Page 64 of The Breaking Point

When I brought my purchases inside, Kelly pulled them out of the bags and gaped at me. “Girl, what the hell?”

I just laughed. “I have so much to tell you.”

I then told her all about Brady, the Scarlet Rope, and everything in between. Kelly was so focused on me that she didn’t even drink her glass of wine. When I’d finished, Kelly was shaking her head.

“Holy shit, woman,” she kept saying. “This does not sound like the Grace I know.”

“The Grace you know was boring,” I groused.

Kelly chuckled. “Maybe. And I’m not criticizing you either. I’m just impressed.” Kelly picked up her glass of wine and proceeded to drink it in a few quick gulps. “Want another glass? Because I need one.”

After a little more wine, we were both tipsy and laughing like lunatics. Kelly and I had met back in high school and had stayed in touch through college. She’d always been way more adventurous than me.

As teens, Kelly had been the one getting caught smoking and drinking. When she’d gotten suspended for spray-painting the side of our high school, I’d nearly had a heart attack. Kelly had been unfazed.

“I get to stay home from school? Awesome,” she’d said with her usual grin.

Fortunately, she’d given up her criminal ways when she’d gone to college. When she’d decided to get a master’s in psychology right after undergrad, I’d been shocked. That decision had seemed so ... grown up.

But this Kelly, laughing and making inappropriate jokes? This was the Kelly I recognized.

“You need to try this on!” Kelly said, holding up the dress I’d bought.

“I already did at the store.”

“So! I want to see it.” Kelly shooed me into her bedroom and told me not to come out until I’d put the outfit on.

I did as she said, coming out and giving a little twirl.

“Are you wearing granny panties?” Kelly demanded.

“I never wear new underwear without washing it first,” I replied primly.

“What a Grace thing to say.”

At that, I suddenly felt self-conscious. “Is it too much? Do I look stupid?”

“What? No way! You look hot as fuck. If I were gay, I’d hit on you.”

“Thank you. I think.”

Kelly’s eyes widened. “Do you think you can get me an invite? I’ve never been to a sex club.”

“Maybe? I can ask.”

Kelly was giddy at the thought. Strangely enough, I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted Kelly to join.

The Scarlet Rope was my thing. Did I really want to share this new adventure with my best friend?

I knew I was being selfish. But Kelly was also the type to do something just because it would make a hilarious story later. The club wasn’t a joke to me.

The club was a place where I could get to know the man I’d been obsessed with for the past ten years. A place where I might be able to unlock why he was so insistent that we could never be together, no matter how attracted we were to each other.

The next time I entered the Scarlet Rope, I was a member. Wearing the outfit I’d bought at the sex store along with a mask Kelly had given me, I felt confident.

Sexy. Alluring. And not at all the shy virgin I was used to feeling like.

I could feel gazes on me—both male and female—and instead of feeling awkward, I felt empowered.

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