I slide off Lance and hop onto the floor. My knees quake beneath me, my limbs still riddled with excess pleasure as I try and bend down to find my panties.

Lance pushes up onto his elbows. “Not to be argumentative or anything but I thought it was pretty good,” he says.

I pull my panties up beneath my skirt. “An argumentative lawyer?” I quip. “Surely, you’re joking.”

He chuckles and sits up. “It wasn’t good for you? Because I kind of thought you...”

“Oh, I did. I definitely did.”

“Nice.”

I nod and look for my blouse. “That’s not why it was bad.”

“It was bad as in naughty bad,” he says. “Not quality bad.”

“Yes. Obviously.” I give up my search and pull a tank top out of my dresser drawer instead. “My father’s gonna kill me.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“He’s gonna kill you, too.”

“What?” He squints. “Seriously?”

“Maybe.”

He lays back down and rests his hands beneath his head. “Well, luckily for me, he’s in jail.”

I glare at him.

“Okay, bad joke,” he says. “It’s kind of ironic though, isn’t it?”

“What is?”

“Well, I’m a lawyer,” he says. “I’m darn good-looking and self-sufficient. Educated. I went to Harvard Law.”

I shrug. “What’s your point, man?”

“I’m a catch!” he says. “Most dads love me.”

I chuckle as I bend down for his tie. “Good point.”

I fling it at him and it lands on his chest. He takes it and stands, pulling his pants up along with him.

I bite my thumbnail, holding back a primal urge as I admire him. “This is not good,” I say again, mostly to myself.

Lance walks to the bathroom and disappears behind the door. He returns after a moment, sans condom, and stands in front of the mirror in the corner and tucks his shirt in.

“Don’t you think you’re over-thinking this a little?” he asks.

“Honestly, I think I under-thunk it,” I say. “I think I did the same stupid thing I always do and damn the consequences. I’m immature and impulsive and the Daddy’s Girl in me is telling me to knock this shit off before it happens again.”

He buttons his shirt and lays the tie around his neck. “And what does the grown-ass, beautiful, independent woman have to say about that?” he asks.

My face screws up. “She kinda wants to do it again.”

He smiles at my reflection. “Just kinda?”

“Okay, she wants to strip down, roll over, and get fucked but like I said, she’s immature, impulsive, and doesn’t give a rat’s ass about consequences.”

He turns around and picks up his jacket. “Trix, I’m not a behavioral specialist or anything but it’s fairly obvious that what just happened was directly influenced by whatever it was you spoke with your father about today.”

“Yeah, well...” I exhale hard. “You’re probably right.”

Lance stares at me with soft eyes are he slides his jacket on.

“You sure you have to leave?” I ask. “I wasn’t kidding about the rolling over and getting fucked thing.”

He looks at his watch. “It’s Monday.”

“And?”

“And... Haley has a free block on Mondays, so I like to meet her on campus for lunch.”

“Oh.” I smile. “That’s sweet.”

“I could cancel, though. If you want to talk or... otherwise. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”

“No.” I take a step back. “You go. Don’t cancel. Those lunches mean more to her than you realize, believe me.”

“You’re right. It’s Haley first,” he says. “Always.”

“Right.” I rub my forehead. “You should probably go anyway. This whole thing kind of screamed mistake from the start, right?”

“Yeah.” His throat clears.

We stare at each other, wondering what to say. What else is there? It’s admittedly nice to finally snap that tension that’s been building between us since the dance but after seeing my father today, I have to tread carefully.

Nothing is more important than family.

“I know I’ve already asked this but you never answered before, so...” Lance takes a step closer. “Are you okay, Trix?”

“Yeah,” I say, taking a breath as a rock settles in my gut. “I have no idea what I’m going to do next but... yeah, I’ll be okay.”

He leans in and kisses my cheek. “You know where to find me.”

I nod. “Thank you.”

“Bye, Trix.”

“Bye.”

I watch him leave, holding my breath as he opens the door. He turns back at the last second and looks at me with the slightest hint of a smile on his face.

The door closes and I realize that I’m smiling, too.