Page 47 of Heartless

Judging by the shocked expression on Zoey’s face, she hadn’t expected Anna to be here. If Zoey didn’t know Anna came to Classified, then it was a safe bet that they hadn’t kept in touch. I didn’t know why, and it wasn’t my place to ask. I reached for her hand and squeezed, letting her know I was by her side. Zoey seemed to know I was there, but she didn’t say anything for a long time. She just looked at Anna.

As if on cue, Anna turned toward Zoey. Her jaw dropped as she took in Zoey’s appearance. While Zoey was wearing a gorgeous white corset top and a lace black skirt that hit just above her knees, Anna had on full fetwear. She was basically wearing lingerie and stilettos. She looked like she wasn’t sure whether she was a Domme or a sub or something else entirely. She was pretty, to be sure, but her outfit seemed awkwardly lacking direction.

“Zoey?” Anna asked.

“Uh, hey,” Zoey offered a little wave. “Long time.”

The discomfort between them was so thick you could probably slice it with a knife. I offered a wave to Anna, as well, to try to bring the strange moment to an end, but it didn’t work.

“What are you doing here?” Anna asked.

“I come here,” Zoey gestured to the room.

“I’ve never seen you here before.”

“Well, I just moved back to the area,” Zoey explained politely. “This is one of my first visits to Classified.”

“Did you come here because you heard about us?” Anna asked. Her eyes narrowed, and suddenly, she looked like a total bitch.

“Us?”

“Me and Eric,” Anna said. Just then, the asshole I’d punched out in high school appeared beside Anna.

“Hey, baby, they don’t have any open rooms right now, but we could grab a stage if you want...”

His voice trailed off as he realized that Zoey was standing in front of Anna. Then, when Eric’s eyes swung over to me, he stopped speaking entirely. If there was any doubt in my mind that he knew who I was, it vanished with that one simple look. Yeah, it was safe to say that he knew who I was. He remembered, all right.

“Nope,” Zoey said. “I can honestly say I had no idea you two were a pair.”

“Well, we are,” Anna said quickly. She was speaking fast, as though she needed to hurry up and get the words out. “I figured you wouldn’t care. I mean, you know, high school was a long time ago, and besides, we haven’t really kept in touch or anything.”

“You’re free to date whoever you want to date,” Zoey told Anna politely. She was keeping her cool impressively well. If my former BFF was dating someone who hurt me terribly, I probably wouldn’t have stayed as calm. The problem with situations like this was that Eric had never apologized. Zoey had never truly gotten any closure. Eric had simply graduated and left. He’d never acknowledged that he’d hurt Zoey or that he’d been rude to her.

He’d just left, and he’d moved on with his life, and he’d acted like the past was in the past where it belonged. Only, the past wasn’t in the past, and it wasn’t where it belonged. It was here with us, swirling around us like a damn tornado. Zoey certainly hadn’t forgotten everything that had happened to her long ago.

I hadn’t forgotten, either.

Anna pressed her lips together. Zoey was too nice. She didn’t know that Anna was going to say something else, something shitty, but I did. I’d been an attorney long enough to know when a client was about to dro

p a bomb that I didn’t want to deal with.

“Well, I didn’t ask for your permission,” Anna said sharply. It was strange because a moment ago, she’d sounded awkward and shy. Now, with Eric by her side, it was a bit more obvious who Anna really was. I wondered if she’d been jealous of Zoey in high school. Was that why they’d stopped being friends?

“I, um, okay,” Zoey shrugged and nodded tensely. “Well, it was nice to see you, I guess.” Zoey looked over at me, as though asking me to take her away from here, and I was more than happy to oblige, I nodded politely to Anna, ignored Eric, and turned away to take Zoey out of the club. Without her having to tell me, I knew that the moment was gone. Neither one of us wanted to have sex here tonight.

Only, the night was far from over. We hadn’t even stepped out of earshot before I heard Eric’s voice, loud and clear. There was a lull in the music, so his words carried easily, and I was able to hear him as sharply as I had all of those years ago.

“See? I told you she was a slut.”

Zoey heard him, too. She tensed from beside me, and I didn’t even hesitate or wait. Classified had a no-fighting rule, but they also had a no-slut-shaming rule. This was supposed to be a safe space. It was supposed to be a haven. This was the kind of place where you were allowed to be yourself.

We’d come here tonight hoping for a reprieve. We’d come looking for a way to shut out the rest of the world and just enjoy one another. Anna and Eric were ruining that. Without a doubt, this was the worst night I’d ever had at Classified. Luckily, this was going to be the only bad night.

I turned around, took two steps, and slapped Eric in the face like a little bitch. Despite the music, the entire club seemed to fall silent. There were a couple of gasps, and pretty much every scene stopped. Eric’s jaw dropped as he reached for his cheek, cupping it.

“You hit me!”

“Get out,” I said through gritted teeth.

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