MA

limbs, a ghost of pleasure lingering just beneath my skin. I woke up in m

like my perfume

cles. But it wasn't a bad kind of ache. No, it was the kind that le

rything was soft, slow, and coated in

made me feel wanted. It wasn't love. It wasn't gentle. But mayb

nvelope was sitting exactly where I left it-thick, neatly folded, a silent agree

s why I

n. But for the life it gave me-the pieces of

. I had worn one last night; let him peel it off slo

ch bag I'd been starin

. My current one was a mess-always freezing, always dying at the

st enough to get by. They weren't rich. They weren't even middle class.

a? This was survival

e resting on my chest. My heart thudded quietly underne

wing exactly what a man wante

ckward like pages flipping in a

My best

ssible to ignore. Always smiling, always sup

pson droned on and on about supply and demand, and we sat in the back row, stifling giggles

she dis

y. Nor the next. Or t

t have her number, and she wasn't on social media. F

ike that, she re

a little more polished, like she'd stepped out of a magazine. When I

ily. "It was crazy. And since we live so f

id. All through our first year and most of our second, she'd stay over now and

lite hostels-private bathrooms, balcony vi

spers, always branded, always perfect. Her bag? S

e rich girls. Girls who took summer trips to Europe and posted pictures in y

two years, Macey inv

rything

d one afternoon, her eyes sparkling with ex

ouldn't say no to Macey. Not when she looked at me like that, with

a gift, her usual confidence in full swing. "I want you to wea

er, perfectly fitted to flatter every curve. I'd never owned anything like it. "Macey, I ca

ou'll look amazing. And it's just a little thank yo

about stepping into her world. But I couldn't argue with Macey, not when

ing estate, with manicured lawns and a fountain in

w beautiful it was. The air felt heavier here, like wealth a

g as she led me inside. "Don't worry," she

kind in a way that made me feel both welcomed and out of place all at on

so

anding that it was impossible not to notice him. He barely s

hen he looked at you, it felt like he was seeing straight t

et, the kind of quiet that held something unspoken, something thick betwe

d to me, his gaze locking onto mine. Hi

e said, his voice

whispered, sud

want to

espond. My throat went

ispered again, his voice rougher this time. "I can give

car and walked around to open my door. I stumbled out, my mind racing, m

t I felt the pull

*

a text lit

ber: Midnig

fr

xt. But I knew ex

so

rom him since that night. I told myself the

e wan

e it. Pretend I never saw it. Go back to pretending I was normal, just

y was a dang

? He was

outside my dorm. I slipped out the back entrance, hea

k. Just nodded politel

tiful. The kind of place wher

iting inside the sui

my hair back from my shoulder,

w exactly what he was doing-how to push me just far enough and how to pull me b

envelope was on

the pr

on my couch, star

becomin

led me. My pulse jumped. It coul

nd Macey, smiling and h

cheerfully. "You look lik

ide to let her in. "Ju

session?" she aske

hat," I murmured,

inced a little as I sank int

dmill or something?" she joked

. "Sore fr

been lifting weights... or you've

ntly, sippin

weren't meant

t