasm industry conference. At first, I ignore it, but she keeps doing these conferences and she keeps popping up. And she keeps going on and on aboutpleasure.”
“Which I’m guessing you didn’t think was her area of expertise.”
“Uh, no. Definitely not. What this girl knows about pleasure could have fit in her very, very tight holes, you know? So, anyway, I thought if someone with so little skill could make a bag doing sex stuff, then I could do it, too—only, you know, I’d be good at it.”
The clip ended and transitioned back to theETclone commenting on it. Too late to save me, Clara finally managed to requisition the bar remote and turn the radio to Spanish-language pop hits.
The perfect soundtrack to my utter humiliation.
There wasn’t any denying that the woman in that story was me. I was, after all, the only person who’d worked for Lloyd Exeterandat a sex toy company. We all knew it.
But no one had known we’d been together. That was the new information.
“Holy shit,” Addie breathed.
“You can say that again,” Terrence said.
They had the decency to sound sympathetic. Maybe even a little sorry for me. Jared on the other hand…
“You hadsexwithLloyd Exeter?”
That was when the emotions hit, smashing through my shock. He’d lied about me. Lloyd Exeter had gone on the most popular podcast in the world andliedabout me. Everything else that happened between us back then, I could handle. I’d made mistakes, I’d been a fool, mea culpa and all that.
But for him to tell the world I’d slept with him?
No, that we’dfucked?
“No,” I said, my voice almost a whimper. “I didn’t have sex with Lloyd Exeter.”
“But he just said—”
“I didn’t!”
He scoffed. “You can’t just go on Joe Rogan’s showand say anything, Scout.”
“Yes, you can. It’s sort of his whole thing,” I countered. Heat was building in my blood. A cacophonic, whining, high-pitched din filled my brain, like the sound someone would play to trigger a sleeper agent. Fluorine Scout begged to come to the surface, go reactive, and leave this entire place in ash.
“She doesn’t want to tell you,” Addie interjected. “Leave her alone.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” I snapped.
“Ohplease. Who has more reason to lie? You or him? I want to hear all the horny details. He had to be good, right—”
My anger had made me irrational, thoughtless. But he was so careless and Lloyd was so cruel and Joe Fucking Rogan should be consigned to the Hague and I felt so small and helpless and tipsy and—
Fluorine can’t be contained forever.
The words were out of me before I could stop them.
“I didn’t have sex with Lloyd Exeter, Jared, because I haven’t had sex withanyone.”
Jared’s eyes lit up. It might as well have been Christmas. “What was that?”
This isn’t happening. It can’t be happening. Shut it down. Shut it down.
