Welcome to the I Chapter of Runaway: A Choose Your Own Adventure Novel. Please be advised, there may be adult content depending on the choices you make. Please vote for your choice and I will post the next chapter tomorrow. To start at the beginning of the story, click here or scroll through my blog for all my A to Z posts.

Your choice for I was Insist they Stay.

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“Then why are we leaving?” she asked, almost hesitantly.

“I don’t know,” Sevy admitted, and it was evident by his defeated tone that he was disappointed in himself for not realizing it.

“Me neither. Let’s stay, Sevy. I got all dressed up and everything.” She smiled at him, and he nodded.

“You’re right, let’s stay.” They unbuckled and got out of the car. He walked around to her side and took her hand. She left her sweatshirt in the car. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“For what?” she asked.

“For not getting upset with me. For insisting we stay. There’s no reason Sally should force us to leave.” He said her name with a measure of venom like it was a disgusting word.

“Hey,” Aralyn started. “Why does Sally work here if you dislike her so much?” He stopped walking and looked at Aralyn.

“Was it that obvious that I don’t like her?” he asked.

Aralyn smiled ruefully. “Kind of, yeah.”

He sighed heavily. “Let’s walk this way,” he pulled her toward the side of the building. “So, there’s a history with Sally and me,” he began. Aralyn’s immediate thought was, ‘no shit,’ but she decided not to voice that. “She and I dated once.” The same thought flitted across her mind.

“But, things ended?” she asked.

“Yeah, badly.”

“Why?”

“She cheated on me with my business partner.”

“Ouch,” Aralyn said before she could stop herself.

“Yeah, I know,” he said.

“And you and your business partner…”

“Are still in business,” he said gesturing to the building. “But worse, he and Sally started a relationship after she and I split up. They broke up six months ago and now it seems like she’s trying to get me back. I think she likes getting special treatment for dating an owner.”

“Probably,” Aralyn said, almost to herself.

“But I have no interest in her whatsoever. Things weren’t great before she cheated on me, much less after. What would I want to go back to her for?” he grumbled. “Anyway, you’re the first girl I’ve brought back to the club, well, ever, if you don’t count Sally.”

“How did you and Sally meet?” Aralyn couldn’t help but feel elated to know that him bringing her there was special.

“When my business partner hired her,” he said, his tone betraying embarrassment. “It wasn’t like that, though,” he insisted quickly. “We just were working together a lot in those days. I had to help out with tours and stuff. We all did. I mean, it was a new business. And we started spending time together outside of work, and well, we slept together. But it grew to be more than that. We even moved in together. But, well, you see how well that worked out.”

“I guess it’s hard to be in a relationship when you work somewhere that’s, so sex focused,” Aralyn said. She felt the jealous beast inside her awaken at the thought of Sevy around a ton of people having sex.

“Sometimes,” he admitted honestly. “But most of the time, I don’t care what other people are doing. I’m happy to give them the opportunity to enjoy themselves. And most of the time, the sex is in private rooms, so it’s not like I see it, and I’m not participating.”

“But sometimes…?” Aralyn prompted.

“Sometimes you want a piece of the action. I mean, all these scantily clad beautiful people, how can you not want to get laid?” He looked at her apologetically. “I’m sorry, I’m just being honest.”

“No, it’s fine. I appreciate it.” She was mulling over his words when he spoke again.

“That’s why I took the job bartending at the diner.”

“Why?” Aralyn didn’t see the connection.

“Because I needed to be in a place where people weren’t constantly focused on sex. At the diner, I meet a variety of individuals. Maybe some of them go home and have amazingly kinky sex. Maybe they don’t have sex at all. But I don’t know anything about their sex lives, and it’s a good thing. It keeps me grounded.”

Aralyn nodded. That did make sense. Aralyn wanted to bring their conversation back around to their relationship, but she wasn’t sure it was an appropriate time. “So why haven’t you gotten rid of Sally?” she asked, finding a more on-topic question to ask.

“My business partner won’t let me. She broke up with him,” he explained, “and I think he’s hoping she’ll take him back.”

“Does he see how much she’s hitting on you? I mean, she disabled a door to keep us apart.”

“Nah, she won’t do it in front of him.” Aralyn nodded her understanding. “It’s a shame, really. I wish she would, and then we could get rid of her. We’d all be better off, I think. But, she’s not stupid, and she wants to keep her job. My business partner, however, is a bit of an idiot when it comes to women.” He whispered the last part as they had now made their way all the way around the building and were nearing the front doors again.

“So, what do you say we get a room in The Dungeon and enjoy ourselves a bit? Then later we can join the party?”

“What party?” she asked.

“Oh, sorry, I guess I never did finish the tour. We were um, distracted.” He winked at her. “There’s a big room in the center of The Dungeon, and we have a party every night. People come there to meet others, or just hang out, or enjoy a drink before or after their alone time.”

“Oh, well that sounds like fun.”

“Yeah, it is,” he said. “We can’t get a liquor license but people bring their own, and of course, we have a private stash for special guests.” He winked at her again. “And we serve snacks.”

“Snacks are good,” she said.

“So, what do you think? I think the party theme tonight is Jacuzzi.”

“Jacuzzi!”

“Yeah, we managed to get a bunch of those portable foam ones that we fill for special occasions.”

Does Aralyn want to stay for the Jacuzzi party?

Yes!
OR
Maybe

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