Moving to Long Island had been like relocating to a different planet. I wasn’t a stranger to wealthy people—Geneva Key and Chapel Hill had been full of them—but everything about this place was foreign from the way they talked to how people dressed. It took me weeks to get to the point that I could understand the dialect—not because the words were all that different, it was the speed at which people spat them at me. And yes, they spat.

Once we’d settled in—after realizing that even with the monetary resources Cora and I both had, without spending millions, our housing options were limited…and small—life started to take shape. Between the four of us, it made more sense to share an apartment until we were all solidly on our feet. With the girls in school and Neil depending on the business for income, it made sense to live like Friends when the going rate for a two-bedroom space was three grand. And in the long run, it left Neil and me without guilt choking us with all the long nights because Cora and Hannah were together and not alone in a strange city.

My phone rang, and I glanced up to see it vibrating on my desk. Cora’s smiling face stared back at me. “Hey, sweetheart.”

“Are you and Neil having an affair?”

Her question caught me off guard and immediately put me on the defensive. The two of us had been working a lot of really long days since we’d bought Reynolds Wealth Management, but I’d never thought she’d believe I could violate her trust. “What?” I shoved back in my chair and stood abruptly, as if she could somehow see my outrage. “How could you think I’d be with another woman?”

“Did Neil have a sex change?” She’d lost me. “Because the last time Hannah checked, he was definitely a dude. I just never knew you were into men.”

I rolled my eyes and sat back down. “So now you two are contriving fairy tales about Neil and me having a sordid affair over stocks, bonds, and dollar signs?”

“Meh. I’ve heard of stranger kinks. Maybe you’re one of those weirdos who likes the smell of dirty money.”

“Or maybe I like to be able to deposit them into my bank account to keep your pretty little head covered at night while we sleep.”

“Which is all we do these days.” Her tone was playful, even though she was right. We’d turned into an old married couple who scheduled sex for weekends only. “Since I have this rocking body, and Hannah’s fairly easy on the eyes herself, we figured the two of you have to have something going on.”

I grinned as I leaned back in my seat. One of the best things about Cora was her ability to tell me something bothered her without lobbing grenades or screaming. She never left me feeling maligned or attacked—I wanted to be the best I could be for both of us. “We tried, except he’s a little hairy for my tastes. Have you seen his back? Gross,” I added in my best valley-girl voice.

“Maybe you should suggest waxing…everywhere.”

And…she’d crossed the line. “Okay, that took it too far. I won’t be able to erase the visual you just created of my best friend in precarious positions…hairless. Thank you for that.” My laughter filled the line, and the sound of hers made my heart ache.

“James?” Her soft voice was tinged with longing.

“Yeah, babe?”

“I miss you.”

For years, we’d spent all our free time together. Yeah, Neil was my best friend, and we’d been together as friends since birth, but Cora was my soulmate, which ran deeper than any relationship I had outside of that. And I had neglected her in recent months while chasing the almighty dollar.

“I miss you, too. Why don’t you get dressed, and I’ll come home? Let’s go spend a night in the city.”

She didn’t hesitate or bother mentioning it was already after seven. Tomorrow might suck, but tonight didn’t have to. “Be careful. Love you.”

She disconnected the call, and the screen went dark. I didn’t clean up my office after logging out of my computer. It would all still be here tomorrow, and there was never a guarantee the person I loved would.

“Neil, I’m heading home,” I called down the hall to my partner’s office.

“Did you just get the same pitiful phone call from Cora that I got from Hannah?”

I made my way toward him only to find him slipping his arms into his sports coat and turning off the lights. “More or less. I’m heading home to take Cora out. What do you guys have planned?”

“That actually works well. We’re going to stay home. Shoot me a text when you’re on your way back so I can make sure you don’t walk in on anything.”

“Dude, gross. Common areas are off limits for that shit. We all agreed.”

“I’m fucking with you, Carp. Get a grip.” He smacked me across the chest.

Neither of us wanted to bother with public transportation and hadn’t driven because traffic on Long Island wasn’t much better than in Manhattan, so we opted for a cab home to our girls.

It was a good thing Hannah had never been a temptation for me. While Cora was dressed to go out, Hannah was dressed to stay in…with Neil. I almost reconsidered wasting time on the streets of New York when I could have Cora naked in our bedroom instead—almost. Cora needed to get out and do something. While I was gone all day, she spent her time cooped up in a classroom or in our living room doing homework. She’d found something she loved, but Cora wasn’t a homebody. She didn’t have to be painting the town red, but she loved culture and art and music.

