[Insider] The Therapist Ch. 08 (Patreon)

Hey Friends! This one is long overdue. Chapter 8 is here and it looks like Mei is coming out of her shell. Thanks for all the DMs, votes, and conversations leading up to this one. It was a lot of fun talking to all of you.

Up next, is most likely the next chapter of Window, then EP shortly after that. I have a few other things I'm working on as well. Keeping those a little close to the chest for now, but I think you'll be excited.

As always, this is an alpha. Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

The front door had barely shut behind her before Mei was on the stairs. She didn't take her shoes off, didn't put down the garment bag.

Ethan was at the stove when the door shut, a wooden spoon at his lips like he was tasting something. She was halfway up the steps when he called out.

"You're back. How'd it go?"

"Good." Her voice cracked. "I was... Give me a second." Her hand shook as she grabbed the railing. The image of Nathan's arousal was still fresh in her mind. She could still picture the way his body reacted, and worse, the way her body reacted.

The hallway was dark and her pulse was loud, as she pushed the bedroom door open with her shoulder because her hands were full of the garment bag. She hung it on the hook on the back of the door then started to swing the door shut and stopped halfway.

Ethan would be up soon. He always followed her upstairs when he thought something was wrong, and something was definitely wrong.

She sat on the edge of the bed and balled the blanket into her hands, breathing through her nose. The cotton between her legs was so wet she could feel it against her skin every time she shifted and the pressure of just sitting upright was making her dizzy.

The memory of the dress shop came flooding back. The dress wasn't even that revealing, not really, just tight around her chest and hips. But Nathan... She wet her lips and took another controlled breath.

His arousal was evident the second she looked at his pants. He didn't try to hide it, he wasn't embarrassed by it at all, and yet she... She shifted on the bed, her underwear was soaked.

This wasn't right. She shouldn't be this excited about another man looking at her about... Her gaze drifted to the partially open door. "Ethan will be up soon," she repeated to herself, biting her lip.

She stood so abruptly she got light headed. Her shirt came off over her head and hit the floor. Her bra followed. She stepped out of her jeans without unbuttoning them all the way and she nearly tripped getting them off.

She stood there for a second in just her underwear. Her fingers brushed the cotton, making her sigh as she pulled them down. As expected, they were damp, warm, clinging to her sex.

She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the door, listening for Ethan's footsteps. She laid back slowly, her mind drifting back to Kyle's, to the room mate who was gone but let his door open. The thought of getting caught excited her, sent a jolt of electricity straight to her core, like nothing she'd ever experienced.

Her fingers ghosted over her skin. Her touch feather-light as it rolled over her chest. Her eyes stayed open, knowing what would happen if she closed them. She could hear the ticking of the clock on the wall, the bark of a dog somewhere in the distance. Ethan will be up soon.

The clock ticked.

Her fingers traced a slow circle around her left nipple. Just the pad of one finger, barely making contact. Her breath caught anyway. She did it again, giving in to the sensation. She rolled the nipple between her thumb and forefinger and her hips lifted off the mattress.

"Ahhhh."

The moan was loud, unfiltered. She wasn't sure if it was intentional or not. She dropped her head back against the comforter and stared at the ceiling fan.

Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he was going to give her the time she needed and wait downstairs. The stairs creaked and she gasped, her entire palm closing around her breast. What would he think if he saw her like this? How would he react?

With Kyle she'd imagined the roommate standing in the dark behind the cracked door. Her eyes would catch his and she'd notice the movement of his hand. She'd gasp and Kyle would think it was because of him. He'd fuck her harder, ask if she liked that. She'd moan yes, her eyes never leaving the roommate's, watching him touch himself watching her.

Her eyes had closed without her realizing it.

Her free hand drifted down her stomach. Her hips were already shifting on the bed and the cool air against the wet between her thighs was almost worse than being touched. She wasn't sure she was going to make it.

Her fingers slid down and she gasped at her own touch, her back arching halfway off the mattress before she could stop it. She was so wet her hand slipped against her without traction and she had to slow down, gentle herself. The slick sound of her own arousal filled the room and her hips bucked at the noise of it.

The image of Kyle began to blur.

She squeezed her eyes tighter and tried to hold him there. The mouth at her ear was still there but the breath was warmer now, the stubble closer, the voice murmuring against her temple wasn't a college boy's voice—

Your husband certainly agrees.

