Chapter 38. Caught

Ava

I woke to sunlight stabbing through the hotel’s thin curtains, my head pounding, mouth dry like I’d swallowed sand.

Claire was gone, her side of the bed cold, only a faint trace of lavender lingering on the pillow. My body ached, thighs sore, hips bruised, a dull throb between my legs from her mouth, her fingers, the way we’d ground against each other until I saw stars.

I stretched, wincing, and checked my phone. 9:17 a.m. No messages. Good.

I didn’t want to think.

I wanted to feel, to drown in something bigger than my own head. I rolled out of bed, naked, skin still tacky from last night, and grabbed the booklet from the nightstand. Pages of faces, bodies, names.

I flipped to the men, scanning until one caught me, Jace, 32, built like a linebacker, dark eyes, a jaw that looked like it could crack stone. The kind of guy who’d ruin me and not ask questions.

I called the front desk, voice scratchy. “Send Jace to 214. Now.”

“Th