“I told you to have your phone on,” I say.
“I know. I’m so sorry,” she replies. “I didn’t realize the battery had run down.”
“Your phone’s been dead for several hours.”
“I took a nap. You tried to call?”
I eye her off-the-shoulder sweater and dangling earrings. “You’re dressed up for a nap.”
Her sapphire blue eyes show some worry. “Our maid hasn’t done the laundry yet, so I just grabbed the first thing I saw.”
That doesn’t explain the earrings, but I allow the lie.
For now.
“I’m really, really sorry I let the phone die,” Casey apologizes. “It won’t happen again.”
“It better not. Or I might think you’re having second thoughts.”
“No! Definitely not. I’m on.”
“What else were you doing this afternoon?”
“Um, reading.”
“What were you reading?”
“Random, naughty stuff online.”
She’s a pretty good liar. Has probably had a good amount of practice in her life. I ask, “What kind of naughty stuff?”
“Stories with dubcon and noncon.”
“You like that stuff?”
“Yeah. I think we secretly all do. I bet even men fantasize about not having control. There’s nothing wrong with fantasies. Doesn’t mean I want it to happen in real life. I mean, in real life, if some gross, creepy old perv twice my age groped me without my permission, I’d want to fry his balls.”
“Would you really?” I challenge.
She bristles. “I wouldn’t do nothing.”
“It happens all the time.”
She raises a manicured brow at me. “You know through experience?”
“I don’t have to grope women without their consent. They come onto me. Like you did.”
She blushes. It’s cute.
“But I see it happen all the time. Especially from men with power and money. And the most I’ve seen a woman do is walk away. Usually, she suffers the discomfort in silence. Some even return an awkward smile.”
“They probably didn’t want to make a scene. I would.”
Studying her, I’m not sure. She sounds convinced, but reality doesn’t always play out the way one thinks it will.
“Ever made a scene?” I ask. “I bet you’ve been groped at least once at a frat party or bar.”
“There aren’t any fraternities at ND, though there are plenty of parties, especially in the guys’ dorms and off campus. And, yeah, it’s happened. It was usually too dark to see which asshole actually did it. But ifyouwant to grope me, I’m all for it.”