"Ohhhh." She pressed her thighs together around her own hand.

The hand sliding up the inside of her thigh wasn't Kyle's. Nathan was the weight on the mattress beside her. Nathan was the breath at her neck.

Her fingers paused and her eyes flew open.

Her chest was rising and falling too fast and there was a roar in her ears and she stared at the ceiling and tried to figure out exactly what happened. The floorboard creaked and she gasped, turning her head.

Ethan was in the doorway.

The breath went out of her in one long exhale and she didn't reach for the sheet. She didn't move her hand. She lay there and looked at her husband through the inch of space she'd left for him and the panic in her chest broke apart into something else, something warmer, something like relief.

He was here.

The door hid most of his body, but she could see his face, the arousal in his eyes. She watched his eyes slide down her body to her bare chest, her stomach.

She didn't move her hand. She let him see it. She chewed on her lip as she slowly slid her fingers out of herself and brought them up across her stomach, glistening, and let her thighs fall open another inch.

Ethan's throat worked as the door creaked open another inch. She moaned gently as his hand moved to the front of his pants. He was hard.

He'd been standing there long enough to be that hard and the realization lit every nerve ending in her body. She caught her lower lip between her teeth. She looked back up at his face. She held his eyes for one full second and then she let her gaze drop again, deliberate this time, as his cock sprang free and his hand wrapped around it.

She bit her lip harder, looking back up at him. She closed her eyes.

Downstairs, Ethan was still at the stove. He had made his mother's chicken and dumplings while Mei was at her session with Nathan. His plan was simple. The last couple of times she'd come back from therapy she'd seemed more receptive to sex. After dinner he was going to bring up his birthday present, just like Nathan had suggested. Now that he had some... experience with different angles he hoped she'd be receptive to trying something new.

However, when Mei came home today she seemed off. She crashed through the door barely saying hello to him before she started upstairs. Her cheeks were flushed and she was breathing like she'd sprinted from the car. She'd told him that Nathan was taking her to a store for some type of exposure therapy and whatever happened there must have been even worse than she thought

He'd given her the minute she'd asked for, and then another two, but he still hadn't heard any movement upstairs. He worried Nathan had pushed her too hard with their outing. Maybe today wasn't the day to bring up the sex tape. He gave the dumplings another taste, then put the heat on low and went upstairs to make sure she was alright.

Something seemed off the second he hit the stairs. A sound from the upstairs bedroom that sounded like a moan. His heart hit his throat. His laptop was upstairs. Did he forget to close a page? Had Mei discovered he was watching porn and was angry?

His pace quickened as he climbed the stairs to the bedroom. The door wasn't shut all the way. He took a deep breath, preparing for the worst as he looked inside the gap to try to gauge his wife's anger.

What he saw took his breath away. Mei wasn't angry at all, and his laptop was nowhere in sight. Mei was on her back on the bed, and she was completely naked. Her right hand was between her legs. He could see how wet she was from where he was standing, her fingers slick with desire as her left hand teased her nipple.

It was the most erotic thing Ethan had ever seen. In all their years together he'd never seen Mei touch herself. He'd barely seen her body when he touched her. He wanted to ask her what had her so worked up, what she was thinking about behind her closed eyes, but his body was frozen in place.

"Ohhhh." Her thighs clamped around her hand and her hips lifted from the mattress. This was hotter than any video he'd found on the internet. His cock was so hard it hurt as it pressed against his zipper.

He stood there with his hand still on the doorframe and tried to figure out why he wasn't going to her. That was the thing he should be doing. He'd had a hundred fantasies about walking in on his wife like this and every one of them ended the same way, with him walking over to her and putting his mouth on her and finishing what she'd started. He could picture walking over to the bed, slipping between her thighs, so close he could smell her arousal. Then the look on her face when she realized he was there and the way she'd open for him. He didn't move.

What he wanted, weirdly, was to keep standing right where he was. He wanted to keep watching her, seeing the way she let herself go when she didn't know he was there. He wanted to hear the sounds she made without him.

Her hand stopped, her head turning as her eyes fluttered open meeting his.

He gasped, expecting her eyes to go wide and then grab for the covers. He felt the urge to apologize. Did she think he was spying on her? She was going to think he was a pervert, a creep who sneaks up on his wife in her own house.

