We stay like that for a few awkward moments more, then Kayla says, “Well, guess we better do as he says and shower and report.”

“Yeah,” I say.

Nikki just nods.

Chapter 7

We’re back in Erica’s stupid little office, the three of us sitting facing her. The fax machine hums to life. Who still uses a fax machine, seriously?

Erica types some things into her computer, then makes a note into a leather binder, then takes a sticky note and places it on another board.

Is she even aware that we’re here?

Finally, Erica turns to the clipboard. I recognize it as the same one Lukas had.

She studies it intently, circling some items.

God, this is ridiculous. There is so much tension in this room.

I steal a glance at Nikki and Kayla. Nikki looks forlorn, like she’s devastated. To be honest, I want to go over and hug her. Maybe kiss her.

Kayla, on the other hand, is fiercely angry. She meets my eyes with a new contempt. WTF? We were ferocious lovers just a short thirty minutes ago.

I look back at Erica, a new fire starting up in my pussy.

Goddammit, what doesn’t start a fire in my pussy? Anything? Anything at all? An eraser? A houseplant? Wallpaper?

No, that’s unfair. Erica is gorgeous. Really fucking gorgeous. I get a flash of my entire hand in her hot wet pussy. I bet it glows like the rest of her.

I wonder, are she and Lukas related? He seems to glow too. Well, no, just the sapphire eyes. Oh God, Lukas, what did I do? Did I fuck this up? Will I see you again?

Erica finally smiles and folds her hands.

“Ladies,” she says. “Great job today. You all did really well. I’m so proud of you.”

Yeah, right. Something’s off here.

“But one of you I’m sorry to say won’t be staying.”

I can hear my heart beating in my eardrums.

“Nikki, you did very well at responding to commands, but didn’t do very well with self-control. You orgasmed twenty-seven times. You’re going to need to control that better. Do you have a medical condition?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” Nikki says.

“You might want to see a doctor and see if something is off.”

“Okay.” Nikki looks down again.

Twenty-seven? That’s impossible! Nobody can do that! That’s ridiculous!

Although, come to think of it, there were a shitload of squeals and shakes from that gorgeous little black body as I licked her. Hmmm.

“Kayla, you did very well at bringing energy and enthusiasm to the scene, but you didn’t do very well with cooperation. You must respect your teammates.”

“Okay,” says Kayla with a fuck-off tone as she crosses her legs and folds her arms.

“Which brings us to Jayd. Jayd, you had problems following commands and you really didn’t do well with self-control. It is the opinion of the Director and the program that you be dismissed.”

Kayla turns to me with a happy smile that burns right through me.

What the fuck? Really what the fuck?

I try to speak, but I’m in shock.

Nikki looks at me with sad eyes. I turn to Erica, who is leaning forward with a huge smile, hands folded. “I’m sorry,” she says with an even bigger happy smile. “You may go now. I think you know where the door is. You’ve stormed out of it before.”

“This is unfair!” I say, my inner diva awakening. “I did everything as well as they did.”

“The Director disagrees. He doesn’t want you in the program. And don’t go running to Miss MacCall. It won’t do any good. He has the final say on applicants. So, buh-bye now.”

“He couldn’t have! He didn’t! Let me speak to him. I want to speak to him right now!”

“Sorry. He’s gone home for the day. Buh-bye now.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! You’ve seriously got to be fucking kidding me!”

“Buh-bye. Buh. Bye. Get going please. You don’t want me to call security, trust me. They are very unpleasant.”

I stand up, my vision clouding. I feel a wet stream running down my cheek.

“Fuck you!” I say, fueled by my Inner Diva. I turn to Kayla. “And you too, bitch! Your cunt tastes like shit, by the way!”

Kayla gives me the finger. Nikki has tears in her eyes.

I have about three hundred and eighty one more things to say but I close my eyes, take a deep breath, kick my chair over onto its side, and storm out into the late afternoon heat.

Chapter 8

I think I’m going to be sick.

I’m on the bus heading back to Karissa’s apartment. I’m keeping my head pressed up against the glass of the window seat so that nobody will see the tears flowing down my face.

What did I do? Where did I fuck up? I did everything that asshole Lukas Thorn told me to do!

Oh God, this pisses me off. I don’t deserve this! I don’t fucking deserve this! How dare he dismiss me!

You know what?

Fuck him!

I’m sick of this!

I’m fucking sick of this! All this was a mistake! I hate everybody right now. Lukas Fucking Director Thorn Asshole can take his academy-slash-placement-agency-slash-whore-palace and shove it up his ass! Lorena Bitch Whore MacCall can go jump off her balcony!

That’s it, I’m going home! This experiment is a big fucking failure!

Why did I have to run into the most gorgeous man on the planet on that plane? That’s where everything went haywire. God, what if I had been on a different flight?

Nope, I still would have run into him anyway, wouldn’t I? Because I still would have met him at Bogart when he saved my life, and I still would have met Lorena.

There is something fishy about all this. What was that thing he said to me about happenstance and enemy action? What did he mean by that?

Fuck it! Just fuck it! I don’t care! I don’t give a shit anymore! I’m going to book a flight back home and to back to my stupid life in Massachusetts. Just like nothing happened.

Back to bright red and orange leaves in the fall, riding the crowded and smelly MBTA, boring classes, and figuring out what I want to do when I grow up.

It’s good. It’s fine. I still have my senior year at Wellesley, anyway. It will be fine. None of this happened. It’s all bullshit anyway! Lukas Thorn is bullshit! Bull fucking shit! Florida is bullshit! This fucking heat sucks!

The bus pulls up to my corner. I get out, wipe my eyes, hold my head up high, and walk the two blocks.

As I near Karissa’s apartment, I notice a limousine parked outside. That’s odd. Don’t see many limos in Karissa’s neighborhood, and certainly not at the luxurious Clarion Towers. (Count ‘em. Two.)

An alarm bell goes off in my head, but I ignore it. Too many alarm bells lately. I walk past the limo and toward the stairs. Then, I hear a car door open behind me.

“Smudge!” says a voice I know only too well.

I turn around to see one of the most gorgeous men who has ever walked the face of the earth.

“Trevor!” I say.

I can’t help it. I run toward him and wrap my arms around him. He lifts me off the ground in a big hug, spinning me around. It’s so good to see a familiar face, and not just any familiar face but my Trevor, my dear amazing Trevor!

“How’s it going, Smudge?” That’s been Trevor’s nickname for me ever since I painted my face with Sherwin-Williams latex eggshell white when I was four years old.

I let go. “What are you doing here? Oh my God! Oh my God! It’s really you!” I hug him tight again, burying my face in his hard huge chest muscles. “So good to see you! I’ve missed you so much! Oh wait. Oh no. If you’re here driving a limo, that means . . . oh shit, Dad’s in there, isn’t he?”

“No, I’m standing outside the ritzy Clarion Towers in a skeevy Miami neighborhood in front of a limo because I couldn’t figure out how else to pass the time.”

I smack him on the arm. “Still a dick, I see.”