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He nods before kissing me on the lips and hugging me tight. I wrap my arms around his warm body and even though we’re naked, there’s an intimacy between us that goes beyond sex. It’s exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.

***

If I thought we’d reached a turning point in our relationship with the sex, I was greatly mistaken. Raphael comes home from work and strolls into my office where I’m working at some paper the professor assigned.

He leans against the desk. “What do you think about a movie night here at home?” The smirk on his face tells me that he already planned something, and I was right.

In the theater room, there’s a banquet spread out over the low coffee table in front of us. Popcorns, chips, cookies and candy are just some of the things I recognize.

“You bought me vanilla ice cream?” I ask in disbelief. I didn’t know he remembered that.

“With whipped cream and cherry.” He points to two different cups next to the ice cream.

“You definitely know the way to a woman’s heart!” I joke, grabbing his hand and dragging him onto the sofa.

He’s changed into a comfy pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, and he puts a blanket over our legs before grabbing the remote and turning on Netflix. He wraps an arm around my shoulder and drags me next to him. I snuggle to his side and when he speaks, I can feel the rumble of his voice through his chest.

“I talked to my staff today and asked them to look into the incident at school. They assured me there’s no chance of someone following you. There’s no one directly connected with your past in that school,” he says without taking his eyes off the list of movies in front of him, but I know he’s detecting my every move.

I don’t know how he gets that degree of intel and I suspect his father is somehow involved, but I don’t want to know the details.

“Thank you. I really appreciate that. It wasn’t nagging at me, but I feel relieved just the same.”

He says nothing but his grip on my side intensifies, and he kisses my head. It’s such a mundane thing we’re doing, watching a movie snuggled together like a normal couple, that my chest expands with a feeling that I’m terrified to recognize: happiness.

I don’t know where this is going. I have no idea whether in one, five, ten years from now we’ll be sitting on this same couch watching a movie like we love each other for real, but I decide not to overthink it. Raphael promised to keep me safe, and for the first time in my life I feel like I can trust someone.

I walk through the back door of the nightclub and immediately regret my decision to come here. The main dance floor is packed with bodies swaying to the beat of the music, and when I try to gain access to the VIP section, I have to shoulder my way up the stairs.

The usual bouncer recognizes me and lets me in. I left Dave at the back entrance. He’s so huge he attracts way too much attention and I want to be as inconspicuous as possible. This is the first time since meeting Silver that I’ve set foot in here and it feels like I’m betraying her. It’s been fifteen days since we slept together, and our relationship feels more real than any other I’ve been in since Kelsey.

I navigate through the crowded VIP section. Most of the people I encounter are too engrossed in their conversations to recognize me, but I try to not make eye contact with anyone to avoid having to explain my presence here.

I glance toward the bar hoping Lola isn’t here tonight but I’m not that lucky. She’s working her ass off preparing four drinks at the same time. She glances at the faces in front of her as she serves them, but fortunately she doesn’t have time to look around too much.

I reach the other side of the bar where another girl is serving her customers, and I scope out the crowd looking to spot the familiar mane of red hair. It takes fifteen minutes before she makes an appearance and by the time she reaches me, I’m fuming.

“You’re late,” I point out when she greets me with a kiss on the cheek.

She rolls her eyes and dismisses me with a wave of a hand. I hate when she does that, but then I look at her in the heavy makeup and skimpy clothes and feel the urge to hug her and keep her safe.

“Buy me a drink!” she shouts in my ear.

“We need to go out of here,” I answer without giving her the chance to get the bartender’s attention.

She crosses her arms over her way-too-visible breast and pouts. “Okay, you pay me by the hour, but Jesus, can you cut me some slack and buy me a drink?” she complains.

I glance toward Lola, and notice she’s moved closer to where I’m seated. I don’t know if she notices me, but I start to feel uncomfortable. Lying to Silver about where I am tonight makes me feel a bit jumpy.

“We need to go now!” I repeat sternly and get her attention.

She looks at me like I’m a piece of smelly, disgusting shit that got stuck under her shoes. “What? Now that you have the perfect fiancé you’re too good to be seen with an escort?”

The remark hits too close to home to not feel the sting of guilt. She hit the nail on the head. I can’t risk being discovered with a prostitute, especially in a place where everyone knows that escorts have free reign to scour the place in search of clients.

When I don’t answer, she scoffs. “You’re an asshole.”

“It’s complicated,” I try to explain, but she turns around without saying a word. I have to speed up to keep up with her. I guide her toward the car and the short drive to the diner is silent and tense. She’s always been difficult to deal with but tonight she seems in a particularly foul mood.