Slowly, watching him watch her, she slid her fingers out of herself and dragged them up across her stomach. They left a wet line. Her thighs fell open another inch.

His hand drifted to the front of his pants and she bit her lip and smiled.

For a second neither of them moved. He was standing in the doorway, his zipper undone, his hand wrapped around his manhood. Her mouth opened in a silent moan as she watched her husband touch himself to her. What she was doing excited him. Not only that, he wasn't ashamed of her, he didn't think less of her at all. His gaze was dark and filled with lust. She'd never seen that look on him before. In fact, the only other time she'd seen that look was less than an hour ago, on Nathan.

Her fingers moved despite the thought. "Ohhhh." Her eyes fluttered closed. "Oh, fuck."

She was wetter than before. Whatever she'd lost to the interruption had come back doubled and her clit was so swollen she barely had to circle it before her hips were rolling against her hand again.

The fantasy from all those years ago was now right here, ready made, standing in the doorway. Her husband watching her. Her husband stroking himself watching her. Her walls clenched around her fingers.

"Yessss." Her tongue slipped past her lips. The fantasy continued to play out behind her eyes. Ethan was stroking himself, watching her as she rolled her hips, chasing her release.

Then, the fantasy shifted, just slightly. It wasn't Ethan in the doorway anymore it was Nathan.

Her fingers stuttered, but didn't slow down. She squeezed her eyes tighter and tried to push Nathan out and put Ethan back in. Her clit throbbed as she tried to picture Ethan's jeans, the black t-shirt he was wearing.

It's beautiful, Mei

"Ohhh, god." Her hips bucked off the mattress. She pinched her nipple so hard it hurt.

Nathan was watching her. She wasn't in the dressing room, he wasn't commenting on what she was wearing. He was commenting on her body, on the way she brought herself closer to orgasm.

"Ugggnnnh." Her brow stitched closer together. Her orgasm was so close. She rolled her head, two fingers pushing so deep inside her she could hear the wet sound of flesh on flesh. She could see the outline of Nathan's cock, hard against his leg. She didn't mean to look, but she couldn't tear her eyes. It pulsed with need as he took her body. Her thumb pressed over her clit and she nearly came unglued.

She opened her eyes.

He was right there. Her husband. Ethan. He was leaned against the doorframe with his shoulder pressed into the wood and his hand was wrapped around his cock and stroking himself. His hand was moving fast, and she could see the slickness forming around the crown. His cock was flushed dark and slick at the tip and there was a string of precum hanging from his fingers.

She slowed her fingers, watching his face. His jaw was clenched tight, his lower lip between his lips. His eyes were pinned on her hand between her thighs, and his strokes slowed to match hers. He wanted this. She could see it on his face. He was timing his release to hers.

Her thighs trembled. The sight of him should have been everything she needed to push her over the edge. But no matter how hard she tried, her eyes fluttered closed.

She didn't mean to. She couldn't keep them open. The orgasm was rolling up the backs of her thighs and her brain wanted the dark, and Nathan was right there waiting.

He hadn't even waited this time. He was on the bed beside her, his weight on the mattress beside her hip, his stubble against her temple, his mouth at her ear. She didn't fight him. She knew she should and she didn't. There wasn't time. Her body was already climbing toward the edge and trying to push him out would mean stopping and she couldn't stop, she physically couldn't stop, her hand was working too fast and her hips were too high off the bed and her clit was throbbing against her fingers and Nathan was the weight beside her and Nathan was the breath at her ear and Nathan was the hand sliding up her thigh—

This is how you should feel when others see you like this. It should be freeing.

Her mouth opened in a silent scream. She couldn't place when he'd said that to her, but it felt so vivid.

She moaned into the comforter.

His hand was on her waist now. You look perfect, Mei. You want this, don't you?

"Ohhhh fuck. Oh—"

She was too far gone to try to push him out. She let him stay, her gaze falling to the hard shape between his legs. She let his hand be the one on her thigh. The heat of his rippling through her body and making her toes curl. Was Ethan still at the door watching? Would he be able to forgive her? Cum for me, Mei. His hand joined hers between her thighs—

"Unnh— unh— unhhhhh—"

Her thighs clamped around her hand. Her hips jerked off the bed in a stuttering rhythm she couldn't control. Nathan disappeared from her thoughts like a ghost, her vision going white as her face flushed and her orgasm crashed over her like a tsunami. An intense warmth spread out from her core and covered every inch of her body as she collapsed onto the bed.

