“I can show—” Jayne started.
“I need a minute alone,” I said, cutting her off.
“Of course,” she said easily. “Through those doors, turn left, enter the next hall to your right, and it’s the first door on the left.”
She may as well have spoken those directions in a different language.
“Are you okay?” Wes asked, his irritation melting into concern as he studied me.
While I was under his spell, his attention felt like oxygen. Now, it was mortifying.
I nodded. “I’m just… disoriented,” I settled on.
“We should debrief,” he said, hanging onto my hand. “Aftercare will help.”
“Okay, but I still need a minute alone,” I said, averting my eyes.
“Of course,” he said, leaning in and speaking close to my ear. “You were perfect, Nova.” He dropped my hand, and though he looked reluctant, he let me go.
I left the three of them without another word. I felt a confusing mix of pride in myself, amazement in what I was able to do, but also embarrassment for how I’d clung to Wes like a lost puppy in need of direction. I’d never felt so confident, and yet, after every flex of my newfound power, I’d searched for Wes’s approval in the crowd.
The cameras had only focused on me and him. Everyone else had faded into the background.
“Hey,” a man stopped me in the hallway. He was dark-haired, bearded, and in his thirties. “I just wanted to say how much I related to your share—I was raised Hasidic, and my community was basically a cult. It feels like ever since, I’ve had this good boy complex, the source of all my kinks and the root of all my trauma.” He scratched his head with a laugh.
I nodded. “I understand completely.”
“Anyway, thanks for sharing. Hope to see you around,” he said.
I smiled, the kind interaction soothing my racing mind. I hadn’t even considered there would be other people like me here. My anxiety had rendered me entirely self-consumed.
“Yeah, you too,” I said.
Against all odds, I located the bathroom and quickly hid in a stall to recoup.
“Nova!” an excited voice called, followed by the sound of a door closing.
I suppressed a groan. “Hi, Maisy.”
“I’m ascending!” she squealed.
So much for recouping. I slowly left the stall. “Congrats, that’s amazing. Just in time for the party, right?”
She nodded. “Your speech was amazing, by the way. Everyone’s talking about it. People are going to be fighting to the death to get on your dance card.” Her dress was short and black, with a puffy skirt and sleeves.
“My dance card?” I asked with a raised brow.
“It’s just slang for the people you have plans to scene with. Like tonight, I’m getting double topped by Archer and Jayne for an impact demonstration. And of course, I’m playing with Jeffrey. But other than that, my night’s wide open.”
She talked a thousand miles a minute, which was doing the opposite of bringing me back down to earth. Oh God, was I going to be expected toscenewith people?
“I literally cannot wait to see where the party is. They’ve been working on the interior formonths.”
“It’s not going to be held here?”
Maisy laughed. “Oh, no. The big members-only events happen at a new location every time. Only rarely are they hosted here. They’re seasonal, so they goall out.Generally, they’re held at someone’s mansion.”
From what I knew about wealthy people and their sex parties, this news deeply concerned me.