Cora started talking the moment I walked in the door. “I found a band playing at a warehouse club just outside the city. Five-dollar cover charge. Hurry, go change. They hit the stage at eight, although I’m sure they’re playing all night.”

She followed me to the bedroom, encouraging me to make things quick. She was excited and bouncing on her toes.

“Do I want to know what seedy part of town we’re going to that only charges a five-dollar cover? Or worse, do I need to bring earplugs to drown out the band that doesn’t warrant a higher entry fee?”

“Who cares if the band sucks or the place is located in a skeevy part of town? We’re going out. Together. That’s all that matters. And even if the music blows, I can either grind my body against yours on the dance floor all hot and sweaty or sway to romantic ballads and listen to your heartbeat.”

I tossed my shirt over her head. “You’re a real romantic at heart, Cora.”

“Or we could get wild and crazy and see how far we can get before someone interrupts or throws us out.”

Publicly making out with Cora was always a huge turn-on. She’d figured out years ago that I had a bit of a voyeur in me, yet we’d only tiptoed around the idea—never really given it any merit.

“Don’t play games.”

She dropped her tight ass down on our bed and pressed her knees together with her hands, leaving her arms extended. “Totally not playing, James. We’re in New York. Anything goes, and no one cares. We can make tonight whatever we want it to be.” She’d gone from innocent love goddess to sexy siren with just the way she shifted her brows. The arches were high as she posed her statement like a question.

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to me. “Don’t toy with me, woman.”

She smacked me on the ass and winked. And silently dared me to follow. Which I did like a puppy on a leash. That woman could lead me into the fiery depths of hell carrying a gallon of gasoline, and I wouldn’t question her motivation.

***

“Thank God for GPS. We would never have found this place. The outskirts of town—try Timbuctoo.” The club was nondescript from the exterior—the owners hadn’t believed in curb appeal, that was for sure.

“Obscure can be good, right?” She hopped out of the car before I had a chance to answer.

Hand in hand, we went to the back of the line. The place was packed. The club was well run, or the band was a local favorite—either way, something brought customers in droves. While we waited, we determined it wasn’t the band that had people flocking to the place.

“James, the music is horrible. We don’t have to stay.” Suddenly, Cora looked around at the crowd surrounding us as if she were turned off.

“We’re already here. We might as well see what’s going on inside. If we don’t like it, we can leave, right?” It hadn’t dawned on me until Cora’s eyes darted from person to person that we were slightly out of place. However, no one besides us seemed to notice or care.

We paid the cover, and a bouncer opened the heavy, metal door to allow us entrance. The noise from the band was like a frontal assault. It could be felt like a wave of heat crashing through the open door. It was bad, but the light show already had me intrigued, and with each step we took, something else caught my eye. Whoever had designed the club clearly aimed to appease the visual—the aesthetics were artistic, and it didn’t take me long to realize why.

After making our way to the bar, where the line went surprisingly fast, I ordered while Cora moved to the beat of the music. Her fingers were tucked into the pockets of my jeans to prevent accidental separation, and it allowed her to sway without paying attention to me.

The bartender slid the shots across the counter, and staring me straight in the eye, asked, “You want any E with that?”

“Excuse me?” I couldn’t have heard him correctly. I swung my head to the people flanking my sides wondering if they’d witness what I just did.

“E? You want any? It’s twenty a pill.”

I didn’t have a clue what to say so I tried to play it cool. “Nah, we just got here. I’ll be back.” I was in the fucking Twilight Zone.

Cora tossed her shot back as quickly as I’d handed it to her. I ordered two more thinking both of us needed to loosen up and let go. Ever since leaving Chapel Hill, our lives had been filled with stress like we’d never witnessed before. Owning and running a business was far different than going to college and pretending like I had the knowledge I needed to succeed. And while I believed Cora would be successful as an engineer, she had to work her ass off at Cornell. Couple that with not having time for the one thing the two of us loved—each other—and it was a recipe for a stress-filled disaster.

I’d never done any drugs, not even smoked pot. And to my knowledge, neither had Cora. Yet here in this warehouse, where the night was endless, the music put a pulse in my body, and the lights were art, I thought it was time to live a little.

“You want to do what?” Cora wasn’t quite as easy to convince as I had been. “James, are you insane?”

“It’s not like I think we should make a habit of it. I just thought it would be fun for one night.”

