It was finally Friday. Though it had only been three days since I’d seen Benny last—a much shorter waiting period than usual—I’d been so much more impatient to see him again.
Would it continue on like this? The more I’d see him, the more I’d want to? He was a drug I was becoming dependent on.
It frightened me. Because that couldn’t happen. This could never be more than it was right now. I could never be with him in the sunlight. Only here—underground in the shadows—where we were sworn to secrecy. Where we could pretend.
I’d let him see me. He hadn’t recognized who I wasyet, but I’d let him without knowing that. It broke a hole through my walls and let him see inside me.
But he’d stayed. He’d accepted me.
It only terrified me more, because eventually this had to end. I already knew it would hurt when the time came. It would be smart to let him go now before it got any worse. It would have been smarter to let him go earlier. Yet here I was, giving up my electronics so I could meet him again. Knowing I’d keep on doing so. Too weak to stop myself.
I was early, hoping to get here first and set up the room ahead of Benny arriving. He hadn’t yet texted that he was here, so I was pretty sure I’d beaten him.
“Enjoy your time, sir,” said Ivan as he handed the box containing my things to a Shadow. He was the only one Shady had told me the name of when he’d given me the tour. Everyone else was nameless. Faceless.Shadows.
I didn’t know where they kept everything while members visited, but that was likely intentional. Shady had given me a complete tour, and I’d not noticed any storage room, but I hadn’t paid attention to much outside of the private suites. They were the only part of the club I was interested in.
It meant I interacted very little with other members. Only those who were heading in or out of the private rooms themselves. So it took me by complete surprise when I heard it.
“Haaarpy!” My nickname in a singsong voice, the wrong kind of familiar.
A chill ran up my spine. I turned to face Tristan, the person I wanted to see me here the least. “Don’t call me that.”
He smirked. “Grumpy as usual. I like it.”
“I don’t care what you like.”
Tristan huffed, that smile remaining on his lips. “You know, I thought you never joined up. You couldn’t even send me a thank you note for the invitation?” He held his hand over his chest. “I’m crushed.”
I rolled my eyes and turned to walk away when his hand shot out to grab my arm and turn me back to him.
“Don’t run off just yet. You’re a tricky man to pin down outside your family’s charity events or birthday parties.”
I shrugged him off. “That’s because I don’t like you.”
Once more I attempted to turn away and once more he grabbed me. “You might. If you gave me a chance.”
When I attempted to pull away this time, he tightened his grip, pulling me to the side until my back hit the wall and he boxed me in.
I glared up at him, my hands shoving at his chest, but he barely moved. Heat flared from my chest, to my neck, to my face. The humiliation of being manhandled by this idiot.
“Back the fuck up right now.” I warned.
“Or what?” Tristan smiled. He was always fucking smiling. “You gonna tell Daddy? Gonna tell him about this place? You wouldn’t.”
Of course I wouldn’t. Even if I hadn’t been sworn to secrecy about The Veil, I could never tell my father anything about it.
“Play with me,” Tristan whispered.
I tried again, unsuccessfully, to push him away from me. “Never.”
“We’ll see.” His face lowered closer to mine, and I turned away from him. His lips connected with my cheek. Then his tongue. My stomach twisted in disgust.
This time when I pushed him, his body flew back until he slammed into the opposite wall. Then a presence stood between us. A wall of my own. A shield. Benny.
“What the fuck is your problem?” Tristan exclaimed.
“Don’t fuckin’ touch him.” Benny replied. I’d never heard his voice sound like that. Deep. Dominant. Threatening. It sent a different kind of shiver down my spine.
