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She was a sexed-up wreck, and she was still shaking when she

slipped out the door.

Claire collapsed against the bed. Now that Haley was gone,

she could let herself go. She was shaking too. She was out of

control. She was out of control as she cleaned the toys and put

everything away. She was out of control as she stripped off her

clothes and threw herself into the shower of the en suite

bathroom. She was out of control as she gave herself three

brutal orgasms that didn’t leave her anything close to satisfied.

She was out of control when she collapsed into bed, her

exhaustion from earlier forgotten.

Half an hour after that, music floated underneath the crack

of her door and breached the walls of her bedroom. Haley.

Piano. Claire expected another dark, gnashing piece, a revenge

piece of her own. Instead, the melody was soft and gentle.

Chapter 12

Haley

Haley sat on the beach sipping the world’s best smoothie,

because Jean was a genius with a blender and with fruit, milk,

and ice cream, waiting for Elva and Amy to show up. Saturday

mornings wer

e supposed to be like this. Sun, blue sky, no

wind, not too hot. It was almost July. She had another month

to go, until the beginning of August, with her summer classes,

and then she’d have an entire month off before starting her last

year.

She’d purposely made it so her last year would be easier.

She’d be done at the end of December instead of the end of

May and she’d have fewer classes per semester. She’d just be

going on Tuesdays and Thursdays, if she could arrange her