“You have to work tomorrow.” I could tell by the expression on her face that she’d shrieked that last part. The music was loud, so I hadn’t actually heard the inflection in her tone.

“And you have school, what’s your point?” I took her hands and kissed her knuckles. “We always play it safe. For once, how about we let go?”

God, I could be the star of the next Oxygen movie against peer pressure.

She laughed and threw her hands in the air. “What the hell, why not?” Two shots had apparently liberated her more than I’d thought they would.

Turning back to the dealer behind the bar, I purchased two blue pills with a picture stamped on them. “Smurfs,” he said with a grin as though that should mean something to me. “House special.”

I jerked my head up in acknowledgment, trying not to appear ignorant. Everyone else here seemed to be having a phenomenal time. Cora opened her mouth, and I dropped the tablet on her tongue. Then I handed her a shot before mirroring her actions. Together, we swallowed the pills with the liquor and made our way to the dance floor.

“Promise you won’t let go?”

“Why would I?” Her question caught me off guard.

“I just don’t know what to expect. I need to be certain you’ll be with me through whatever happens.”

The right side of my mouth tipped up in a quirky grin. With my eyebrows raised, I caught her eyes and then scanned the crowd. “By the looks of it, you can expect a good time. And I promise, I won’t let you go.”

She finally saw what I’d been staring at since we walked through the entrance. Everyone here was in love—with the music, the beat, the lights, the bar, the drugs. One thing or another had them all captivated and very friendly.

I hadn’t noticed the sensation creep up on me: the warmth, the heightened tingles brought on by human contact, the halos around everything that glowed. It wasn’t until Cora pressed tightly against my front, reached up and pulled my head down, that it occurred to me just how intoxicated I was. Her lips were like heaven, though her tongue immediately sent sparks to my dick. It was slow and methodical, the build increasing the desire I had pressed against her. The sexual urge was nothing compared to the spiritual connection. Our bodies were fused at the mouth, and our unity was like a religion.

With each song that played, the music got better, and we got closer to the darker perimeter of the dance floor. Our hands roamed each other and anyone near us in an all-out gropefest. I’d never liked strangers touching me, though here, even the random dude brushing up against me as he took a spot against the wall was euphoric. Strategically placed shadows provided hiding places for club goers to enjoy themselves. I couldn’t speak for Cora—and she hadn’t said a word—but I’d never felt so alive in the dark. My fingers ran under her blouse and beneath her bra while hers dipped into my jeans to find my length. There, with hundreds of people surrounding us, we explored the other like we had in the privacy of our bedroom so many times, yet every bit of skin felt different than before.

We inched into a corner. With her back to the wall, I shielded her from prying eyes—not that anyone paid the slightest bit of attention to what we were doing. There was a riser that ran the edge of the room that was maybe six inches high and just wide enough for one person to stand on, and it put Cora at the perfect height for me to take advantage of her. The moment she released the zipper of my jeans, I dropped my hands from the sides of her head to her ass. She freed my dick, while my shirt covered her working it. In a twist of determination I doubted I could ever duplicate, I eased her panties to the side and held them there while I kneaded her ass. She made no attempt to stop me when I took her mouth with mine and then situated myself between her legs. She finally let go after lining the head up with her heated entrance. Cora allowed me to support her weight in my hands until she’d wrapped her legs around my waist and forced me deep inside her pussy.

I was so focused on the pleasure she brought, I forgot about the fact that I was fucking my girlfriend against a wall in a packed club. My hips moved with the undertones of the music. What we were doing was more than intercourse, it was beautiful and something everyone should experience. Her head remained tucked into the crook of my neck, the moisture from her breathing tickled my skin, and when she spoke in a deep groan, I thought I’d rip her apart with my thrusts. They only served to drive her higher, almost to another dimension. And the longer it went, the further away an orgasm became. Unlike having sex sober, I wasn’t chasing the peak—I was basking in the climb.

My jaw clenched, and my muscles ached. Cora hadn’t had the inability to climax and had rung that little bell twice while I made love to her against the wall. It was primal and animalistic, but at the heart of human existence, what we were made to do—except maybe not in a club. I didn’t have any idea how long we’d been here or what time it was, but I was ready to go home. My high had plateaued, and while I still enjoyed it, I’d rather be wrapped up in my bed with my girl without the possibility of someone watching me fuck her like we were stars in an adult video.

