Page 81 of On the Line

“Says the sex iswild,” Michelle pipes up beside me.

I turn to her with wide eyes. “Do you ever shut up?”

She laughs, tongue pushing against her cheek but says nothing.

My attention pulls back to Ozzy when I hear him say, “Wild huh, Jimbo? I have a hard time believing that. How wild are we talking about?”

His tone is playful, but my eyes narrow, slightly irked by the implication that I can’t have fun.

“I don’t kiss and tell,” I shoot back, straightening my shoulders.

“Please,” he says with a smirk, taking a sip of water, his eyes burning right through me. “We’re allfriendshere, aren’t we?” He pauses, his tongue smoothing over the scar on his lip, and I swallow hard. “Come on, how wild are we talking?” I hide behind my wine glass while he continues to stare. “Are we talking like, oh I don’t know, getting fingered in public at a party? I did that once, hot as fuck.” The air around us soars to a boiling point as his mouth tugs into an arrogant grin. “You wouldn’t let someone do that to you, right James? You’re not a bad girl like that.”

Michelle nearly chokes on the sip she just took. I can’t look away from Ozzy. He’s monopolizing all my attention, his eyes darkening the more we stare at each other. My heart slams in my chest, wondering if we’re being too obvious, but I can’t back down now, not when Ozzy is clearly expecting me not to push back.

“Well,” I say, picking up my wine glass. Taking a prim sip, I settle it back down and clasp my hands in front of me, giving him a smug tight-lipped smile. “He fucked me on thehood of his car in an open parking lot last week, so maybe I’m not as goody-goody as you think,salad boy.”

“Excuse me?” Michelle says in surprise, elongating every syllable but both Ozzy and I ignore her.

Ozzy hums, drumming his fingers on the bar. “Naughty.” He leans a little closer, his eyes playful while he lowers his voice. “You should try giving him head in a museum bathroom. I’m talking from experience, it will blow his mind.”

On that note, he takes his drink and walks back into the kitchen, leaving both Michelle and I dumbfounded but for wildly different reasons.

“Good god, James,” Michelle finally says. “If you don’t fuck him soon, I’ll fuck him for you, and I’m not evenintoguys.”

I leaveOrso after my staff drink, knowing Ozzy has to stay late to help clean up. I’m also trying to inconspicuously dodge Michelle’s questions, which only grew more probing when Ozzy left the bar.

I drop my tote bag on the back of my desk chair, change into a comfy lounge set before falling backwards into bed, my body tired from a long shift but my mind still buzzing.

Mostly stuck on Michelle’s earlier comment ...

Somno?

What the hell is that?

I sit upright, eyeing my laptop sitting on my desk. I chew on the inside of my cheek deliberating, but eventually, my curiosity takes over and I slink over. Turning on the screen, I click on my browser, then immediately switch to aprivate window, convinced someone will track my indecent google searches.

After a few failed hits, I land on a kink website and discover somno is short for somnophilia.

A person who derives sexual pleasure from someone who is sleeping or unconscious.

My breath hitches, my fingers flying off the keyboard as if burned.

That sounds a lot like …

I don’t finish my train of thought.

I lick my lips, unsure how to navigate the warring feelings toying with my insides.

My cursor hovers over a link, which I know will undoubtedly lead to a porn video.

The thought of watching a recreation of something so similar to my own negative experiences.

It should repulse me.

Instead a heady, but shameful, arousal pulses through my core and I squeeze my thighs tightly together.

Taking a deep breath, I click the link. When I realize I have my volume on, I scurry to slam the mute button. Steve isn’t even home, but my paranoia doesn’t care. I jump up to lock the door for safe measure and sit back down, my attention now trained on the video on screen. The camera doesn’t show the man recording, only the woman lying face down on the bed in front of him, seemingly asleep.

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