Then we were silent for the rest of the drive. Once we parked around the corner from the building, he turned to me. “Your safe word is red. It’s a universal safeword. The people around us will know what it means and will help you, should you need it.”
“Are you going to torture me?” I joked. “You sound like you have something awful planned.”
“What’s awful to one is heaven to another,” he smirked.
After we checked in with the security guard and dropped off my bag—and yes, I left Dad’s messenger bag in a locker—we entered the main area. The club was already in full swing. A man in a kilt was tying a woman in a rope suspension rig. A woman was ravishing another woman, going down on her, restrained against a large X, reminding me of what we had done in the classroom. Nate held my hand for a moment, then gestured towards the bar and lounge.
“I’ll get us drinks. Yours?” he asked.
“A beer,” I said. I was feeling adventurous.
“What kind?”
“Whatever they have.” He left. I scanned the room, my eyes glazing over the activities, too anxious to get to whatever the night had to offer us, when I saw a familiar figure: long dark hair, an oval face, wearing oversized overalls. Jessica. She waved.
My face flushed. Shit. I was the one who had told her about this place, about Nate being here.
“So this is where you hide out on weekends,” she said. She squeezed my arm. “Has Professor Stick-Up-His-Ass arrived yet?”
“Dr. Evans?” I asked.
“Who else would I be talking about? Don’t tell me Dr. Neil comes here too.”
“Please don’t tell anyone about Nate being here.”
“Who’s Nate?”
Shit. Had I blown our cover? “Dr. Evans.” I was red,completely red, all over.
“Wait. Dr. Evans? Why can’t I? Do you like Dr. Evans now?”
I looked away. Nate was still in line at the bar, and I wished with my entire being that Jessica would leave soon so that we could enjoy this night, our night, in peace. She was nice. I liked Jessica. But I wanted this safe haven away from the campus. A place for us.
Us.That was a strange word to use, but it was right.
“Wait. You do like him, don’t you?” I looked at my feet, horrified. “Whatever, girl. You’re certainly not the first student to have a crush on him.”
“Please don’t say anything,” I whispered. “To anyone.”
She raised an eyebrow at me. “Say what? To whom?” My gut dropped. If anything got out, anything at all, we would be screwed. “Stop looking so scared,” she laughed. “I won’t tell anyone about seeing you here at the infamous Afterglow or about Dr. Evans’s kinky side. Anyway, he invited you to the Annual Lakehouse Retreat, right? Are you going?”
Nate was coming towards us now, his eyes glowered as he spotted Jessica. “I think so,” I said.
“Jessica,” Nate said. He handed me one of the beers and I took a long sip. Nate offered her a hand, and Jessica shook it. “Had I known you were here, I would have gotten you a drink too.”
“Dr. Evans,” Jessica said. “Mara told me you liked coming here.”
Nate looked at me, and I swear I could have died right there. “Did she?” he asked.
“It was a long time ago,” I murmured.
Jessica looked back and forth between us quickly, then shrugged. “Well, this is lovely, but I’m next in line for the rope suspension, so, I gotta run.” She kissed the air beside my cheek and then disappeared into the warehouse. I let out a long, heavy breath.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Nate gave me a funny look. “Nothing to be sorry for.” He took my hand. “I figured the word about me was out the moment I saw you that first night.”
And I realized that he was right. He wasn’t ashamed of his interests. And I shouldn’t have been either.
