Page 91 of Bad for Me

She stopped me, keeping my hand from traveling between her legs. “I want to show you something, tomorrow.”

“Okay, but for now, I want to kiss every square inch of your skin. And after, I want to fall asleep with you satiated, and exhausted.”

20

THE EMPRESS

Ava

After untanglingour bodies from the bed, I’d given Mary one of my robes, arranging us on the couch together, feeling like there was nothing more natural than this.

Her hair was damp still, and I liked the darker shade against her fair skin. I pushed a strand back from her face, smiling.

Matt wouldn’t be home for two more days, and I’d enjoy every minute.

The phone ringing interrupted my thoughts, and Mary looked at me.

“It’s just Matt. He calls me about three times a day when he’s away.”

“Oh.”

“It’s fine…he doesn’t know.”

She had been quiet this morning,

“Can I show you something, now?”

“Of course, coffee?”

“Sure.”

After collecting twoYetitumblers and filling them with a dark roast from the French press, I sat back down next to her.

“I know this is…weird to some people, but this deck of cards has helped me get through some tough moments.”

For a minute, she looked like she’d cry, but she pulled a small box from her bag.

As she lifted the cover, and at first, I thought it would be nothing but a deck of playing cards. When she pulled them out, I became slightly alarmed. As she lifted the cover, I saw the cards were covered in artwork—beautiful, albeit sacrilegious—with designs of stars, moons, and suns. Goddesses and the Devil alike. As much as I wanted to clutch my pearls initially, I didn’t, and I listened to her as she explained their purpose.

“These are Tarot cards, and I believe they hold power.”

Any other time in my life I’d have laughed at her, but everything was different now. My views and perceptions of life were rapidly shifting, and the desire to explore new things had turned all my beliefs on their head.

I watched her thoughtfully as she shuffled them, staring at the deck as if she waited for them to talk. After she was satisfied, she said, as if to no one in particular, “What is in store for me when it comes to love? Show me my past and present and future.”

Placing three cards in a line face up, she looked down over the cards, pleased with the outcome.

“These are the same three cards I pull for myself…every time.”

A chill crept up my back as I looked down over the cards: The Devil, The Tower, and The Empress.

“What do they eachmean?”

“Cards can be interpreted differently, but each one represents something. From my interpretation, The Devil reflects a…. bad person who came into my life. The Tower can only mean that I am undergoing massive shifts and changes. But the Empress…she shows up in every reading I do for myself. It doesn’t matter if it’s a love reading, or a…family reading. She’s always there.”

The way she looked at me made my heart clench, and I wondered for a moment if she thoughtIwas the Empress.

I touched the cards, suddenly far more interested than I thought I’d be.

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