Page 62 of Irreversible

“That’s…” I swallow down the boulder in my throat. “Descriptive.”

“You should take notes.” He pauses for a breath as a new wave of tension fills the room. “But I’m right, aren’t I?”

“You’re, um—” Scratching my arm, I notice my skin is newly dappled in a rosy blush. Or maybe it’s just the lamplight. “You’re not wrong.”

“Mmm. Thought so.” Another pause. “All right. So, Chloe—she’s tied to this marriage that’s all love but no fire. She’s restless, antsy. Doesn’t know how to express her needs to Justin.”

“Jason.”

“Sure. This Jason guy doesn’t understand her. Doesn’t see her in the way she craves to be seen.” His chain rattles lightly, but it’s loud enough to make me jump. “Then one day, this new guy comes along to give Chloe exactly what she needs. Let’s call him…Nick.”

“We arenotcalling him Nick.”

“Should we call him Isaac, then?”

All moisture leaves my mouth like a sponge squeezed dry. “Nick works.”

“Great. So, this Nick fella. Let’s say he’s around six-foot-three, works out, has a weakness for petite women with big hair and skilled mouths. She catches his ear—I mean, his eye—and knows exactly what she wants. She likes it rough. Dirty and depraved.”

My heartbeats skitter as I lick my lips.

God, I almost feel like I’m…meagain. A young, hot-blooded, robust woman.

There’s something freeing about this, talking to this faceless stranger, not feeling judged or condemned.

It’s liberating.

“What does he look like?” My voice is husky, my thoughts spinning. “Hair color? Eyes?”

“Dark-brown hair. Kind of shaggy, always messy. Eyes are brown; lighter than his hair.”

“The kind that show flecks of gold in the right light?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Clean shaven?”

“Rarely. Facial hair varies by mood.”

I paint a picture of him in my mind.

And I realize it’s not far off from what I’d already imagined.

“I bet he’s attractive,” I add.

“He might have heard that a time or two.”

“Does he have the women lining up?”

He seems to ponder this. “Lining up, sure. Sticking around? Hell no. This might surprise you, but Nick doesn’t really like people.”

“Shocking.”

“Yeah.” He draws out the word in a way that makes me wonder if he’s affected by this, too. “But Chloe is different. She’s a wild card…she intrigues him.”

My breathing is shallow, pulse in overdrive. “Really?”

“Mmhmm. All he can think about is how she’d look sprawled out beneath him, ass in the air, tied to his bedposts.”

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