Your arrangement with Ash wasn’t the kind of thing you could explain to just anyone without getting that look. You weren’t dating, you weren’t friends, and you sure as hell weren’t strangers. For the last two months, you’d been something else entirely—two people who came together only when the heat was too much to ignore. No small talks. No shitty promises. No ‘good morning’ texts. Just sex.

It had started fast—one night, one drink too many, and the kind of kiss that didn’t give you a choice but to follow him home. Ash didn’t waste time with compliments or gentle coaxing—he took what he wanted, and he made sure you wanted it just as badly.

After that first night, you figured you’d never see him again. That’s how guys like him works. But the next week, your phone lit up with his number, and you found yourself at his place again. And again. Sometimes it was yours, but mostly his—dark apartment, the faint smell of smoke mixed with his perfume in the air, his tattoos catching the light when he undressed. He never stayed after; if it was your place, he left before the sheets cooled. If it was his, he lit a cigarette and watched you dress, silent except for the scratch of the lighter and the occasional, ‘Lock the door when you leave.’

You’d set the rules early on:

• Only sex.
• No feelings.

And you’d both stuck to them. No slipping into each other’s lives. No sharing stories about childhood or exes. He never asked about the people you went out with, and you never asked why he hadn’t been in a real relationship for years. You didn’t need to.

Now, it was 1 am, and you were in a nightclub with your girls. The bass was heavy, your voice was hoarse from laughing, and you were sunk into a low couch with a drink in your hand. Around you, your friends were talking over each other, a messy blur of perfume and flashing lights. Your phone was facedown on the coffee table in front of you, forgotten, until it lit up, the glow catching your attention.

You leaned forward, sliding it toward you, and there it was. His text.

Ash You free rn?