Even that desire hadn’t stopped my continual pursuit of her pussy. And this place was like Vegas—there were no windows and no clocks—meaning tomorrow could have come and gone. My mouth was desperate for water, but I was clueless on how to break free from the bond between us to get it. It seemed the instant my mind had wandered from what I was feeling to what I desired, my pace slowed, and all I could imagine was how good cool liquid would feel running down my throat.

“Babe, as good as this is and as much as I don’t want to stop, I need to get out of here.” I breathed the words onto her glistening skin as though they were seductive.

Instead of climbing off my cock, she leaned her head back against the wall and rode me like a horse until her eyes rolled back and her jaw dropped, mimicking the O she was after. When her insides finally stopped pulsing, and her hips quit moving, she lifted her lids and met my eyes with an intoxicated grin. Her pupils were so big, I could barely see the color of her irises, yet the glow on her face was breathtaking. The rosy hue that highlighted her cheekbones, the sheen of perspiration, the way the corners of her mouth tilted up—if I weren’t careful, I’d get lost inside her again.

As if she’d heard my thoughts, her legs slipped down mine and our physical connection was lost. She shimmied her skirt back down to cover her ass, and I zipped up my pants, yet I left my shirt untucked to hide my still-raging erection. I was surprised my dick wasn’t raw. I took Cora’s hand to lead her outside, and once the dancing lasers illuminated her face, I realized smudged mascara lined her eyes. I laughed at how rough she appeared in contrast to her normally well-put-together self.

“You look like a linebacker.” I chuckled with my pronouncement.

Cora didn’t see the humor in my comment. The grimace on her face only spurred me on. If I hadn’t cared whether she took off to the bathroom alone, I would have continued ribbing her, but I wasn’t about to let her out of my sight in this place.

“Your makeup is smeared. I wasn’t talking about your size.” I licked my thumb and tried to wipe the black mess from under her lashes.

She broke out into laughter and swatted at my hand. “That’s disgusting, James.”

I leaned down to whisper in her ear as we continued walking. “And fucking you against a wall at a rave wasn’t?” It had to be the drugs talking. I didn’t speak that way to Cora—she had never shown any interest in dirty talk. Even though we had fucked like rabbits, the language stayed PG.

Her feet stopped moving, and Cora turned into me. Grabbing a fist full of my shirt, her small hand pulled me down so we were eye to eye. “Keep it up, and you’ll be fucking me on the hood of your car in a parking lot.”

Growled.

I growled at her smutty words dancing in my head. I doubted she heard the animalistic noise over the thump of the bass and the beat of the drums, though there was no mistaking the hungry look in her eyes.

“Come on, let’s get you home.”

Cora chuckled as she attempted to remove the black smudges beneath her eyes without a mirror. The cool fall breeze felt amazing when it hit me outside the club. The air was chilly, yet coupled with the perspiration covering my skin, it was refreshing and sobering.

The two of us giggled about nothing while making our way through the cars. And had I not been coming off the best high of my entire life—even better than state championship wins and college basketball games—I probably would have noticed the cop sitting at the end of the street. And had I noticed him, I likely wouldn’t have gotten behind the wheel of a car, and I definitely wouldn’t have rolled through the stop sign next to his vehicle.

***

“You care to tell me how you got arrested for driving while intoxicated?” I couldn’t tell if Neil was truly pissed, or if he thought the situation was absurd.

“Does it matter, jackass? Just come get me.”

“Yeah, see I’m not sure how you think I’m going to do that in the middle of a workday when my partner didn’t show up this morning.”

“Neil, this shit isn’t funny. I used my call to get in touch with your stupid ass because I was afraid Cora wouldn’t hear her phone. I don’t care if you have to close the place down, come bail me out.”

“Where am I going to get bail money, Carp?”

“Try the fucking bank. There’s plenty in the business account. I’ll replace whatever you have to use tomorrow.”

“They haven’t told you what they set bail at?”

“Dude, no one’s told me shit other than I was under arrest. Don’t make me call a fucking lawyer.”

“Calm down. I’ll send Hannah after you. She should be out of class at this point. We’ll figure it out.”

“Thanks, man.”

“Hey, Carp?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t be surprised when Hannah tries to get you into rehab. She flipped out on Cora last night. Funniest shit I’ve seen in a long time. Nothing like a sober chick talking to a girl who’s still blitzed about falling off a wagon she’d never been on.”

“I hate you.” I didn’t hate him, but he and Hannah would have a field day with this shit. Neither Cora nor I had ever been in any kind of trouble—figured we’d go for the gusto.

