she roleplays as Val

Valeria let her gaze linger in the mirror, the reflection pulling her deeper into the role. The makeup, the boots, the skirt—each detail chipped away at the quiet, careful doctor she had been all day, until all that was left was Val.

She tilted her chin up, parted her lips just slightly, and let a low, smoky laugh curl out of her throat.

“Mm… that’s better,” she murmured, surprised at how much lower and sharper her voice sounded. She adjusted the necklace so it sat perfectly in the hollow of her collarbone, then stepped back, rolling her shoulders like she was shaking off invisible hands.

The bedroom became something else in her mind—no longer a small, softly lit space, but a buzzing, dimly lit bar. She could almost hear the murmur of voices, the clink of glasses. She strode a slow circuit around the bed as though weaving between crowded tables, hips swaying just enough to make the skirt ride up.

She stopped in front of the mirror again, eyes narrowing like she’d just spotted someone across the room.

“Well, well…” she said under her breath, picturing Chase’s lazy grin. “Look who couldn’t stay away.”

Valeria let her hand trail down her side, over the curve of her hip, then rested it boldly on the hem of her skirt. “You gonna just stand there staring?” she asked her reflection, playing the other half of the exchange in her head—a flustered, hungry boy trying to play it cool.

She smiled, a slow, predatory curl of her lips, and leaned forward until her breath fogged the mirror. “Careful, baby,” she whispered to herself, her tone dripping mockery and promise all at once, “I bite.”

Her pulse was pounding now. She turned, gave herself one last look over her shoulder—hair tousled, skirt tilted, boots catching the lamplight—before strutting toward the door just to feel the sway and click of the heels on the floorboards. Each step was a little harder to pull back from.

By the time she came back to the mirror, her cheeks were flushed, her breathing quick. She reached up, wiped a smudge of lipstick from the corner of her mouth, and whispered, “God, I could ruin you.”

The voice didn’t even sound like hers anymore.