Page 24 of Twisted Little Thing

I nod. "Yes, I am. He introduced himself – and that's definitely him in the picture. His hair looked different last night, but it was definitely the same guy."

Yuka grins at me and starts laughing. "He introduced himself and you still had no idea who you were talking to? Oh, Nicky, you are so behind the times!"

I frown at her. "What? So now reading gossip about the private lives of people you don't know makes you a cool person?"

Yuka chuckles and puts the magazine down to pour us some tea.

"Well, at least I have not been living under a rock for years as you have," she says, winking at me.

"Thanks," I answer softly, more in regards to the tea she hands me than to her unflattering remark.

"I can't believe it," she continues, now holding the mug with fresh tea in her hands as she stares down at the article again. "Where on earth did you meet him? Don't tell me he was at the club?"

"He was," I say. "That's where we met. He was drinking the same beer as me, and we exchanged a quick look at the bar counter, before I turned around and walked away."

"Walked away?" Yuka asks, frowning at me. "Why would you walk away from him?"

"I wanted to dance," I explain. "Besides, you know I'm not into this kind of guy. He was wearing suit pants and a shirt!"

She laughs again, not at me this time, but at Evan, I hope.

"He followed me, though," I continue. "I bumped into him while I was dancing, because he was standing so close to me."

"Uuh," Yuka says, now seductively raising her eyebrows. "He came on to you? Sweet! And he was not appalled by your... dancing?"

I cast her a sulky look. "No. He even said he liked it."

"Damn!" Yuka exclaims. "Smooth. He must have been really into you to say that!"

"Once again, thanks," I mumble. "But yeah, I didn't buy it either. I left the club to get some fresh air and he followed me upstairs to the street. And well... we started talking."

"Aaand?" Yuka presses.

"He was really charming, I have to say," I reply. "Very persistent, too. I didn't buy it. It was almost sickening –"

"Oh, come on!" Yuka interrupts me. "Mrs. I-am-too-cool-for-compliments. You did sleep with him, didn't you?"

"Yes, but–"

"No but," Yuka interrupts again. "Be honest for once, girl. He was being nice – and it worked! Because even you are not as inaccessible when it comes to charming words as you wish to pretend."

I shrug and take a first sip of my tea. Of course, Yuka is right. But I hate it when other people – like her and Evan – seem to see right through me when I am trying so hard to not let this weak and approachable side of me shine through. I must be really bad at this.

And I didn't even tell her that I felt drawn to him from the beginning, that he had this enticing aura about him that made me speak to him and follow him in the first place.

And the crazy intense sex we had...

"So, other than charming," Yuka says. "What's he like?"

I can feel the blood rushing to my cheeks and sincerely hope that she doesn't notice it. If she does, I will just blame it on the tea.

"I don't know," I reply. "Mostly that, really. Charming. He didn't say much about himself, and I wasn't allowed to ask any questions."

"You weren't allowed?" Yuka asks, raising her eyebrows suspiciously.

Oh, I wasn't even allowed to look at him or make any decisions by myself – and I loved it. But of course, I am not going to tell Yuka that part.

"Well, I was teasing him a lot," I try to explain. "Actually, I think I was rather rude to him."

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