Desire

I arrived with my tape measure and my nerves frayed. All I wanted was to avoid the west wing, but he had already asked for me at reception.

When I climbed into the passenger seat and he said, “Look what you’re doing to me,” I knew I wouldn’t leave that taxi the same person I was before.

I took off my sweatshirt on the stairs, waited to hear the shower running upstairs, and returned to the kitchen determined to stop that man from looking at the refrigerator.

I was only supposed to take them home after the party. I never imagined that her alcohol-loosened friend would turn that late-night drive into something I still haven't finished telling.

I like provoking people, I admit it. But that morning, when I picked them up in the truck with nothing beneath my leggings, I knew the weekend would get out of hand.

The apartment was an icebox, so I knocked on her door to ask about the heating. She came out in pajamas and offered me coffee—something I wouldn’t forget.

I walked into that workshop giving orders, as I always do. I never imagined that a grease-covered mechanic would remind me who was really in charge that afternoon.

I never imagined that the giant defender my father insulted from the stands would end up sharing the most intense night of my life.

We'd been together for months when I dared to tell him, with his cock still in my hand, that I'd never wanted a man who understood pleasure so much.

I asked him to come upstairs just as he was, his shirt hanging from his shoulder and the smell of work on his skin. I never told him he was the one I would miss most.

I didn’t choose all three of them at once. It happened gradually, until one night I discovered they were messaging each other to get rid of their rivals.

I met her in an English course and thought she was shy. That night, in the back seat, I discovered she was far bolder than she seemed.

When my husband brought his friend home to live with us, I thought it would be an uncomfortable month. I never imagined he would push me toward what I was afraid to confess.

I went up to the apartment alone to shower before the others. What I didn’t expect was someone across the courtyard waiting for exactly that moment.

Bored in front of the television and alone in a bed that was too large, she closed her eyes and let her hand do what she hadn’t allowed herself to do for two years.

Marcos asked me not to judge or ask questions when his friend came over. That same night, from the next room, I learned what kind of Friday visitors they had.

I’d spent weeks watching her from the corner of my eye as she emptied the wastebaskets. That night, alone together in the office, she was the one who asked me to help her.

I was the serious girl with the ponytail and notes tucked under my arm. He was twice my age, with a calm that undid me whenever he looked at me.

The sandstorm swept away the entire caravan. Alone among the dunes, he was rescued by a dark figure whose secret awakened a forbidden desire.

She slid the bolt behind me, and before I could protest, her fingers were already searching for my belt. She only said, “I heard it was your birthday.”