I wished so badly what he said was real.

But it was make-believe.

It was a lie.

My body would be his for the night then he’d throw it away and tomorrow someone else would be in my place. And I might have to watch.

Elise.

“Yes, Adam, you have my permission.”

His fingers dug into my hips, and he gave me a gentle shove and we stepped inside.

The living room was dimly lit by a lamp in the corner. And even though I knew my apartment was just how I’d left it I still glanced around making sure there was nothing out that I didn’t want Adam to see. The room was clean and orderly, a sight that always made my heart clench. A reminder Elise was not there to leave something out, or move something, or forget to turn off the TV before she left which she did a lot. Her bedroom was exactly how she’d left it down to the clothes on the floor. I was tidy, she was not. She was too busy living her life to worry about something as silly as picking up clothes. I lived my life but I didn’t absorb it like Elise. I didn’t have her wild need to experience everything all at once.

“Sloane?” Adam called when I stopped moving. “Which room is yours?”

My apartment was a typical two-bedroom. The front door opened to the living room. To the right was a galley kitchen with a small dining area. On the back wall, behind the dining table, there was a door—Elise’s room. To the left, there was a short hall that went to my bedroom. I had an attached bathroom but it also served as a guest bath so there were two doors down the hall.

I tipped my head to the left but Adam didn’t move us that way.

“Do you have a roommate?”

Adam’s proximity and the heat from his body—not to mention he’d told me he was going to fuck me breathless—my head was fuzzy and my panties were drenched so I answered without thought.

“Yes.”

I felt Adam tense behind me which made me tenser since I’d told him something I hadn’t intended to share.

“Is your roommate connected to the club?”

Right, the club.

The fucking club would always, always, always be between us. But so would all my lies so I guess we were even.

“No.”

Another lie.

They just kept piling up. Soon I’d be so deep in them that it would be a wonder if I remembered my name.

“Are you expecting her home anytime soon?”

It was funny Adam assumed my roommate was a woman. I was going to tell another lie and say my roommate was a man just to see how he reacted to that. But there was something in his tone that gave me pause.

“Why? You hoping she’ll come home so you can have an audience, or maybe a third?”

The question had barely left my mouth when Adam swung me around and my back was up against the door. All I could see was his angry face and it was coming closer. He finally stopped when we were nose to nose.