Page 22 of Autumn's Coming

Chapter Nine

Autumn

I grabbed Jessie as she walked past the bar.

“Do you have a sec?”

She looked at me and nodded. “I was just coming to find you! What’s up?”

I pulled her toward a quiet corner. “Jessie, oh my god! My professor was here last night!”

“What? Did he recognize you?”

I shook my head. “No, but—but he’s the hot guy! He’s the hot guy that was right in front!”

She gasped. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. I’m freaking out. What if he comes back? I don’t think I can do that again!”

“What, see him?”

“No, dance!”

Jessie made a nervous face.

I stopped.

“Why—why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because, uh, I was trying to find you to tell you that somebody was looking for you.”

I groaned.

“In room six,” she said. “Down that hall. Are you up for it?”

“Okay.” I sighed heavily. “All right. Let me go get this over with.”

She smiled faintly. “Good luck.”

I nodded.

I needed it.

I walked down the hall to where the private rooms were. They were still monitored, still under the tyrannical authority of blue laws, but they were quiet. I took a deep breath and opened the door.

A group of guys were there. They looked college-aged, dressed in snapbacks and polo shirts.

They looked at me in confusion.

One of them looked at the one next to him. “That’s not Jasmine.”

The other guy nodded. “Yeah, uh, we asked for Jasmine. Not you?”

I blinked. “Oh, I—sorry.”

Wow.

I closed the door, heart in my throat. That wasn’t the reaction I’d wanted. Granted, I didn’t want to be going into a private room at all, but I felt sick from the way they’d looked at me.

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