Page 23 of First Time

Her mouth drops open and there’s so much excitement in her eyes it looks as if she’ll burst. “I seriously cannot believe you didn’t tell me. Give me all the details.” She holds up a hand. “And trust me, I’m not telling a soul that we talked about this.”

I know I shouldn’t say anything, but I have to.

Closing my eyes, I can almost feel the guy’s hands on me. “It was amazing, Christy. The only scandalous thing I have to say about it is that he was a virgin. I feel a little guilty for taking his V card.”

Christy slaps a hand over her mouth. She’d know exactly who he is because she’s the one who schedules the men in the sex rooms. A part of me wants to ask her who he is, but that’s really crossing a line over the rules.

Christy waves her hands in the air for me to continue. “How long did he last?”

A smile spreads across my face. “Not long . . . the first time. I could definitely tell he was a virgin. But that was the fun part of it. Even though the night went by quick, I’ve never felt more satisfied.”

Christy squeals and claps her hands. “That’s perfect. I’m glad you had fun.”

“Me too,” I tell her. “But it was a one time thing. Never again.”

Her lips purse and she regards me curiously. “Because of Brent? I know you two are going on a date tomorrow. Are you going to tell him that you tried the Dark Room?”

There is no way in hell I could ever tell him that.

I shake my head so hard it hurts. “No. He can never find out about that. I don’t want him to see me differently. He’s a good guy, one who needs a good girl.”

Christy turns her head and glances down at the floor. “You two aren’t together yet. Whatever you’ve done in the past doesn’t matter. You both have needs, and you needed a release. He doesn’t have a right to judge you for that.”

What she says makes sense.

With a heavy sigh, I close my eyes again. “Is it bad that I pretended the guy in the Dark Room was Brent?”

Christy bursts out laughing. “Not at all. In fact, that’s actually pretty awesome. I’m sure everyone who goes in there is imagining who they’re with.”

Grinning, I open my eyes. “And who would you think of if you were in there?”

She bites her lip and smiles. “You know who he is.”

Yes, I do. I’ve seen the way she looks at a certain someone at the club. What’s even better is I’ve noticed the way he looks at her.

“Dutch is a good guy,” I say. “All you have to do is make a move.”

She nods. “I will as soon as you do so with Brent. You need someone like him in your life.”

Yes . . . yes, I do.

NINE

Brent

The price for a one-night car rental, delivered to the office, is the same damn cost for the exclusive membership of Society X for a month. Thirty days of sex or twenty-four hours of transportation that I’ll use for a couple of hours.

Seeing the four-figure cost flash on my screen makes my balls tighten. I click confirm and put my phone down with a huff. The last thing I want is for Scotlyn to have to drive tonight. It’s even worse when she has to drive me back to my hotel because I was too lazy to rent a car for the duration of my trip.

I stare at my computer screen, watching as data scrolls in rapid succession. It’s laughable to think the human eye can catch a coding error with it moving so fast. The only scenario that works is for us to apply any of the updates to the system and pray nothing goes wrong.

A row of X’s line the screen. They’re supposed to be there, but they give me pause. My mind drifts back to the first night I saw Scotlyn. She wore a diamond X around her neck. It’s how Society X patrons can tell if a woman is also a member. Not that it would matter since we’re not supposed to fraternize. Not with this anonymous bullshit.

The thing is, I don’t want to be anonymous. I want to text Christy and ask her to book Scotlyn and me into a room. I’m not sure which room because I’d like to see what I’m doing or she’s doing to me, so the Dark Room is out, and there is no way in hell I’m ready for anyone to watch me having sex. So, what would we do in the Play Room?

I reach for my phone and click the photo app icon. In a buried folder I have some images I took offline. Images I’d probably get in trouble for but they’re of positions I’d like to try or things I’d like to do. Like suckling on a woman’s taut nipple. If one was presented in front of me now, I’d fucking freeze and panic would set in.

Sex ed in high school definitely failed. All it did was tell us what not to do, not how to do it. Which I know wasn’t the purpose, but whatever.