is... d

ghting, and a quiet hum of expensive cologne. There's a hush to it, the kind that

hiskey and nurse secrets. My con radar pi

a dive. I

room. The checklist in my mind lights up:

rf

glass. A silver watch flashes beneath his cuff. Broad shoulders. Sharp suit. The kind o

gr

find o

damn place. Strutting in boots that weren't made for seduction isn't easy, but I make it work. That's

ve lived this scene a hundred times before. Some girls chose college; I chose cons. For me, there was no schol

one. A farewell show before I w

: Pick

uninterested ones always are. I don't look his way as I take the seat two over, just toss my coat off my shoulders in that slow, practiced way. My

isible flicker of heat brushing my ski

but after a beat, it clicks. Dan. Davens High. Used to let me copy his physics homework.

e and leans in. "W

drink and tilt my chin. "I

ence is sharp enough to slice through bone. D

wa

ug, something predictable. A tired line about women and whiskey. Th

this

th

ot a look. Ju

n toward him, ready to a

e kind of face that makes you forget your own name. Carved cheekbones, blac

he opens

t inter

. "I'm

gy acc

ven look at me. Just unlocks his phone and starts

ve been brushed off before, sure, but never mid-grift. Tha

tting on yo

ur

s across my nerves. I grit my teeth. "Hones

He lifts his gaze and catches m

sor

ow. "Apolog

s his phone down with the precision of

ne like thunder on the horizon. I meet his gaze-calm, col

wly, "I'd rather shit

gs at the corner of his

-hm

s drink, and goes back to

y across the counter. I grip t

s not t

rd us. I know he's eavesdropping, and honestly, I don't blame him. Th

humb never missing a beat. I can't take it. The rejection isn

nally, h

y? It's a hu

. "A hu

ncludi

to my stomach. I glance at Dan, who's definitely pretending to clean the bar now,

I raise the glass, toast the man beside

deep claw their way to the surface. Blood. Screams. The taste of fear and copper. I slam t

e," the man

eyes. "Why do you care? You

t. That's just what people

lass of water. I gul

through the speakers and the sound of his pen scratching across p

ut my losses and get out b

I do

st

im, drops off a stack of folders, mutters s

y. The phone. The confidence. He's clearly im

rf

watching him

w m

wn. "

," he says.

He thinks I'm a street-level hustler.

s on the bar. "That'

re at

T?" I as

ndred join

ip

th

rmurs, eyes never leaving

t the bar at his side. The heat coming off him makes my

oney," I whisper. "I

ks at me, and the calm in his e

nt my n

no

w and disbelieving

ay

back to

wn on the paper.

bli

rify. "A game

oment something inside him cli

, voice like velvet ove

to sign billion-dollar deals and drop panties i

aw, his cufflink

-to-

ade th

hes flutteri

hone buzzes. One glance at the screen-Alec-and he murmurs, "Excu

y water-only to find Dan stari

ha

rvously. "Have you been lock

. no.

ay. "Because only a lunatic would

ng

l,