KATHERINE
I woke up hot and annoyed and way too aware of my own skin. The dream was already slipping away, but the feeling wasn’t. Stephen’s mouth on my neck, his hands sliding under my shirt, that low laugh he does when he knows he’s winning.
I hated that my body remembered every second even when my brain was screaming no. I kicked the covers off like they were his fault and just lay there staring at the ceiling trying to burn the memory out of my head.
Didn’t work.
So I did the only thing I could think of: get out of the room and drown him out with old ladies gossiping. Figured if anyone could talk nonstop about boring crap, it was them.
I threw on the least fancy dress I owned, still fancier than anything I ever wore back home and went looking for Jessie’s little tea circle. Foun