The wave kept rolling. She was still cumming when she opened her eyes.

Ethan was watching her. His hand was moving faster, his face flushed dark, his mouth open, his shoulder braced against the doorframe like he needed it to hold himself up. The sight of him there, her husband, about to explode from watching her, sent another pulse through her that stretched the orgasm even longer. She was still pulsing around her own fingers when his eyes locked on hers.

"Fuck — Mei that was —"

He couldn't finish his thought as his body seized and thick white ropes erupted from his cock.

She watched as his shoulders began to shake and his head tipped back against the doorframe. The aftershocks of her own orgasm pulsed in time with his and the guilt that had been waiting at the edges of her vision pulled back, retreated, dissolved into the warm wet pulsing of her body around her own hand.

They'd done this together. That's what she told herself. They'd done this together and that meant it was theirs.

He stayed in the doorway for a long moment, breathing hard, his chest rising and falling, his hand still wrapped around himself. Then he pushed off the frame.

He didn't say anything. He crawled up the bed and gathered her against his chest, his arm sliding under her shoulders, his palm splaying flat across her ribs, his forehead pressing to her temple. She was still trembling. He held her through it. His heart was hammering against her ear and his breath was ragged at her hairline and she let her cheek rest against the warm damp skin of his chest and closed her eyes again, just for a second, just to feel him there.

"That was the hottest thing I've ever seen," he said. His voice was wrecked. "I love you so much."

She smiled against him. He was right.

"Fuuuck," Sierra sighed, wiping the sweat from her forehead as she rolled onto her back. Her hair was spread across the pillow, her chest heaving. Her gaze fell to the photo just above the bed. The picture frame was crooked, tilted a few degrees to the right. She wondered if it had always been like that or was the bed banging against the wall the reason.

Nathan was on his back beside her, one arm draped across his eyes.

"You're number four, by the way."

He lifted the arm. "Number four what?"

"Guys I've fucked." She turned her head on the pillow to look at him. "Just so you know the kind of company you're keeping."

He laughed, shaking his head. "Good to know."

"I thought you should." She rolled onto her side and propped herself up on her elbow. The sheet slid down to her waist, exposing her chest. "Which is weird, because I know everything about you and nothing at the same time."

"You know I'm better than you at Jeopardy."

Sierra laughed so hard tears welled in her eyes. "Oh sweetie. You're lucky you're pretty." She smiled and wiped the tears away. "But I'm serious. I've read all your books, watched your TED talk..." She reached out, letting her fingers slide down his stomach. "Fucked you. But I don't really know you."

He looked at the ceiling. She could see the wheels turning in his head. His eyes were closed, and he breathed lightly through his nose. He had a smirk on his lips, one that made Sierra want to lean over and kiss the side of his mouth, but she restrained herself.

"What would you like to know." He kept his eyes closed.

"I don't know. What was your childhood like? Why'd you get into therapy?"

He opened his eyes. The smile faltered, turning into more of a scowl. He turned his head to face her, the deep blue of his eyes somehow warming despite the new look.

"My father was a drunk and used to beat me."

"Oh fuck. Nathan I'm—"

"It's fine, really." He smiled. "It's not that kind of story."

Sierra nodded unsure of how to respond.

"He was one of those old school guys. Men needed to be tough and he didn't see me as that." He shrugged like it was the most casual thing in the world. "Just before graduation, my mom finally worked up the nerve to leave him. After that I started seeing a therapist. It took a couple years but..." He ran his hand through his hair. "The work we did in that office. The difference he made in my life. I knew then what I wanted to do."

Sierra had been holding her breath without realizing it. She'd expected a story about after school specials or a friend helping him through a hard time. Had she known it was something so traumatic she wouldn't have asked it while they were both naked in bed.

"Jesus, Nathan. I had no idea." She leaned forward kissing the corner of his mouth she'd been watching.

"Don't be. I'm grateful in a way."

"Grateful?"

"Had I not gone through that who knows where my life would have ended up. Because of him I found my passion in life."

Her hand stayed on his chest. "Okay, lighter question. What kind of people end up on your couch? Other than my brother, of course. Do you get a bunch of sad lonely housewives?"

