Page 70 of The Promises We Break

“There she is!” The crowd points at the front windshield of my truck, then they begin to pound on the side of it, chanting profanities as we pass through. “Whore.” “How do you sleep at night?” “Do you believe in God? Repent your sins!”

I pull in quickly and park around the corner of the building so my car is not exposed in the front.

“What the hell, Ember? How long have you been dealing with that?” I ask, putting the truck in park. I glance back, and they stay on the sidewalk, never crossing over to the private property, but I’m still relieved to see there is a security guard parked near the entrance.

“The city posted the notice two weeks ago. It only took a day for them to start camping out there. They figured out who I was pretty quickly because, well, I’m here a lot.” She grants me a tight smile and a shrug that tells me they don’t bother her.

It fucking bothers me.

She peers out the windows, doing a full three-sixty view ofher surrounding area. Seeing no one here, she grabs the keys out of her purse and reaches for the door handle. At least she’s mindful of her surroundings.

“Come on. I can’t wait for you to see,” she says excitedly, jumping out of the truck.

As we walk up to the expansive, heavy double doors, she slides the key into the door, at the same time entering an extensively long numbered password on a keypad next to it. A dense thud echoes behind the door and she pushes it open, allowing us entry.

There’s a lengthy desk expertly placed at the front, blocking entrance, except for the two openings on each side of the floor to ceiling frosted glass backdrop with a large bold lettering, ‘XConnect Live’ embedded in the glass.

“This is going to be a waterfall.” She points to the glass. “The way the water will flow, you’ll still be able to see the words through it. We haven’t finalized the official name of the club yet, but we wanted to keep the interior website related, so we decided on that for this display. We turned it on the other day and it looks so good. ” Her voice is laced with giddy excitement. I can’t help but smile.

We pass through what will inevitably be the check in area and move into the open lobby area. Even though it’s incredibly expansive and there are still some ladders and other paint buckets lying around, it’s immediately welcoming. A fresh modern feel with a comfort only she can bring.

There is a large circular bar, surrounded by bar stools, that is perfectly placed in the middle of the room. The glass and modern design matches the ambiance of the entire lobby.

“We will have high tables placed throughout with some leather seating that trails along the outer wall.” She walks through, waving her arm in the direction of what she’s showing me. She points toward an arched doorway leading into another open area. “That is going to beThe Chat Room.”

I see a deep yellow stick figure figurine next to the doorway that looks like he’s taking a large stride.

“Isn’t that the old AOL Chat Room symbol?” I ask.

“Yes, exactly! The whole room is designed around the original chat rooms, like a tribute. Even the signage leading into it is going to resemble the old school AOL Chat Room design, along with other memorabilia from those days. It’ll be the designated members’ meet and greet area, which—you know—was the whole purpose of this project—to bring people together.” She smiles, staring at the open space, pride behind her eyes, still inspecting for perfection.

“My favorite part is…” we step through the archway and the original voice from AOL chat chants‘Welcome’through the speakers, with the sound of a door opening when we walk into it, followed by the sound of a door closing when we step out of it, “...that.”

I smile from ear to ear, feeling so nostalgic. She wasn’t even born around the time that was around, but to bring that in here, it speaks to generations of people. Even the younger generation knows about dial up and original chat rooms.

“Ember, that’s so freaking cool.”

She grabs my hand, practically skipping, urgently passing through to the next area.

Pointing to the left behind, there’s a blocked off hallway that leads to a staircase. “That’s the staff area.”

Now she leads us to the right. “Down that hallway are the private rooms that people can reserve for a night. We’re still detailing each one, and the room names will correspond with the theme.”

“Ember, this is… amazing. All of it. Seriously, I hope you’re so fucking proud of yourself.”

She can’t contain her smile as she bites her lip at my praise. Jesus, she’s gorgeous.

Being inside these walls is like an adrenaline shot of erotica to your bloodstream, and with Ember alone, it isn’t helping.

I lean forward, sliding my hands into hers, and lure her body into mine. And because this place is a goddamn aphrodisiac, and I swear she must have pumped Ember scented pheromones into the ventilation system, I kiss her. My palm holds her cheek, and I pull her as close to me as possible. It’s deep and passionate, and it’s everything.

We pause for an awkward moment, because we don’t typically kiss without sex being involved, but I just couldn’t fucking help myself. She must see how much I want her, more than just for these so-called sex lessons we’ve been doing. It’s grown into something more, something undeniable.

She blinks quickly and nibbles on that bottom lip again before stepping out of my embrace.

“Come on, you haven’t seen the best part.” She grabs my hand again, leading me in the opposite direction of the private rooms.

“This is the Voyeur Room.” A blush crosses her cheeks. And I see it because I know this is probably a favorite of hers.

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