Page 104 of Revelation

I laugh. “Hell yeah, I do. That’s a critical part of my girl’s fantasy. I’ll time everything on my end so we’ll be ready for you exactly at ten. I’ll leave your plastic sword outside the door.”

“Your girlfriend’s got quite the imagination.”

“Yeah, she does,” I say, smiling to myself. I like hearing the words “your girlfriend” in reference to Kat.

“You’resureyou wanna do the whole sword-fight-thing? I still think it’s gonna be more comedic than sexy, Josh.”

“Yeah, I gotta do it. My girlfriend’s gonna love it.”

Kaitlyn exhales. “Okay. If you insist.”

“My girl’s got this bizarre little script in her head. I’ve gotta stick to it.”

“Okay,” Kaitlyn says. “To each her own.”

“So we’re good, then?”

“Yep. We’re good.”

“What time can we come?”

“Any time. The place is ready for you now. I’ll text the door-code to you. Oh, and I bought some brand new feather ticklers foryou to use. They’re on that rack I showed you to use—the one next to the harness.”

“Thanks so much.”

“Please don’t touch anything but what I showed you.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

She exhales audibly for the hundredth time during this short conversation. “Josh, I know we already talked about this, but it bears repeating: Don’t try to push things too far. You don’t have a clue what you’re doing and she’s a total newbie. The shock value of the place is gonna be the main thing, okay? Don’t try anything other than what I explained to you or else you’re gonna hurt or scare her.”

“I promise. Thank you. This is just gonna be about role-play. Nothing hardcore, I promise.”

“Please don’t make me regret this.”

“I won’t.”

She pauses. “So can you bring the extra money tonight? All cash?”

“Yup. No problem. I’ll put it outside the door with your sword.”

“Thanks. You’re absolutelysureabout that damned sword?”

“Positive. It’s in the script. Gotta do it.” I chuckle. “See you in a bit.”

“Okay. See you soon.”

30

KAT

Ilean into the mirror to apply a light sheen of gloss to my lips. I scrutinize my eye shadow. Maybe I should add a little more shimmer to my—

The door to the bathroom bursts wide open.

A black-clad figure in a ski mask lunges at me.

I shriek at the top of my lungs.

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