Page 110 of The Unraveling

Oh my god. What if he’s right?

“So what do you think I should do?” I say. He looks at me so intently and I think he hasn’t heard me, so I repeat, “What do you think I should do?”

He leans even closer, whispering right into my ear. “I think you should let go.”

He shrugs.

“Let go?”

“Just for a while. See what happens.”

I smile and then shrug, gesturing that I’m not sure.

“Maybe,” he goes on, “maybe I’m not going to betray you in the end. Maybe you’re actually hanging around with a good guy who’s really just trying to look out for you.”

He moves one hand to my thigh and I lean on the table with my elbow, taking a sip of my champagne, and study his face. The heat of his hand on my leg stirs me intensely.

Is there any chance that this guy is for real? And if he is…what does that mean?

I play with the idea in my mind. What would it be like to be with someone like Alistair for real?

To be in a place like the apartment where he’s letting me live now, but to know that it’s my own. To know that it can’t be stolen away or taken away.

You can make good money as a dancer. Especially as a principal, like I used to be. But with Mimi’s bills, it’s plunged me right back into the past. Right back to the beginning of my career. All the uncertainty. All the worry. All the fear that I’d become like my mom, scraping by.

I remember Arabella, right in the beginning, telling me that I had trouble accepting help. Is that true?

What if Alistair isn’t a threat? What if he’s just someone who likes me, has a complicated relationship, and also happens to have a lot of money?

I smile at him, trying to breathe away the worry. He gently squeezes my leg and moves his hand up a bit further.

“You’re right,” I say. “I should just enjoy it.” I move my hand to his, putting it under the hem of my dress and guiding him higher.

He gives me a crooked smile and then I watch his gaze drop to my lips and then back again. “God, I want to kiss you.” His hand is reaching closer to my black lace thong, his pinky finger starting to tease the fabric.

I gasp, my body responding aggressively. “But we can’t. Because we’re in public?” I then move his hand away, teasing him.

He groans. “You’re intoxicating.” He puts a hand back under the table, and as I move my knees apart, desperate for him, he hikes my dress up, going straight to my thong and slipping his fingers in. “If you let me in, you won’t be able to get me off of you.”

“Fuck,” I say, my breath catching. “Fuck.”

He moves his fingers expertly in and out of me. I’m so fucking wet he can barely stay inside.

I try to keep my breathing even as my pussy tightens around his fingers. I feel like I could faint, but right before I finish, he quickly removes his fingers. I pant and stare at him wide-eyed. It’s like jumping into a cool pool on a hot day and not feeling the splash.

He smiles. “Do you want more?”

“Yes,” I whisper, not correcting his understatement.

“Good girl, I know you do. I like to tease you. I bet no one ever makes you wait.”

“Ha,” I laugh, but I don’t correct him. Instead, I boldly put my hand onto the outside of his pants and feel that his cock is so hard it seems as if it’s going to burst the zipper.

“I want more, too,” he says, confirming what I already know.

He moves my hand away playfully and we sit up like normal people out for a drink.

I’m breathless as we both take a sip of our champagne. We catch eyes and then, smiling, we look away from each other again.

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