“Sure, why not?” He shrugs.
“Are you into watching? Is that it?”
“I’m not opposed to it.” He turns my body toward him and kisses me. “You’re four years younger than me, babe. I know it doesn’t seem like a lot, but I don’t want you going into this relationship and wishing you’d done more.”
“Going into it?I thought we were already in it.” I pull away from him to put distance between us. “You said,and I quote, ‘I want us to stop fucking around and be exclusive already’ and I agreed, but if you changed your mind or didn’t mean monogamous…”
“I meant monogamous.” He reaches for my hand and brings it to his lips. “This is forever, Joss, so yeah, if you want to do those things with someonein herejust tonight, I’m okay with it. Do you want to? Are you not okay with me doing something with someone else? Is that what you’re worried about?”
“I mean, I wasn’t.” I tug my hand away again. “But now that you’re saying all these things…”
“Would you be jealous?” He grins. “If you saw me with another woman?”
I chew on that. I’ve never really been a jealous person, and I don’t think we’ve been together long enough for me to care, but I haven’t been put in that situation, so I answer honestly. “I’m not sure.”
I’ve seen him flirt with the women who work at my stepfather’s law firm, and I’ve never cared. But we hadn’t decided to “make it official” then, and even if we were, I don’t think he’d be stupid enough to fuck someone there. I think about the hollow feeling in my stomach last night and become even more confused.
“We’re here!” Olivia says loudly. I walk away from Tate and throw my arms around my best friend’s neck.
“I’m so fucking happy to see you.”
She kisses my cheek and laughs as she pulls away. While she says hi to Tate, I turn to Devon, the guy she’s been sort of seeing. He plays for the Fairview basketball team, but I’m not sure where he and Livie stand relationship-wise. She’s a hopeless romantic, and most of the guys we know seem to just want an easy fuck.
“I’m shocked you guys are here,” Livie says to Tate. “Now that you finally decided to make it official and all that.”
“We have an agreement while we’re in here,” Tate says, looking at me. “Only for tonight, though. When in Rome and all that.”
“Really?” Livie’s brows furrow. She glances over at me, but I have nothing to give her. She must read something on my face, though, because she frowns deeply.
“I think she needs to get whatever is in her system out before I ask her to marry me,” Tate says, smiling.
“To … marry,” Livie sputters, eyes wide on me, then on Tate. “Have you even asked her what she wants?”
“Let’s go!” Mallory says, interrupting our conversation.
She walks over and gives each of us a tiny manila envelope with our name on it. Inside, there are two different color wristbands.
“What? No masks?” Livie asks.
“You want one? They’re optional,” Mal says, turning back to the hostess, who pulls out a silver box and sets it on the table. “The masks don’t mean anything, so you can pick any color.”
Devon grins at Livie as he reaches for two dark purple masks. “We’re doing this.”
“We can stick together, or you guys can go off and play together,” Mallory says. “I’ve heard it’s a great place for couples.”
I don’t love the sound of that, but I grab a mask. Tate and Mallory follow suit. We follow Mallory down the hall to the massive ornate silver doors that look like they belong in a castle. Even though the club is exclusive and they’ve already run background checks, they make us go through a metal detector and check our bags into lockers. Once we’re done, two people dressed like cats push the doors open and lead us inside.
4
JOSSLYN
The lights are dim, but unlike a regular nightclub, there are no strobe lights or a visible DJ, though music is playing. The middle is an open square that has strips of aerial silk with performers twisted around them. Naked performers. Well, they appear to be naked, anyway, and are somehow coordinating their seductive movements with the music playing.
“It’s a lot like the one my cousin owns downtown,” Mallory says as we walk. “But theirs is child's play in comparison. If you’re looking for a specific kink, this is the place to be. Some can be intense, which is why you signed all those waivers.”
Anticipation rolls through me as we walk down the hall, and I reach for Tate’s hand again. He’s weird about hand-holding, but he lets me as Mallory opens another beautiful door. My grip on his hand gets tighter when we step inside and there’s a full-on orgy with at least fifteen people on display. There’s EDM music playing in here, but it does nothing to drown out the moans, slaps, and screams. My entire body heats up from the sounds alone.
I glance up at Tate, whose eyes are glossy as he looks at them.He licks his lips and lets go of my hand. He’s still looking at them when he says, “I’m going to the bar. You want something?”