The smile returned to Nathan's face and he sat up in bed, pressing his back to the headrest. "All kind of people. Sad housewives included."

"Then you have to have a good story, right? Tell me one. What's one of the craziest cases you had." Her hand came up to his face and she ran her fingers through his beard, smiling when he leaned into it.

"I can't give you specifics obviously."

"Obviously."

"A few years ago in Florida I had a guy come in by himself because he wanted help convincing his wife to have a threesome."

"Of course. Why are all men the same?"

Nathan gave her a sly smile. "We'll come back to that one."

The way he said it made her heart race and her hand drop from his face to his lap.

"Anyway, it's pretty standard stuff. Most guys don't know how to bring it up without making their wives feel inadequate, so I started walking him through the conversation."

"Okay."

"Two sessions in, I realized he kept dodging when I'd ask who the third would be. Friend? Stranger? An app? He had something specific in mind and he wasn't telling me." Nathan shifted so he could look directly at her. "Eventually I just asked him. Who's in your head when you picture this? Who is it?"

"Oh no."

"His wife's sister."

"Get the fuck out of here."

"And before I could even respond, he says, and I want you to picture his face." Nathan shook his head. "He says, 'It'll be fine, doc. The girls won't be touching each other. So it's not weird.'"

Sierra slapped his leg so hard he jumped. "No way." She laughed so hard she fell onto her back. "There's no way he said that."

Nathan was chuckling. "Hand to God."

"Oh my god. Oh my god, I love him. I love him so much." She wiped her eyes. "That is the most Florida man story I think I've ever heard."

Nathan shrugged. "He thought he had a strong case."

"I'm sure he did." She caught her breath. Her hand had drifted down his stomach again. "What about couples? Like... do they ever come in after one of them has done something stupid to try to fix it?"

She'd asked it casually. She didn't realize until the words were out of her mouth that she was no longer joking.

Nathan's expression shifted. "Are you asking me to take you and James on as clients?"

"Oh my god, no." She laughed but it was thinner than the last one. "He'd never agree. I mean I don't want that either. I just..."

"It's okay to want to fix your marriage, Sierra."

"It wasn't that, really." She almost blushed. How could she make such a stupid comment. "I um... I was actually thinking about your last client in Florida. Grace Hart."

Nathan shifted on the bed. She felt his thigh tense.

"I remember the news when the story broke. There was talk that her husband was having an affair and that's why she..."

"That was speculation."

"Of course. I just mean..." She grabbed the comforter, pulling it over her chest. "There had to be signs right? That she was... you know, falling for you."

"Of course there was but I..." He paused. She could feel his heartbeat rising. "I can't really discuss that stuff with you."

"Of course. I didn't mean to upset you."

"I'm not upset." His tone was sharp. "It was common transference."

Sierra nodded. She knew she should stop pressing, that this was a sore spot for Nathan. "Right." She couldn't help herself. "But you've written whole books on this. At some point you had to see it coming. Why not hand her off?"

"Because I didn't have the luxury of hindsight." He pulled the sheet from his body. "I need to shower and head out."

"Wait, wait. I'm sorry." She placed her hands on his hips, climbing on top of him and let the sheets fall from her body. "I didn't come here to fight with you. I do that enough at home."

She had a good thing going with Nathan. She wasn't sure why she was trying to sabotage it by making it something it wasn't. This was supposed to be fun, casual. She'd turned it into an interrogation.

She reached behind her body and found him half hard. She pressed her chest to his face and felt him inhale as she stroked him back to life. "This is what I can't get at home." She tilted her hips and took his full length, feeling him sigh against her skin.

The sound of screaming second graders drifted down the hall, as Mei pulled the classroom door halfway closed. The kids were building solar systems and the entire room smelled like tempera paint and glue. It was one of her favorite activities as a teacher, even if the kids got more paint on themselves than they did their planets

She knelt next to Marcus's table with a paintbrush in one hand and a Styrofoam ball impaled on a pencil in the other. Saturn. Marcus had insisted on glitter for the rings and was now in the process of applying enough of it to send Mei home looking like a vampire in the sunlight.

"Like this?" He stuck his hand into the pile of gold glitter on the paper plate between them and slammed it down onto the wet glue.

"Less, less, less. Just sprinkle it. Like pepper. Like you're a fancy chef on TV."

"I don't watch cooking shows."

She laughed and picked up a small amount to demonstrate what she meant.

