Page 36 of The Pleasure Contract

I don’t know how that makes me feel.

It’s not like he’s cheating.

We’re not ‘a thing’.

Not outside our friends-with-benefits contract, anyway.

And… and maybe it’s a good thing, actually. Less chance of him attaching too many feelings onto what we’re going to do if he has other options out there.

I know he deactivated all those Permissions he had before – and there were many – but… well, for all I know, he can just as easily reactivate them. Or maybe completely replace them by doing a few appearances like this, so he can carry on collecting Permissions like sex-Pokémons.

Great.

Great, great, great.

This is a good thing, Lois. A. Good. Thing.

I am maybe… just about… possibly getting over the weird, uncomfortable feeling in my tummy when Az suddenly looks up toward my window.

“Oh, shit,” I curse, ducking down to hide. Is it weird that I was watching him take those Permissions? Or watching him at all? “Get down!” I hiss, reaching up to grab Zek, dragging him down with me.

There’s a beat or two where we’re just staring at each other. With me wondering if Az caught me staring at him through the window, and Zek seemingly confused and alarmed at the whole turn of events that has led to him on all fours on the floor with me.

DJ descends in a dramatically slow fashion from the window to our level. And, for some reason, she’s playing the iconic music from Jaws.

Her recent movie soundtrack kick really isn’t helping my nerves.

Duhh-dun… Duhh-Dun…

What the hell is she trying to tell us is coming our way?

Just as the orchestral strings swell to the part where the Great White usually starts chomping down on some poor, unsuspecting swimmer, the doors to my room sweep open, and in strides Az.

16

Az

Lois leaps to her feet with a little squeak of a noise.

Her staff member, Zek, follows suit, brushing at his clothes.

Both of them stare at me, wide-eyed and guilty-looking.

My heart is hammering like a war drum inside my chest.

What have I walked in on? I cannot fucking breathe. If he touched my Lois, I am going to-

“Az,” Lois says in an overly bright tone. “Can we help you with anything?”

“If you have a contract with him as well, dissolve it… Now.”

Lois’ ‘DJ’ had been playing some kind of fast-paced music with frantic, chaotic notes. But that comes to an end with a loud scratch noise.

The very thought of my Lois entering contracts with others makes me want to throw up – and I have a pretty strong stomach.

Lois’ brows furrow. “What?!”

“I think I’ll come back and finish the packing later,” Zek says before almost tiptoeing around me. My eyes follow him as he makes a swift exit. His pace is incredibly hurried.