I shivered at Winslow’s words. They sounded ominous and I wondered if anyone would come to my rescue if I screamed.

As if reading my mind, Hollis said, “No one’s going to hurt you. We just want to talk. And we want you to hear us out. The past few months have been difficult to say the least.”

I smiled humorlessly, thinking that I could relate and all the bottles under my kitchen sink were proof of that.

Winslow continued, “We’re sorry that our presence has wreaked havoc in your life. When you wanted to leave us, we didn’t expect it to be such a severe cut off. When I found out you resigned from your internship---”

“I had to. I was trying to break all ties---”

“And we understand that, but we’re sorry that breaking ties with us meant such a drastic change in your life.” He sighed and I recognized now that his tone was filled with guilt. My heart began to ache.

“Those were choices I felt I needed to make. Actions that I had to take...”

“But that’s just it,” Hollis butted in. “You shouldn’t have had to make those choices or take those actions. We’ve made a mess of your life and we want to do whatever we can to make things better.”

I didn’t know how to respond. I looked at Hollis’ disparate colored eyes and felt that familiar warmth began to spread across my body, flushing my cheeks and warming the space between my thighs.

“I see something hasn’t changed,” he said softly reaching up and gently rubbing my lower lip. I moved away abruptly. I stood up and walked away from him, pacing the small space of my living room.

I stopped and turned away from them and folded my arms. “How did you find me?”

“We’ve had eyes on you since we realized you left the city,” Winslow answered.

I turned towards them with my arms still folded across my chest and narrowed my eyes at them. “You’ve had someone following me?”

“I guess that’s what you could call it,” Hollis said with a shrug.

I wanted to hit him, but more than that, I wanted to sleep. The exhaustion hit me full force and I leaned against my kitchen counter.

“I can’t---”

“Ivy---”

I held up my hand, stilling Hollis’ protest, “I can’t have this conversation tonight. I’m beyond tired. I had a hard night---”

“That’s why we’re here. You didn’t get home around your expected time…We were worried...”

“You know what time I get home usually? Seriously?” I said indignantly. It was like I hadn’t escaped from them at all. And I was angry that I had given up my life in New York for nothing apparently. Even away from them, they had kept tabs on me. The change of hair color, the contacts, the different apartment, none of it had mattered. I felt so stupid for thinking I could make a few superficial changes and my life would go back to normal. Who was I kidding anyway? Nothing about my current life was normal. I was drinking too much, hiding out from beasts and being rescued by drag queens. I wasn’t in small town Texas anymore.

I felt defeated and the exhaustion from earlier felt like a physical weight on my shoulders now, weighing me down.

“Winslow, Hollis...I just can’t deal with this right now. Just go away...”

“Ivy---”

“Go! Get out!” I found myself yelling.

“Calm down,” Winslow said. “We’ll leave. Let’s go, Hollis. Ivy needs her sleep.”

Hollis didn’t look pleased as he stood up. Winslow walked towards me and surprised me by gently rubbing my arms and placing a kiss on my forehead. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered before abruptly letting go and walking out the door without another glance.

I wanted to call to him. I wanted to tell him to stay. My heart yearned for him and my body, even in its exhausted state, wanted to become one with his. My nipples were erect just from his nearness and I missed his warmth, that warmth that he had brought to me just by briefly stroking my arms.

I barely had time to get my conflicting emotions under control when Hollis said his goodbyes as well. He wasn’t gentle like Winslow. Oh no, Hollis was almost animalistic as he grabbed me by my hair and forcefully pulled my head up to his and made eye contact with me before crushing his lips against mine. He pushed his tongue into my mouth and I moaned as he reached around with his other arm and squeezed my behind, pulling my pelvis against his own. Wantonly, as if my body was not my own, I found myself grinding my sex against his and Hollis responded by deepening the kiss. He placed both hands this time on my behind and kneaded it while I moaned against his lips, wishing that his hands were on my bare skin. He backed me up against the kitchen counter and brought his hands up almost feverishly, stroking my belly, my sides until finally they rested on my breasts. He squeezed my nipples in between his fingers and then broke his mouth away from mine. I was breathing heavily and half-heartedly pushed at his shoulders as he bent down to take a nipple into his mouth through the fabric of my shirt.

