The Affair: a New Adult Romance novelette Read Free Page A

Hunter: I hate this. I can’t share you.
     
     

Three
    The next day I was being literally bored into an early grave with a lecture on the Neural Basis of Consciousness in Psychology 1.
    I had changed my major twenty times, seemingly. Finally, I settled on Psychology, hoping to be a therapist, completely bogged down in student loans by the time that I was thirty.
    Luckily, Sabrina finally strolled into class a half hour late. She was wearing the cutest faux leather jogging suit that I had ever seen. She was making my dingy hoodie, worn jeans, and flip flops look like the finest homeless apparel.
    As soon as she sat beside me, she scooted so close to me that we could no longer be considered platonic friends or heterosexual.
    “So, I have something for you.”
    Her smile was juicy and full of devious excitement dressed in matte lipstick. The lavender color looked expensive and matched embellishments on her jogging suit.
    I asked reluctantly, “What?”
    Sabrina’s smile was way too wide and held a bit of evil.
    She was up to something.
    I knew it.
    She asked, “You know my cousin, Rainy, right?”
    “The stripper? Yea.”
    “She is not a stripper.”
    “She sure dresses like one.”
    “Rainy is a hostess . She dresses that way for tips,” Sabrina corrected me. “Anyway, I hear they are looking for another hostess at the Pink Rhino. She told me that she would hook you up.”
    I was so flabbergasted that the wind had been knocked out of me a little. “You’re kidding me, right?”
    I was convinced that Sabrina had completely lost the little mind that she had.
    The Pink Rhino was a gentlemen’s club in downtown Chicago, right off the magnificent mile. Sabrina often took the forty–five minute drive to hang out with her cousin, Rainy. She begged me to go every now and then. I never had the courage to join her. A place where a woman’s appearance was on display was not the place for me.
    Yet, Sabrina tried to convince me otherwise. “She makes about a thousand bucks a week, including her tips. Do you even make that in a month at good ol’ Mickey D’s?”
    I stared blankly at the projector that reflected Cliff Notes on the principles of neural science. Surely, I should have been taking notes. Surely, Sabrina was going to ask me for my notes next week when it was time for the quiz. However, I could only note the truth in her friendly yet stabbing words. I was poor. Tyler and I were waiting for the moment that NIPSCO shut off our lights and gas. We were waiting for the moment that we came home to darkness and ice melting in the fridge.
    I needed the gig.
    That romantic chime brought me back to reality. The dream of making more money was nice. The reality of making it at a place where my boyish chest would be on display was horrifying.
    Sabrina huffed aggressively as she noticed me reaching for my phone.
    Justin Hunter: Hey, babe.
    Sabrina saw the smile that danced across my face as I looked into the screen of my Galaxy. She saw the flirtation. She saw the lust. She saw the happiness.
    “Urgh! Tell Cyber Boyfriend to pipe down. We’re having a conversation here.”
    “Can you do it quietly?!” That harsh whisper came from behind us.
    Sabrina swiveled her head backwards like the Exorcist and shot whoever daggers.
    I was too busy typing to continue to listen to her convince me to work at the man cave.
    Karrie Stahl: Hey you. In class.
    Justin Hunter: I came to an epiphany last night.
    Karrie Stahl: Do tell .
    Justin Hunter: Maybe if we meet, you’ll leave him.
    Sabrina saw my face blanch white as snow. She saw the utter fear yet anticipation. She leaned in and read the screen as I typed and fought to see the screen through her extensions.
    Karrie Stahl: Teasing is so not cool, Mr. Hunter!
    Justin Hunter: No teasing. I want to see the woman that I am meant to spend forever with. It’s time, my love.
    “When?!” Obviously, Sabrina’s eyes were over my shoulder, reading every word. She was as excited as I should