Part 2The Best Hunters Often Appear as Prey

The alarm rang three times before it finally pulled me out of that blush-inducing erotic dream.

I glanced at my phone: 9:27 a.m. Being late was inevitable.

Feeling the sticky wetness beneath me, I sighed in resignation.

Since I was already late, I might as well shower before heading to work.

Steam filled the bathroom. My fingers brushing over my skin made me shiver, and I couldn't help sliding them lower.

I couldn't hold back the sounds escaping my mouth.

After about fifteen minutes, I stared at my flushed reflection in the mirror, lost in a brief daze, just as my phone rang.

"Emily, are you going on that blind date I set up for the day after tomorrow or not? You're 24 already. Can't you let your dad and me relax a little? Your Aunt Karen's daughter is only a year older than you and already has a kid."

Afraid I would refuse like before, the voice on the line softened.

"Are you still hung up on little Ethan? With his family, his education, someone that perfect wouldn't be interested in you. Let go of those thoughts. Dress up nicely the day after tomorrow and go on the date. Mom just wants what's best for you."

My mind drifted back to that summer afternoon during my freshman year of college.

The heat was unbearable, and I was in the mood, so I locked myself in my room to watch some adult videos.

At the moment I was about to climax, I moaned Ethan's name in a haze.

I wrote it all down in my diary, including my deepest, most shameful secrets. Then my mom accidentally found it. She called me shameless for a young girl and hurled every ugly word at her own daughter.

She even spread it as gossip to others. I felt like I had been stripped naked in public, pointed at like meat on a butcher's block.

How did I feel back then? Ashamed, suicidal, angry that I couldn't control my mind and body, and heartbroken that my mom shared such a private disgrace.

To avoid her bringing it up again, I agreed to the blind date.