“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” Gabe says as he pulls me by the hand. He’s been acting different all night, all quiet and brooding. It makes him appear more mysterious, even in his casual black shirt and jeans.

I look around me. Just long hallways lit by cool fluorescent light—not too different from what I see at the hospital all day, but I didn't expect The Excelsior to have this kind of stark, spartan service corridors.

“How do you even know the way?”

“This is my dad’s favorite hotel in the city. I spent a lot of time in this building as a nosy kid. Segregation by class used to be a big thing back when this hotel was erected, so there's a ton of these narrow hallways for housekeepers and other service staff to use. You’ve got to love old buildings.”

He pushes a door that opens into the fire escape stairs. The light above us isn’t working, so it gets darker and darker as we climb up.

“So people just let you poke around while they were working?”

“My dad has always been a pretty important man. Underpaid hospitality staff don't want to risk causing offense to a man like him. Besides, people often don’t pay much attention to kids.”

A door creaks as it swings open, pushed by Gabe’s strong hands. The moon illuminates his magnificent form at the doorway and spills the rest of its light onto the emergency staircase. From down here, he appears powerful and almost picturesque, like a Greek God in a painting.

A cool breeze caresses my arm as I climb up to the top of the stairs, where Gabe's holding the door open for me. It feels refreshing on a warm night like this. My knee-length floral circle skirt blows in the wind.

My breath catches in my throat when I realize where he's taken me.

It’s the balcony at the top of the hotel where we first met—it wasn’t really our first meeting, but it was as far as Gabe is concerned.

Still, I’ll never forget that night. The first night Gabe looked at me with desire in his sharp, green eyes.

Just like that night, the moon hangs low in the sky, as if its fullness has made it heavier. But the hall where the award event was held is dark and quiet tonight.

It makes for a surreal atmosphere. It reminds me that not too long ago, I was overjoyed to have Gabe’s gaze on me. But tonight, that doesn’t feel like enough anymore.

I thought I’d be happy for the chance to spend any time with Gabe, but I’m greedy. I’ll admit it. I’ve experienced more amazing things than I could’ve imagined, and they’re still not enough.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get enough, when it comes to Gabe. It feels like no matter how much time I spend with him, I’ll still want more. I’ll still crave him when he’s gone.

And he will be gone.

There’s no way for this to end happily. Things are way too messed up for that. When It happened, I knew I had to let go of any illusion that I was ever going to be with Gabe.

Of course that wasn’t my first thought when the cops kicked Sam’s bedroom door open and I saw him lying on the floor… but the thought did occur to me at some point that same night. In my defense, Gabe was right there with me, so naturally he was on my mind.

“Do you like it?” Gabe asks.

“Huh?” With my hand still on the balustrade, I twist to look at him.

“Do you like the surprise?” Gabe wraps his arms around me from behind and kisses my shoulder over the strap of my white tank top. “You seem distracted.”

“Oh, right… Yeah. Of course. It’s beautiful. And we have it to ourselves.”

“Yeah. We have the same view of the ocean from my room, but here you can hear the waves and feel the breeze. I thought you’d like it.”

“I do. Thanks, Gabe.”

Gabe remains quiet for a couple of seconds, but then he chuckles. “Did you just call me ‘babe’?”

I forgot I’m supposed to call him “Gabriel” like everyone else at the hospital does. But it doesn’t seem like he finds it strange.

“I guess I just did,” I admit.

“I like that you’re so affectionate these days, angel.” Gabe’s arms tighten around me. He’s making it hard for me to breathe, but I don’t mind it. He could do whatever he wants to me and I’d like it.

Besides, compared to the pain in my heart, this is nothing.

He thinks I’ve been affectionate? I’ve actually been holding myself back a lot. I wasn’t worried about how this was going to mess with my mind in the beginning, but it’s all I can think about now.

I’m in too deep to get out of this unscathed. When this ends—and it will end—I’m going to have scars all over my heart. Then it will scab over, and the hard crust will make it impossible for another man to enter.

I’ve seen grieving widows at the hospital. I know the fate that’s waiting for me. Although we’ve only been seeing each other for a short while, I’ve loved him my whole life. I can’t imagine someone else taking his place. Ever.

I’m doomed to die alone. When Gabe leaves, I should adopt a few cats from the shelter and get a head start on my transformation into the neighborhood’s crazy cat lady.

Maybe Mom won’t mind helping with feeding and cleaning after the cats; she’s idle at home most days. But should I be worried about Ray doing something mean like kicking a kitten?

