Chapter 4: The Third Wheel

Saturday morning broke cold and gray over the mansion, the kind of light that made everything look slightly bruised. Sophia woke in her childhood bed with the sheets twisted around her naked body, the faint crust of Julian’s dried cum still flaking on her lower back like a brand she hadn’t washed off. She lay there for a long minute, staring at the lavender walls she’d begged her mother to repaint when she was fifteen, feeling the ache between her legs and the deeper one in her chest. No regret. Just anticipation that tasted like metal.

She showered quickly—hot water pounding her skin, careful to avoid scrubbing the evidence from her back. Dressed in the bare minimum: black tank top, no bra, loose cotton shorts that rode up her thighs. Hair still damp, face bare except for the faint redness around her eyes from last night’s tears. She found Julian in the kitchen, already brewing coffee, sleeves rolled, looking calm in a way that made her stomach flip.

“Riley’s coming at three,” he said without preamble, pouring her a mug. “You direct. Every detail. But you don’t get to come until I say.”

Sophia took the coffee, fingers brushing his. “And if I beg?”

“You beg louder.”

Riley arrived at 3:07—knocking once, then letting themselves in with the spare key Sophia had texted them last night. Non-binary, mid-twenties, sharp cheekbones, swirling black ink tattoos crawling up both arms and disappearing under a fitted black tee. Short dark hair, pierced septum, smirk that said they’d seen worse than whatever this family could throw at them. They carried a small duffel—change of clothes, lube, a strap-on harness they didn’t bother hiding.

“Living room,” Sophia said, voice steady despite the pulse hammering in her throat. “Couch pushed back. Lights low. Red bulb in the lamp.”

They moved the furniture in silence—couch shoved against the wall, coffee table dragged aside, red bulb casting bloody shadows across the hardwood and the family photos still hanging on the far wall. Sophia stood in the center, arms crossed under her breasts, nipples already tight against the thin tank.