“Hold on,” I said, stopping him before he got into his car. I plugged my headphones into my cell, started my running playlist on Spotify, and shoved the phone into my bra. Ivan watched with amusement as I adjusted it slightly. “Bras make good pockets,” I explained, hooking my headphones into place over my ears.
“Ready?” he questioned, sliding into his Mercedes and started the engine with unnecessary force.
“Ready to kick your hot, British ass? You bet I am.” I winked and started running a second before he pulled away.
“We’ll see,” he called out the window as he drove past me.
I took a right turn at the end of the street. My feet pounded against the pavement as I picked up speed, determined to win this race. Determined to have twenty-four hours of him completely at my mercy to stuff up my sleeve and whip out whenever I feel like it.
And of course, that posed the question of whether it
I tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “You said you didn’t like teaching, but you teach Dayton. Like, what—did you just wake up one morning and decide that you didn’t want to teach anymore? Then do it again, except the other way around?”“Day’s basically family. It’s different.” His tone was a little tight, and instinct told me that it was a sore subject.It was a shame that my desire to know everything was a lot stronger than my instinct.“Well, yeah, but no. I don’t particularly enjoy pulling pints for Donny in the bar, but I’ve worked there for a while now. I wouldn’t just stop and go and do something else randomly. Of course, I don’t have the means to, but—”“Can we drop this now?”“I don’t think you’re telling me the truth about why you stopped teaching.” The words blurted out of me before I could stop them
“Jack, have you ever wanted something you know is really bad for you?”He laughed, his whole body shaking, and lifted his pint. “Every day, darlin’!”I smiled, taking the five-dollar bill from his outstretched hand. “Not like that. I mean, something that could really change your life. Tip-it-upside-down kinda change.”“Getting philosophical?” Donny slid onto the stool next to him. “Be a doll and get me a beer, Brenda.”I shot him an annoyed look. “Aren’t you supposed to be working, boss?”“I’m taking a break.” He smiled at me charmingly. “And my beer?”Chewing the inside of my lip, I grabbed a bottle of Bud from the fridge, uncapped it, and placed it in front of him. “Two ninety please.”“Are you joking?”“No. You just put the prices up, and it’ll be my ass you chew out later when
“Love and addiction aren’t one and the same, Day. I crave him, but not in the way you crave Aaron. “She sighed heavily. “Okay, well, whatever you feel, you have to deal with it. Talk to him, one way or the other. I have to go.”“Okay. I hope your chat goes well.”“Thanks. Oh, and Brenda? Put on a bra if you go out.”My lips twitched and I hang up.Talk to Ivan. I didn’t want to talk to him. But then, I didn’t want to not talk to him. So I was in a complete clusterfuck.'Did I want a relationship with him?, but I could in the future… That was not fair to him—to lead him on with a maybe. So he hasn’t admitted himself that he wanted anything more than we had despite endless hints, but I couldn’t guarantee I’d want more.What if I changed my mind soon though? Like, next week soon. Then, I could regret not holding on to it.'
Miami was hot. Really, really hot. Compared to Seattle, it was another world.And standing there below the burning sun, pretending I was not covered in sweat so thick it could be another layer of skin, was next to impossible. Thankfully, the photographer called a break and one of the girls ran over and handed me a water bottle. No one else was suffering the way I was.But hey. That was what you get when you put a northern girl in a southern climate when the North was pretty much still in winter.After ten minutes, a wipe-down, and reapplication of my makeup, I headed out to the waterline. The photographer was a nice, friendly, thirty-something woman who was famed for her beach shots. It was evident to see—the positions she asked me to contort my body into were practically fucking yoga. I was half tempted to ask if she’d like to shoot me in the downward dog position.Of course, she’d likely give the other girls, who were holed up in diffe
“Crystal,” I gasped.“Perfect. Do you want to know what I’m doing? Do you want to know everything?”I gasped again as the vibrator hits the tender spot inside me. “Yes.”“Okay.” His harsh breathing filled the room with mine. “I’m holding myself, Brenda. My hand is wrapped so fucking tightly around my dick and tugging it so hard at the sight of you fucking yourself with that. You thinking about me, babe?”“Yes.”“What are you thinking?”I moaned. “I’m thinking you’d feel good inside me. I’m thinking you’d fill me better than this vibrator, that you’d make me come harder. Your hand against me would be better than my own. I’m thinking you’d fuck me harder than I could ever with this.”“Good,” he grunted. “’Cause I’m thinking you’ve been particularly bad a
“Have you ever had a proper French pastry?”“What part of ‘I’ve never been to France’ don’t you understand?”Ivan grinned and pushed me back down on the bed. “You know, when I call you my bitch, I don’t mean it in a literal sense?”I poked my tongue out at him, snuggled back under the sheets, and yawned.“Okay, tired bitch, I’m going to get you pastries. I’ll be a while, so get some more sleep if you can.” He leaned over and kissed my forehead.I sighed as the front door closed. I’d never had jet lag like this before. I’d never been so time-fucked that I wanted to carve out my brain with a dessert spoon.My phone buzzed from the nightstand and I reached over blindly. I smacked the top of the stand several times before I found it and tucked it under the covers with me.What are you doing today?Dayton texted.
“Funny. I think that about you sometimes.”I pointed the umbrella to the ground and twirled with it. Sometimes, being spontaneous was the only way to go. I glanced up from my puddle-splashing and spinning. Ivan was watching me through his camera, his finger clicking.I skipped toward him, not caring about the rain cascading down my face, and rolled with my spontaneous moment. I dropped the umbrella at the same time that he let the camera fall and jumped up on him. My legs went around his waist, his hands cupped my ass, my fingers tangled in his hair, and I kissed him.I kissed him hard. I kissed him deeply. I kissed him with my fears and anxieties and my hopes and dreams. I kissed him with everything I had and everything I was right at the moment because sometimes, that's all you can do.His umbrella fell to the ground next to mine with a clunk, and I arched my body over his. I didn’t care that there were people around. I didn’t ca
It was a silence that said all the right things at all the right moments.And I apparently needed to pause on the wine for a while… Or maybe not. Maybe the magic of Paris was casting itself over me. Or I watched way too much Peter Pan as a kid and still had a misplaced belief in fairies.I sighed.“What’s up?” He asked, his breath fanning across my cheek. Warm, ahhh.“Just thinking. Too much.” I frowned. “Way too much.”He laughed. “Let’s get you food. And I demand you stop thinking.”I raised my eyebrows. “D’you see a bed, mister? Nope. Me neither. Shove your demands.”“Shove them where?” he hummed against my neck.“Up your ass. Up my ass. I don’t particularly care right now.”His lips curved. “Yes. You need food, babe.”He handed two tickets to the girl behind the glass and whisked me of