I could feel myself growing moist as he sucked and licked my nipple. My knees grew weak and as if sensing that he wrapped his arms around me, supporting me easily with his strong arms.

I heard moans and realized that they were coming from me. And then Hollis abruptly stopped and swore. Slowly he let go of me, stood straight up and stepped back.

“We’re not done yet, Ivy. Or do you prefer Nia now?” He didn’t give me a chance to answer as he too headed for the door. As he moved to close it, he looked back at me and his expression became gentle. His eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, almost in an eerie fashion as he said, “Sleep tight, my Ivy.” And then with those words, he shut the door and was gone.

With heavy legs, I walked to my door and locked it. I leaned against it for a second trying to catch my breath. My heartbeat was still racing and my breathing was shaky and I was still aroused. I made my way to my bedroom and undressed slowly. All I could think about were Winslow’s hands trailing a warm path up my arms and how he smelled. So delicious. And then I thought about Hollis. He had a bad habit of arousing me to the point where I couldn’t even think straight.

Normally, I slept in undies and a t-shirt, but I was too aroused for that. I slid my panties down my legs and slid my bra off. I then crawled between the sheets and the soft sheets against my naked body seemed to amplify the sensitivity of my skin that was already on fire from the boys’ attention.

I began to touch myself. I stroked my nipples, pretending that my hands were Winslow’s. I pinched my nipples and stuck a finger in my mouth, circling my nipple with the wet finger, making it tauter. After I was done with my breasts, I slid my hands down my belly and across my thighs. I let them rest on my inner thighs before I spread my legs and parted my folds with one hand and began to penetrate myself with the other.

I was tight and it was delicious torture. I imagined my fingers were actually Hollis’ as I roughly penetrated myself. I began to moan, “Ahhh Hollis...oh God,” as I went faster and faster, pushing myself closer to the brink of orgasm.

I traced the wetness from my sex up to my clit and began to rub the hard nub that greeted me. With my other hand, I stroked my nipples. I began to alternate, moaning Winslow’s name and then Hollis’ name as I pleasured myself. Finally, the arousal took over my body and my hips flew up as an orgasm hit me and I hoarsely screamed in pleasure. I came then, my sex clenching around my own fingers and I folded one leg on top of the other and turned to my side as I waited for the little tremors that radiated from my clit and femininity to stop. I’m not sure when I fell asleep, but sleep overtook me and I slept hard that night and better than I had in months.

My alarm clock went off and I stiffly sat up. My whole body felt sore and I made myself get out of bed. I dragged myself to the bathroom and saw the gigantic knot on the top of my head. I sighed and covered it with my bangs. I didn’t have to go to work for a while and I was honestly wondering if I should even bother going in ever again. If Nico and Honey had been right, Mr. Wall Street had attempted to assault me. I didn’t want to give him the chance to do it a second time.

I made my way to the shower and took my time. I didn’t have anything planned. No job. No life. I wandered out of the bathroom and felt a crushing sense of loneliness. I reached for my phone and dialed the one person who I knew I could trust to make it all better.

“Hey, honey. It’s been so long since you’ve called. Are you doing okay?”

I didn’t know how to answer her. And I felt a sob bubbling to the surface before I swallowed it back down.

“I’m fine, Grandma. I’ve just been busy...” I said wiping at a tear that escaped. I hadn’t even known that I had started crying.

“You don’t sound fine. You sound terrible actually. Why don’t I come for a visit?”

My eyes widened in panic. “No!” I said more strongly than I meant. “I mean, no...that’s not necessary. Texas is so far...” I groaned silently to myself. God, I felt like such a ditz for calling her. Of course, she would know something was wrong. She knew me better than anyone.

“Well if you don’t want me to visit, then come visit me. I miss you so much, dear.” Her voice cracked at the end of her statement and I tried my best to ignore it, but I couldn’t. It hurt me that she was hurting for me. I felt like a crappy granddaughter.

I sighed. What could it hurt to visit? Maybe going home, away from the craziness that had become my life would be good for me. Before I could change my mind, I found myself saying, “I’ll be on the next plane out.”