Page 43 of Voyeur

“Sometimes,” Silver answered.

“Before or after?”

“Depends on the woman. Some are here already, and when I get inspired, I ask, and they say yes. Others, I meet and ask if I can sketch them first. I’d draw what I need, and then, things would happen.” Silver shrugged a shoulder. “But we’re not supposed to be talking about sex, Honor. That was my one rule.” She smiled over at Honor. “Want to sit down?”

“Sure,” she replied.

Silver walked over to the sofa, and Honor placed her water glass on a coaster that had an old-looking map on it. Silver did the same with a matching coaster and sat down next to her, placing her arm over the back of the sofa and turning toward Honor.

“This apartment is not what I expected.”

“No?” Silver laughed a little. “Let me guess… You thought I lived like a frat boy?”

“Yeah, a little,” she replied.

“I am civilized, Honor.”

“I know. I’m sorry. You just have to remember that as of a few days ago, I’d only had bad sex with men and could not even talk to or go out with a woman.”

“Tell me more about that. I want to hear about the discoveries you’ve made.”

“That would break your rule,” Honor reminded with a lifted eyebrow.

“I’ll control myself,” Silver told her, running a thumb over Honor’s cheek before pulling her hand back.

“I grew up in a household where we didn’t talk about things like feelings or, really, even thoughts all that much,” she said as if realizing it at the same time. “My sister and I were supposed to be seen, not heard.”

“That sucks.”

“I don’t think I noticed it sucking back then. It was just how we were supposed to be. We were told to get good grades, join clubs and activities, and to get jobs when we could. Then, we both went off to school.”

“Stifling?”

“You could say that.” Honor chuckled.

“Did you have boyfriends?”

“No, I was the shy, smart kid in school – no boys wanted to be my boyfriend. I did go on a few dates with some other boys that were in my own social caste.”

Silver laughed and said, “High school is rough.”

“Yes, it is. My prom date was the son of my mom’s church friend. He was a year older and hated every minute of it, but at least I didn’t have to go alone. You went with a girl, didn’t you?”

“I did, yes,” Silver confirmed with a nod. “My girlfriend at the time. We’d been together for about three months, I think. We ended after prom, though.”

“Why?”

“Because I cheated on her,” Silver shared.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, plot twist. I was a dick in high school.” Silver sighed loudly. “She was a nice girl, but we weren’t in love or anything. I was a senior. She was a junior. I was going away to school, and I think we both knew it wasn’t going to last, so instead of ending things properly, I hooked up with the older sister of someone we partied with that night.”

“Wow!”

“Not cool, I know,” Silver said. “We went to an after-party, and there was this girl hanging around who I thought might have been looking at me. Then, she was flirting with me, and my girlfriend had fallen asleep on the couch in the basement. So, we went upstairs, and… well, you can imagine what happened.”

“Did the girlfriend walk in on you?”

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