Page 27 of Reaper

“No.” I shake my head.

“Come on, let’s go find something to eat and maybe I can introduce you to some of the members.”

I follow her out of the bedroom and make sure to shut the door behind me.

We make our way into the main room and I see women and club members milling around. Some play pool while others socialize. There’s even a man groping a woman in the corner. I turn my head away.

I can’t imagine doing that for anyone to see. William wouldn’t even hold my hand in public. The most he did was kiss my cheek or place his hand on my lower back.

I bet Harrison would kiss his woman without a care of who would see.

“Hey, you with me?” Evelyn says, pulling me out of my head.

“Yeah, sorry.”

“It’s a little overwhelming out there, right?” she says as we walk into the kitchen.

“Just a little.”

“You’ll get used to it. I promise. Take a seat.”

I do as she says as she moves around the kitchen and starts pulling different things out of the fridge. My breath catches as I take in everything. Cold meats and cheese to go on crackers. Various veggies with dipping sauces.

I can’t believe he did this.

Harrison actually listened to me. I know buying food that I like isn’t anything, but to me it means so much. No one has ever done anything like this for me.

What does it mean when the bare minimum exceeds my expectations?A little voice whispers in the back of my mind.

Clearing my throat, I push back the tears that want to fall. “This looks great.”

“Doesn’t it? I love shit like this. I’m surprised they even have it here. The men aren’t known for enjoying healthier foods. The girls just eat whatever they can get.”

“I love it too.” My cheeks heat at the knowledge that Harrison really did do it just for me. “So how have you been since I last saw you? How’s work?” I change the subject quickly.

“Ugh,” she groans. “I had this couple come into the ER last night. They decided to randomly spice up their sex life.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“It is when you decide to use a miniature Christmas tree decoration as a butt plug, and it slips too far inside because it doesn’t have a base and it gets stuck,” she deadpans, making me choke on a cracker.

Evelyn pounds on my back. “Please don’t make me do CPR before I have to go back in later.”

“I’m good.” I wave her away. “I’m sorry. I can’t believe someone would do that.”

“Oh honey, people use crazy shit all the time as sex toys when they really shouldn’t. If you ask me, you should have to take an IQ test before having sex just to prevent shit like this from happening.”

“I don’t know if that would help. I’ve known some pretty intelligent people who have done some incredibly stupid things.”

“Too true.”

We fall silent and snack. Someone from the main room hits something. It makes such a loud noise that I can’t help but flinch.

“How are you holding up?” she asks, her tone light.

“I’m okay.” I force a smile as I dip a piece of cauliflower into some ranch dressing.

“Can I be blunt?”

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