Page 17 of Revelation

“But I wanna get you off, too,” he says, grinning. “It’s only fair.”

“Oh, I came. Like a freight train. While I was swallowing.”

His face ignites. “Are you serious?”

I smile and nod.

“Oh my God. You’re amazing.” He straightens up. “You’re a unicorn, Kat. You’re... oh my God.” He’s in a frenzy. “What planet are you from? You’re amazing.”

“Hey, I’ll certainly take a rain check, though,” I say. “When we have more time, maybe you can try to beat me at my own game.” I wink. “A little competition never hurt anyone.”

He smiles lasciviously. “Oh, Party Girl. You’re on. I look forward to it.”

7

KAT

Josh turns off the water and we step out of the shower together.

“So what’s the second half of the story of your fish tattoo?” I ask.

He hands me a towel and I begin drying myself.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I got distracted.Again.” He laughs and towels himself off. “You seem to have that effect on me.” He takes a deep breath. “The tattoo represents something my mom always used to say to Jonas and me.” He grabs his pants off the floor of the bathroom and begins dressing. “I don’t actually have a ton of coherent memories about my mom—we were pretty little when she died—but one thing I remember really clearly is she always called Jonas and me her ‘little fishies’—because, you know, we’re Pisces.” He flashes me a huge smile. “My dad said she loved astrology. Just like you.”

My heart leaps. “Oh, cool,” I say, but on the inside, I’m kind of freaking out to share this similarity with his mother.

“Yeah, so my mom always said, ‘Everybody’s a genius, but if you judge a fishy by its ability to climb a tree, it’ll live its whole life believing it’s stupid.’”

“Ah,” I say, scrutinizing his tattoo. “That’s a pretty wise and powerful thing to say.”

“She didn’t make it up—I looked it up—it’s a quote from Einstein. But she loved it and said it all the time.”

“So your fishy is swimming along happily in the river, rather than climbing the nearby tree?”

“Wouldn’t want the poor guy spending his whole life believing he’s stupid.”

“Of course not, especially since he’s wise and powerful.”

Josh finishes buckling his belt. “So tell me something, PG. Another round of the honesty-game.”

“Sure.”

“Did a little piece of you get turned on when Henn saw us fucking?”

“What?” I blurt, utterly appalled. “Of course not. I was absolutely mortified.”

Josh silently buttons his shirt.

“Why?” I ask. “Wereyouturned on?” I zip up my miniskirt and reach for my shirt.

“No. Not at all.” He finishes buttoning his shirt. “I was just curious, based on something you wrote in your application.”

“Josh, it wasHenn,”I say. “I’m gonna have horrible nightmares about him stumbling upon us ’til the day I die.”

We’re both fully dressed. Josh grabs my hand and leads me out of the bathroom, toward the main room of the suite. “Yeah, I know. Me, too. But...” he begins tentatively. “Does the idea ofsomeonewatching you turn you on? Someone who’s not Henn?”

My pulse has begun pounding in my ears. “Like,who?”

---