I look away, eyes burning. My heart thuds, slow and sick. “Nothing good.”
I run my hands through my hair again, pulling until my scalp aches.
Arrow doesn’t push. He just sits there, waiting, guitar forgotten. His face is all concern now, big-brother mode engaged.
It takes everything I have not to spill it all, right here on the floor.
But I’m weak. I want to keep what I’ve found, even if it means stepping around the truth. Even if it means risking everything.
I close my eyes, let my head drop back against the couch, and try to breathe.
Somehow, I already know, I don’t have it in me to come clean.
Not yet.
The room is silent. Arrow’s watching, sensing the fault lines running under my skin. I wonder if he knows how close I am to breaking.
Hell, maybe he does.
But for now, I just sit, April’s scent clinging to my skin, her voice echoing in my head, and I don’t say another word.
I’m not sure how long we sit there, the weight of everything unsaid pressing down like wet cement. Arrow pretends to tune his guitar, but he keeps glancing up, waiting for the storm he knows is coming.
Eventually I crack.
My hands shake so bad I almost drop my phone.
Fuck it.
I lay it facedown, stand up, and start pacing. My boots thud over the rug as I chew the inside of my cheek.
Arrow leans back, arms folded. “Want to tell me what’s actually eating you, or are we going to play Silent Bob all night?”
He’s not going to quit. Might as well get it over with.
I stop by the kitchen, every instinct screaming not to turn around. “Arrow, I need to tell you something.” My voice is wrecked; all gravel and nerves.
“No shit, dude. Spit it out already.”
This is it, the point of no return.
“Have you ever heard of a place called Purgatory? It’s a sex club. Super discreet. Private rooms, weird names for everything.”
Arrow shakes his head slowly, suspicion creeping in. “Nope. Why?”
I force myself to keep going, hoping to avoid the lingering curiosity I see written all over his face.
“A month ago, I got a call. I accepted. They put me in ‘Heaven.’ There was a note, a blindfold, and a girl who wanted her first time to be…anonymous.”
Arrow’s jaw drops, eyes huge. “Wait, wait…back up.”
“Fuck, here we go.”
“So you went to some sex club called Purgatory and got put in a room called Heaven? Dude, is this someEyes Wide Shutshit? Why am I just hearing about this now? Did they serve snacks? Do you need a membership?”
I roll my eyes so hard it hurts. “Arrow, can you get your dick out of the fantasy for one minute?”
He ignores me, eyes wide. “No, seriously, Purgatory? Heaven? Please tell me there’s a Hell, too.”
