Page 24 of Tell Me Lies: Manlove Edition

He’s not the type to melt into compliance with a few well-placed apologies. I could beg and coax and it wouldn’t make a damn difference. The diamond toughness of this angry little man won’t relent…

Unless you make him.

No, I’m not getting more than that soul-shattering blowjob. Just like he’d said.

Laur adjusts his coat. “Want to see me again?”

“Yes,” I say, too quickly. “Tonight? After the show? I could comp your ticket.”

“So can Jude.” He smirks, amused by the idea. “I don’t like being teased.”

That makes no sense. Not with the bulge in his jeans. Not with the way he watched.

“I’ll come back next week.”

Everything in my soul sinks through my knees and into the floor. “A week?”

If he notices, he doesn’t care. “Do you dance again next week?”

I nod. Next week is Teddy’s teaser, but I’m one of his backup dancers.

“Then I tell you what…” He stands near me, looking up into my face and then gives me a little push. I drop into the chair where he wants me. He touched my chin and I look up. “After you tease that whole room again, after you make those sluts howl like bitches in heat, I expect you in that bed. Facedown. Ass up. Wearing a blindfold and handcuffs and nothing else.”

****

“Laur?” Jamie wanders through the costume closet. “I met him at some Pride advocacy thing. Maybe a protest. I don’t remember.”

I can’t get the guy out of my head. How could Jamie just forget? “What kind of work do you do together?”

“He works at a government clinic helping people navigate the system. Like health insurance, housing, and shit.”

“Oh.” Great. I’m obsessed with customer support.

Jamie rejects a purple sequined suit jacket and keeps digging. “Why so interested?”

I’m not prepared to explain. “Just curious. Do you know what happened to—”

“No! But I’m dying to know. You gotta find out!”

“Huh?” Their enthusiasm is confusing.

“He won’t talk about it. Jude knows, but she won’t say. But, hey, Chard Stagger, no man can resist your charms.”

I scoff at the idea. If there was one man who could… “I only had one conversation with the guy.”

And one hell of a blowjob.

“Take one for the team, Chard. Find out his secrets.” Jamie laughs, then picks up another costume to test. “But seriously, if you do fuck him, Chard, don’t lead him on. He’s really sweet and he doesn’t deserve false hope.”

Really sweet? Yeah, right.

****

By the next Tuesday, my mania reaches its peak and I can barely sit at the bar.

“Do you need the night off, Chard?”

I haven’t felt this out of control since I started taking medication. A wild mess of impulse and reaction, fidgets and desires, and the whole swirl of madness centers on a man who might not even show up.

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