He grinned at her, his front teeth still in the gap-stage, and pinched a more reasonable amount between his fingers. Mei wiped her palm down the front of her apron. The solar system was spread across six tables in various stages of disaster, Jupiter had rolled off Lily's desk twice, and Mason had colored all of Earth blue. She told herself he was trying to demonstrate the effects of global warming.

"Ms. Morrison, you forgot to comb your hair today."

She turned. Jimmy Davis had his Mars in one hand and was pointing at her with the other, loud enough that two other tables looked up. The boy was a menace. He was also, depending on the day, her favorite student, which she would never admit to anyone, including herself.

"Is it?" She reached up. The hair tie had slid down again, this always happened when she didn't let it dry fully before putting it up, and a whole loose section had come free at her crown. She'd done it in the parking lot, with her phone propped up against the steering wheel for a mirror, and apparently she hadn't done it well.

"Thanks for the update, Jimmy."

"You're welcome."

She pulled the tie out and started over. Her hair had been wet because she'd run out of time to dry it. Because, despite her concerns about being late for work Ethan had pulled her on top of him as soon as their alarm went off.

Her cheeks flushed and she walked to her desk to give herself a minute. She'd expected things with Ethan to be awkward after he'd walked in on her, a thought that still sent a pulse between her legs, but it had been the opposite. He'd been like a man possessed. They'd made love again last night before bed, and she was even the one to start it, then again this morning before either of them was fully awake. She was giving him what he'd always said he wanted.

She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and turned, spotting Jack on the other side of the door.

"Kids, I'm going to step out into the hallway for a minute to talk to Mr. Johnson. Keep working on your planets."

When she stepped into the hallway Jack was leaning against the wall, one foot pressed against it. The t-shirt we wore was tight on his chest. His green eyes seemed to light up when she closed the door.

"Looks like it's been an interesting morning." His gaze held her as a smile grew on his lips and he pushed off the wall.

"Solar system."

"Ah. That explains this." He reached up his thumb brushing her cheek.

Mei inhaled sharply, her eyes went wide, but she didn't pull away as an electric current ran through her. Jack stepped back grinning with a splotch of blue paint on his thumb.

"Oh geez. That's probably been there all morning." Her face burned as Jack continued to stare into her eyes.

"I once again find myself in need of your services." He puffed out his lower lip and let his eyes pout.

"Not again," she laughed. Her eyes drifted to the wall behind him. A flyer hung on the wall reminding kids of parent-teacher conferences next week. Also known as hell week among the teachers. She looked back at Jack. "What is it now?"

"Well, as you know the dance is next month."

Mei nodded ignoring the butterflies in her stomach.

"I need help with a theme. I was thinking since you did so good with the music choice maybe..."

"You're impossible." She tsked her tongue.

"Guilty as charged." He hung his head in mock defeat.

She wasn't sure what it was about Jack. Despite the fact that she already had so much on her plate, she didn't mind adding one more to help him. She scratched her face as she thought about options. The school didn't have the kind of money where they could do anything elaborate. They could do a garden theme, but that had been done countless times over.

"It needs to be something simple," she said, more to herself than Jack, but he nodded in agreement.

"So, the met gala is out. Got it."

She giggled, not because of his funny, although it was funny. It made her think about the kids a few weeks ago. Stephanie came in singing some K-pop Demon Hunters song and within an hour the entire class was singing along, some even dancing next to their desks.

"Actually. That's a great idea."

"It is?" He ran his hand through his hair. "I'm not sure we have the budget for—"

"We could hang up fairy lights in the cafeteria. Get some flowers and... OH, do you think you could make like a makeshift gazebo?" She was talking faster. She could picture it now. Not the Met Gala, but a formal event that made the kids feel like their favorite celebrities all designed as a night under the stars.

"Yeah, I uh... I could probably make that work." He rubbed the back of his neck. What color are you thinking? Navy? White? Something like that?"

"White is perfect!" The vision popped in her head instantly. Fairy lights all around. A background with flowers scattered around a gazebo and Mei standing in front of it in her red dress. The kids would love it. They'd get to play dress up. Parents would appreciate the simplicity of it, and teachers would get to feel like actual adults.

"I actually just bought the perfect dress." She said it without thinking about it. Jack's eyes immediately lit up.