Thankfully, the cop had been lenient with Cora, probably because she was cute as fuck and flirted just a little. There’d been no point in trying to deny I was messed up when the guy had me get out of the car. All he had to do was look at my pupils and notice there was no color surrounding them because they were enormous. And taking into account where I’d just pulled out from, the picture was easy to paint. I’d asked him to take me and let Cora call Hannah to come pick her up. He’d agreed yet didn’t wait around for her ride to show. We’d left with me in the back of the cruiser before she got there. Luckily, I’d seen Hannah and Neil pulling up just as we left, so she hadn’t spent any time alone. She also wasn’t now facing criminal charges.

I didn’t have a clue what time it was—they’d taken my phone and watch when they checked me into this luxury resort equipped with three walls, twenty-seven bars, and my very own semi-private bathroom. The crowd in this place was restless, and if I closed my eyes and hummed, I could pretend it was a party, and the temporary tattoos on my fingertips were my stamp to get back in the door.

“Carpenter,” a deep voice bellowed from down the corridor of cells.

I stood and walked to the door, holding the bars like every cliché action flick I’d ever seen. I almost stuck my head in to get a better look, and then thought better of it. Instead, I waited for the guy to find me. “Yeah.”

He flicked his head at me and stood in front of the door. “C74.” The latch clicked, and he pulled the door to the side. “You’re out.”

I didn’t ask any questions, and it wasn’t like I needed to gather my things from my suite. My feet moved as fast as the cop let me go without running the guy over in an unnecessary jailbreak or an attempted assault on an officer.

The guy never introduced himself or spoke to me after informing me I was being set free, so when we got to a desk and he just pointed, I took that as instruction and sat my happy ass down. An hour or so later—I’d counted to sixty, sixty times using the Mississippi method—the latest member of the clan of mutes handed me a plastic bag with my crap in it and let me out the door. They’d released me on my own recognizance; however, I had a court date in thirty days—assuming Hannah didn’t have me in rehab before then.

I’d expected to find Neil’s girlfriend waiting on me outside, but to my relief, Neil was there in slacks and a dress shirt.

With his hands in his pockets and a shit-eating grin on his face, he said, “It’s amazing what you can find out about someone in jail under the Freedom of Information Act, yet you can’t even get so much as a confirmation someone is in a hospital who’s protected by HIPAA.” He shook his head as if this was fascinating information I should look into further.

“I’m not the least bit surprised criminals have no rights while the ill are sheltered. So what’d it cost you?”

“Nothing. They said they were letting you out on your signature and told me you’d be ready in about an hour. That part was a lie—it was more like an hour and a half. And I figured since I busted you out for free, I could spare thirty minutes.”

I clapped him on the shoulder, grateful he was here in place of his girl—I loved her, but no one needed to be lectured about their time in the pokey while hung over. “Thanks. How’s Cora?”

“She was a little rattled last night, so I sent her a message on my way here to tell her you’d be home, and she seemed okay.”

“Thank God she didn’t get caught up in this shit. You taking me home?”

“Nope. I’ve got work to do, and now I’m almost two hours behind. So you’re coming in. Close your door and no one will see just how bad you look…or smell. Jesus. Better yet, take a whore bath in the sink before you step foot in the office. You reek of sex, sweat, and stale alcohol. Please tell me the first was not acquired during your stay at Casa de Custody.”

I just glared at him and got in the car. Neil tried to talk it up on the ride to the office, but I wasn’t interested in mindless chatter. My head hurt, I stunk, filth covered my body, and all I wanted to do was go home to shower.

Instead, I got to serve another sentence at the office until Neil deemed it time to retire for the evening. When I reminded him of my impounded car, he assured me Cora and Hannah had retrieved it sometime today.

After I finally stumbled through the door, I realized my girl had been anticipating just how bad off I’d be. She coaxed me into a warm bath—I now understood Chandler’s love for them in Friends—then offered me my favorite sweats and two aspirin. I expected a lecture, instead, she curled up in bed with me and turned on the television. I was out before she’d found a channel to stick with, and when I woke in the morning, she was right where she always was—by my side with her head on my chest.

God, I loved this woman.

She never failed me. I couldn’t imagine life without her. And I realized at that moment, with her soft breath blowing against my skin, it was time to make it official. We’d talked about engagement, we’d flirted with the issue—although with her going to grad school I hadn’t pushed. But, now it was time.