“I don’t know who with.” The confession made Kelly feel worse instead of better. So much for the saying a problem shared is a problem halved.

Confusion knitted Nicole’s brows. “Come again?”

Normally, the double entendre would’ve made Kelly laugh. Instead, she exhaled a heavy breath and the words that had bounced around inside her skull all night came tumbling out.

“Long story short. I had sex with a stranger.” She paused, then added, “Without her consent.”

Bewilderment flashed across Nicole’s face. “Whoa.” She held up a hand. “Back up the bus. What the hell happened?”

Shame flooded every cell of Kelly’s being as she recalled the sordid events from the previous night. Nicole listened without judgement. The look of empathy in her eyes was more than Kelly felt she deserved.

“Okay,” Nicole said as soon as Kelly fell silent. “I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think.”

Of course it wasn’t bad, it was a bloody nightmare. Kelly opened her mouth to say as much but Nicole held up a hand.

“At any time, did she,” Nicole finger quoted the word, “say no or ask you to stop?”

Heat flared in Kelly’s cheeks and she hung her head in shame. “She couldn’t.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“I stuffed her panties in her mouth.”

A smile danced across Nicole’s lips. A second later she burst out laughing.  “Wow, go you, you horn dog.” She punched Kelly in the arm.

“It’s not funny,” Kelly replied, and she meant it despite the smile she couldn’t suppress.

Nicole fiddled with her robe, unwittingly drawing Kelly’s attention to the belt.

Only able to endure so much humiliation in one day, no way was Kelly going to tell Nicole she’d also tied the woman’s hands to the headboard. Not that she’d done a very good job of it. Apparently, the mystery woman had slipped her wrists free. Yet, she hadn’t pushed Kelly away. Why not?

The shrill beep-beep-beep of the fire alarm broke into Kelly’s troubled thoughts. The acrid smell of smoke wafted into the room.

“Shit, something’s burning.” Pain stabbed at Kelly’s temples as she threw back the bedcovers and scrambled out of bed. Before she made it to the door, Nicole grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back.

“Steve’s making toast.” She rolled her eyes as if that explained everything. “I’ll go rescue brunch and make some coffee. Once we’ve eaten, we’ll continue this conversation. Because, honey, before you go beating yourself up, we need to figure out who you bonked and what you’re going to do about it.”

What Nicole said made sense. Perhaps the unfortunate woman wasn’t confused and upset thanks to Kelly.

Yeah right, keep telling yourself that, Kel, and you might actually believe it.