"Oh yeah? Let me see. Help me draw some inspiration."

Jack took the phone. He didn't zoom and he didn't scroll. He just looked. His pupils widened, the green going dark at the centers, and his gaze drifted from the screen to her, just for a second, like he was picturing it on her.

The flutter in her stomach intensified.

"That's... wow, Mei. You're going to look great."

"You think?"

"Of course." He handed the phone back, his fingers brushing hers. "You're going to be the prettiest girl at the ball."

"Then you better..." She laughed, looking down at her phone. "You better dress up too."

"It's a date then."

She didn't correct him.

The hallway went quiet. Jack was still smiling, waiting for her to laugh it off, to say you wish or in your dreams or any of the easy deflections she'd used on him for months. None of them came. Her hand was warm where his fingers had touched her. Her stomach was doing the same slow turn it had done last night when Ethan stood in the doorway. The same turn it had done in the dressing room.

"Ms. Morrison, I need to go to the bathroom."

Jimmy had peaked his head out of the door startling Mei. She turned to face him fully, her hands shaking.

"Oh... um..." She turned to look at Jack but he was already walking back down the hall.

"Ms. Morrison." Jimmy was tugging on her sleeve now. "I really have to go."

"Yes. Yes, sorry, sweetie. Go ahead." She held the door for him and watched him sprint down the hallway, then pressed her back against the cool metal of the doorframe.

Her heart was racing and she pressed her thighs together. The way he'd looked at her after seeing the photo was the same way Nathan had looked at the store. It was the same feeling that made her rush upstairs. She pushed off the doorframe before she could think about it anymore.

Solar systems. She had solar systems to finish.

The office was dark except for the laptop. Mei was paused on the couch, knees an inch apart, the moment just after he'd asked about the sex tape. Nathan took a sip of his bourbon, noting her posture. She was leaning forward slightly. She was more receptive to the idea of the tape than she realized.

He sat back in the chair and let out a breath. The notepad was open beside the keyboard. His notes from their outing to the dress store ran down the page. She wasn't just ready to make a sex tape with her husband. She was ready for her real transformation.

His mind drifted to last night. Sierra had asked about Grace. The timing of it bothered him. Why now? Did she know how close Mei was to making that transformation? Was it really because she was trying to get to know him or was there something else at play? He didn't like the blind spot he had for her. He'd let his guard down. But the sex was good, better than good. It was some of the best he'd ever had. The way she challenged him. How she refused to submit.

His grip around the glass of whiskey tightened as he took a longer drink.

The night had gone so well before that. She'd bought the story about his abusive father hook line and sinker. He should have tried to shed a few tears that would have sealed the deal and kept her from probing further.

He pressed play.

Mei's knees drifted further apart on screen. He'd missed that the first time. He paused it again and looked at his notes. She didn't correct the sales woman where she thought they were a couple. She didn't refuse the red dress. He shifted in his chair. Her body had reacted to his the moment she stepped out of the dressing room.

He adjusted himself. The entire car ride home she looked out the window and shifted in her seat. She couldn't be more ready. He was going to have her.

CHAPTER 8 — CHOICE POINT

The chessboard has been set. All the pieces are in place. The question is, which one will fall first?

The Decision

PATH ONE: THE NUMBER

"It's for the dance. That's all it is."

Mei has been getting closer to Jack. He's funny and good looking, and desperately incapable of putting a school dance together. He's already reached out to her twice. There's no doubt he'll need even more help. Mei should give him her number and let him know she's always available should he need her.

PATH TWO: THE PODCAST

"Why the hell was she so interested in Grace?"

Sierra came into Nathan's life like a bat out of hell. He'd built what he has because of how careful he's been. Sierra may have caught him off guard, but that was no excuse to not try to learn more about her. He needed to do a deep dive, figure out what made her tick, and just what exactly her podcast was all about.

PATH THREE: THE DIRECTOR'S CHAIR

"Ethan will get his sex tape, but it won't be the one he expected."

One session left before Ethan's birthday, and Nathan was done pulling punches. Mei had felt something in the dress shop. He'd watched it happen. And Ethan had taken to his training like a duck to water. The man didn't want to star in a sex tape with his wife. He wanted to be the man behind the camera. He just didn't know it yet. A little hypnosis, a few well-placed suggestions, and Ethan would walk out of that next session believing he'd come up with the idea himself.