Gresham pushed my mecks across the surface of the bar. “That’ll be two,” he said. Reuben handed him two gold coins. “Am I to assume you’re eighteen, young lady?”

I showed him, he went back to cleaning out the glasses, but he kept an eye on me as I sipped my drink. I wondered what troubled him: my age, my appearance, my aura? Probably all three.

I jerked back to reality when Reuben shifted closer. His breath smelled like apples. “Are you at the University?” he said.

“No.”

“What do you do?”

“Oxygen bar.”

He nodded, sipped his drink.

I wasn’t sure how to do it. To give the sign. Was there a sign? I looked right into his eyes, ran the toe of my shoe along his leg. It seemed to work. He glanced at his friends, who had gone back to their game of shots. “You want to go somewhere?” His voice was low, hoarse. It was now or never. I nodded.

Reuben linked his fingers through mine and led me through the crowd. Gresham watched me. Probably thinking what a minx I was.

I became aware that Reuben wasn’t leading me to my imagined dark corner. He was leading me to the toilets. At least, I thought he was until he guided me through another door, out into the staff car park. It was a tiny rectangular space, only able to hold six cars. Okay, he wanted privacy. That was good. Wasn’t it? At least it meant he wasn’t just showing off for his friends.

Before I could so much as take a breath, Reuben pushed me up against the dirty brick wall. I smelled sweat and cigarettes. To my shock, he started to unbuckle his belt. “Wait,” I said. “I didn’t mean—”

“Hey, come on. It’s just a little fun. Besides”—he dropped his belt—“it’s not like we’re cheating.”

He kissed me. His lips were firm. A wet tongue thrust into my mouth, and I tasted artificial flavoring. I’d never been kissed before. I wasn’t sure I liked it.

He was right. Just a little fun. Of course it was. What could go wrong? Normal people did this, didn’t they? They drank, they did stupid reckless things, they had sex. This was just what I needed. Jax allowed us to do this—just not to commit. I wasn’t going to commit. No strings. Eliza did it.

My head told me to stop. Why was I doing this? How had I ended up here, in the dark, with a stranger? It wouldn’t prove anything. It wouldn’t stop the pain. It would make it worse. But now Reuben was on his knees, pushing my dress up to my waist. He pressed a kiss to my bare stomach.

“You’re so pretty.”

I didn’t feel it.

“You never told me your name.” He traced the edge of my underwear. I shivered.