“You were so sexy that night, angel,” Gabe says, his fingers digging into my flesh. “You were also lovely and innocent. But also sinfully hot. You were a lot of things.”

I giggle. Those words should sound silly to me, but they make the butterflies in my stomach flutter because it’s Gabe saying them.

This is so stupid.

I’m stupid. For getting myself into this mess.

“What made you come up to talk to me that night?” he asks.

“Shouldn’t I have done that?” I deflect the question.

“Angel, that was the best thing to have happened to me in a long time. You're crazy if you think I have a problem with you having done that.” Gabe chuckles.

Boy, you don't know what I’ve gotten you into, I think to myself.

Gabe says, “You could've approached any guy and he probably would've been happy to pop your cherry for you.”

Is that what he thinks that was? That I was just looking for any guy to lose my virginity to?

“Well, you did win the award.” I hope he’ll give up and stop asking such tough questions.

Gabe laughs. “Good point. I’m also about forty years younger than the other guys.”

“Exactly.”

“I’m glad you picked me.” He grabs my chin and turns my head so I face him. “I really like you, Jacqueline.”

My heart stops.

This is all I’ve ever wanted my whole life. It’s within my reach but I can never have it.

“I like you too, Gabriel. I’ve had a lot of fun this past couple of weeks,” I say, trying to sound casual.

My lips and tongue feel stiff. It’s so hard to get the words out. But I have to do this.

This is as far as Gabe and I can go. I can’t, in good conscience, let things go any further.

A small frown appears on Gabe’s forehead, but he quickly hides it.

“It makes me happy to hear that.” He smiles, then he lets go of my waist and leans on the balustrade beside me, our arms touching. “I came here to talk to you about something.”

I tilt my head and look at him.

Gabe stares far ahead at the open ocean. Below us, a handful of people walk across the footpath along the beach, their flip-flops and feet covered with sand.

“I thought the views would help make it easier to have this conversation, but this is still pretty hard,” Gabe says without looking at me.

“What is it?”  

Did he find out about who I am?

My heartbeat quickens as my brain goes through all the possible reasons for Gabe to feel like he needs to have a serious talk with me.

No, he wouldn’t be able to remain this calm if he knew.

“I love that you trust me enough to let me push your boundaries. It’s a privilege to be the one to introduce you to these things,” Gabe says. “But that also means that I have the responsibility to let you know who I really am, so you can decide for yourself if it’s a good idea to trust someone like me.”

“This sounds serious,” I say nervously. I feel like I know where this is going, and I don’t like it.

“It’s a matter of life and death.” Gabe huffs a wry, quiet laugh. He turns to me and stares at me with stormy green eyes. “Jacqueline, I killed someone.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” I say, a little too quickly.

Shut up! You’re not even supposed to know what’s happened.

Listening to the voice screaming in my head, I add, “I mean, I can’t imagine you doing something like that.”

“It’s true. And he was my best friend,” Gabe says.

Okay, so I guess we’re talking about it now, then. I count my breaths and slow them down so I don’t hyperventilate.

“You don’t have to say anything. You don’t even have to believe what I say. Just listen,” Gabe says.

Obviously, he thinks I’ve been stunned into silence by his shocking confession. In reality, I’ve known all along.

“I had a friend. Well, he was more like a brother. We grew up together.” He pauses and his lips form a thin smile as he looks at the waves in the distance.

“Do you miss him?” I try to stabilize my voice. It comes out a little shaky, but Gabe probably mistakes my own grief for shock over his big revelation.

“Every day. Every day, I think about how much fun I’d be having if he were around, and I hate myself for what I did.” Gabe gives me a sad smile. “He would’ve loved to meet you.”

My chest pangs with pain.

I don’t know if it’s because of grief or because I hate seeing Gabe tortured like this when I know he hasn’t done anything wrong.

It’s been eight years. And every day during those eight years, he’s blamed himself. My heart breaks at the thought.

“My friend, he… He used to be this happy, cheerful, outgoing guy. Then, he changed. Maybe he couldn’t stand the pressure of medical residency, or maybe he’d always been depressed.” Gabe lets out a big sigh.

“I don’t know,” he says. “And it kills me that I don’t know. I was supposed to be his best friend. I failed him.”

“You didn’t kill him,” I say, putting one hand on his shoulder.

“That’s not the whole story.”

I know. I know “the whole story.”

“He became more and more isolated,” Gabe says. “We were sharing an apartment but I barely saw him. I thought it was just because we were both medical students, and then medical residents, so I chalked it up to us being busy. He seemed to be always sleeping when I was home.”

