Chapter 1:
Heat of the Night
Restlessness clawed at me as I paced the confines of my small apartment in downtown Los Angeles. The week of final exams had drained every ounce of energy from my twenty-one-year-old body, leaving me wired and craving release. The walls felt too close, the silence too heavy. I needed noise, lights, and the sweet oblivion of forgetting. Tonight, I would make it happen. I stood before my mirror, transforming myself with deliberate care. The tight black mini dress hugged my athletic yet curvaceous figure like a second skin, its plunging neckline revealing the generous swell of my breasts and the smooth valley between them. Strappy heels elongated my toned legs, and I left my long raven hair cascading in loose waves down my back. A touch of bold red lipstick com
