Page 15 of Lovers Fate

A lot has changed. QR codes are used for everything. Cash is apparently almost nonexistent. To function as a human being, you need a phone. According to the bouncer at the door, calling a taxi is obsolete; Uber is the only option, and you need the app to order a ride and have an account.

I was fucked on both counts, so I had to walk back to the motel.

“How did you do that?”

“Do what?” I ask, staring at the screen in front of me, where the passenger airbag is supposed to go.

“What you did back there. How you swindled money from Randy.”

I raise a brow. “Swindle? He was offering me money for sex.”

She grimaces. “You’re right; I’m sorry. What I meant to say is, you handled that like you’ve done it before. Where did you learn?”

“I haven’t—I didn’t do it. I mean, it was my first time.”

“No way.” She shakes her head in disbelief.

“It’s true,” I admit. “I don’t know what came over me. I needed the money.”

“Whatever it was, it was pure skill. The way you had him under your spell, he would have done anything.

“You think so?”

Thinking back on what happened and what I said—how I threatened him. I’m not sure what possessed me. It felt like I wasn’t in my body, but I was.

She raises her brows. “I know so. He was completely engrossed in your conversation. When you drew closer, I couldn’t help but stare.”

“At whom?” I ask, confused.

“You—I was staring at you with the way you had his attention. It was… amazing.”

“You sound excited,” I say, amused.

“I am. I mean, I want to thank you.”

“Is that why you’re giving me a ride?”

“Not really,” she says, giving me a grin.

“What’s your name?”

“Rose.”

“Rose,” I repeat. It’s pretty. It suits her.

“Yours?”

“Athena, but you can call me Trix at the club.”

“I like it. Athena. It’s strong, but Trix…”

I laugh. “Rose is better.” There was an awkward silence for a few seconds, which caused me to shift in my seat. “So you go to Stockbridge University.”

“How did you know?”

“I took a wild guess,” I tease. “It wasn’t me he came to see. I think you’ve been on his mind in and out of class.”

“Yeah,” she says. “He watches me in class, and it gives me the creeps. I don’t know how he found where I worked. He just showed up one night.”

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