I remember that time. I was texting him a lot and would only get short, one-word replies. I thought he was just busy, too.

“One day, he emerged from his room. He was chatty. He was acting like his old self. We had a nice conversation. We laughed a lot.” Gabe exhales loudly. “That was the last time we talked.

“He told me he’d gotten into target shooting. He showed me his hands, and they had these little red and black marks on them.” Gabe opens up both his hands with his palms facing up. “Powder burns.

“He said his gun blew up and he asked if he could borrow mine. I told him we should go target shooting together, and he said we’d go next week, because he’d already made plans to go with a bunch of his other friends,” he says, his breathing growing more labored with regret.

“Well, he wasn’t around anymore by the week after that. He shot himself the very next day. With my gun.”

Tears well up in Gabe’s green eyes, making them appear like they’re shining from the way they reflect the moonlight.

“It wasn’t your fault,” I say as I wrap my arms around his shoulders and pull him close.

I’ve always wanted to do this—when I saw him watch the funeral from a distance, or when my family was yelling at him, blaming him for Sam’s suicide. I know how much It hurt him, and I’ve always wanted to be a source of comfort and absolution for him.

“I should’ve seen the signs,” Gabe says. “I was his best friend and his roommate. I should’ve known better than to lend him a fucking gun when he’d been acting weird for weeks.” He wipes his eyes and blink a few times as he gains his composure.

“It wasn’t your fault,” I repeat. I’d repeat this sentence as many times as it takes to heal him. “If he really wanted to do it, he would’ve found some other way to do it.” I rub his back soothingly.

“That’s not what a lot of people thought. They saw me as the piece of shit who handed a gun to a suicidal guy. Hell, they probably still see me as a killer.”

“Well, I’m not one of those people.”

“You weren’t there,” he says.

I was. I know everything. I just can’t tell you.

“You think I have things under control, but you don’t know me, angel.” Gabe stares intensely into my eyes.

You don’t know just how much I know you.

“You still haven’t used your safe word yet, and it worries me,” he says. “I wonder if you’re doing things you’re not comfortable with, just to please me. It makes me happy, of course. But you should know that I’m probably not as reliable as you think. I could hurt you if you give me all the reins. I don’t always know what’s going on in your head.”

“I promise you I’ll let you know if I can’t take it.”

“Good girl.” Gabe smiles and kisses the back of my hand. “Now, do you want to tell me why you picked me that night? You don’t seem like the kind of girl who’d just go for a random guy, especially for your first time.”

Not for the first time, I feel like I’m transparent and he’s seen through me. It’s a terrifying feeling.

Luckily, I’ve thought of a good answer.

“You got me,” I say, hiding my face in the crook of his neck so he wouldn’t see my expression. “Ever since I started working at Hill Crest Hospital, I’d been dying to see you. Some of the nurses had been clamoring about your return for months.”

“So you decided to give me your virginity based on some gossip?”

“Well, no, I thought I was just going to talk to you, but then… Then it turned into something else.” I bite my bottom lip and look up at him from under my eyelashes, hoping we can end this conversation and just get back to fucking.

I don’t need things to get any more intense emotionally. But my body can take anything he gives me.

A smile spreads across Gabe's cheeks. “I see. You just couldn't resist me, huh?”

“Yeah.” I return his smile.

Just as I’d hoped, Gabe pulls me into his arms and gives me a passionate kiss. I fight the urge to melt into his arms and give into his lips.

Instead, I turn around to face the ocean and rub the front of Gabe’s pants with my palm. He’s already hard.

I look back at him over my shoulder, maintaining eye contact as I slide my panties down my legs and step out of them.

I raise my hand behind me, place it behind his neck, and pull him close. I stick my ass out until I feel his hard-on.

As I let out a small moan, Gabe flips up the back of my skirt.

“You're wet, angel,” he says in a hoarse voice as he runs his fingers over my pussy lips.

“Yeah. I’m ready for you.” I grind my ass back against Gabe.

I hear his groan and the sound of his fly being unzipped, and I know I’ve won this round.

“Fuck me,” I whisper as he spears into me. I hold on to the rough stone of the balustrade and look out into the ocean.

I’m glad he can't see my face right now, because a tear has just escaped my right eye. It dries quickly in the cool breeze.

I need Gabe to fuck the pain out of my heart, until all I can feel is the pain he inflicts on my body, and the pleasure that's bound to follow.

“Hurt me,” I whisper, and he does.

He pinches my nipple and bites the back of my neck until I sigh and whimper.

This hurts so good.