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Tegan held the embossed invitation between her thumb and forefinger as she crossed the street toward the club. The air was chilly for May, but there was no way she was going to hide under a jacket tonight. Not after the hours she'd spent getting ready. She'd redone her makeup twice in an attempt to project the perfect image—a combination of innocence and experience. She had to cover all her bases, because tonight the sky was the limit.
God, she hadn't been this excited about going out for a night on the town in nearly a year. It was as though she'd been transported back to her university days—the energy she'd always had running beneath the surface of her skin, ready to burst forth. It didn't matter that she'd be going on her own, because tonight wasn't about having a run with the girls through the various places in Toronto's club district. Tonight was something special, something more. Not the sort of thing most of her girlfriends would understand.
Mavericks had finally reopened.
"Tegan!" She turned to see a trio standing near the front of the line—Jasmine, Stef and Hanna. The girls waved madly, Stef bouncing in her stilettos as she yelled, "I knew you'd be here tonight."
"Are you kidding me? I had it circled in red marker on my calendar, like, three months ago." The sad thing was she'd actually done that. "Is Gavin coming?"
"Bastard had to work. I think he's going to try and leave early so he can make at least a part of tonight."
"I'll keep my eyes open, then."
Jasmine turned Stef's face and started kissing her, effectively ending the conversation. Tegan couldn't help but giggle. "I'll see you in there."
The lineup was less organized than what she would have expected, but far less crazy than she would have imagined, given the significance of the evening. Like many of the club's members, she'd been devastated when she'd learned of the attack on Josh and the subsequent fire that had destroyed much of the inside of the building. Mavericks was one of the few places she could let her guard down and be herself. Even now as she stood outside, wearing her black corset, leather skirt and high heels, she wasn't scared to let anyone see her.
It had taken her a long time to come to that level of peace when it came to her sexual preferences. She'd been uneasy in her own skin growing up, not fully understanding the mixed signals her body continued to send her during her awakening sexuality. And while her parents were awesome, she couldn't imagine going to her mom with questions like, "I get aroused when I pinch my nipples really hard and slap my own ass. Is that normal?"
Thank God for the internet.
Still, that was years ago and she now knew not only what she liked, but exactly where to go to scratch the various itches she developed. Wouldn't her coworkers freak if they realized what she liked to do on a Friday night.
Tie me up. Tie me down. Turn around and let me flog you.
Woohoo!
The crowd continued to buzz as the line grew. Tegan found her spot quickly, chatting quietly with some of the others she recognized from before the fire. Even as she laughed about the crappy remake that was the current big release in the theaters, her mind was distracted. She couldn't imagine they'd have made too many changes to Mavericks during the rebuilding. While Josh was known for his creativity, he'd also prided himself on consistency. Not that Josh was running the club anymore—which still felt weird to her—so things were definitely up in the air.
