Page 14 of Hung Up

After rinsing my mouth and toothbrush, I put some more toothpaste on the brush and offered it to him. Pierce did nothing, just inspected the toothbrush as I held it in front of his face.

“It’s for your teeth. To clean your mouth and get rid of your morning breath.”

Pierce hesitantly took the offered brush and bared his teeth like a primate at the zoo. I couldn’t help it, I laughed right in his face.

“Be normal, you beast,” I said as I took the brush and demonstrated again how to use it.

Pierce watched me diligently, before taking the brush and copying my movements with careful concentration. His face was rigid and at odds with the simple task of oral hygiene. I watched for a few moments before I turned to rinse out my mouth again, but unfortunately, Pierce went to spit at the same time. My reflection was priceless. Snapping my gaze to his in the mirror, I snorted, then broke out into full laughter. Pierce stood there silently, as if he thought I’d cracked.

“It’s a good thing it’s my hair washing day. Would you care to join me?”

“Join you?”

“In the shower . . .” I trailed off, nodding at the large walk-in shower with a rainfall shower head and glass walls. Subway tiles lined the walls, and all of my favorite products were stored in the corner of the built-in bench. Hey, it helped when I shaved my legs, okay?

And it gave me more than a few creative ideas, now that Pierce was here with me . . .

Pierce’s eyes lit up, and he practically knocked me over to get to the shower—only to stop right in front of the door. I reached around him and opened the glass door, before reaching in to turn the water to scalding.

The mid-sized room quickly began to fill with steam, and my vision of Pierce became hazy. His eyes traced over my naked body, and I grabbed his hand before dragging him in with me.

The shock on his face was priceless when I showed him just how dirty one could get when trying to get clean.

* * *

An hour later, Pierce and I sat on my leather couch drinking morning coffee. I made him try it black before caving and giving him some creamer. The scrunch to his face will be burned into my memories forever, just as I’m sure the bitter taste will be burned into his.

The thought sobered me, the comfortable silence we sat in turning tense.

Did he even have a future to need memories for?

If he did, would I even be a part of it? What if he realized he wanted more than my company?

I supposed he needed friends and a life outside of me, but what if he didn’t want me at all?

My stomach soured and I set my mug on the coffee table. Pierce noticed and copied my movement.

“Now that we’ve had your torturous liquid, what do you say we dive back into that oh so comfortable bed of yours?”

Lust dripped once again from those brown eyes, but god, I didn’t think I could go another round so soon. My pussy was sore.

“Actually—” My jaw dropped. “Oh, fuck!”

I sat up immediately, searching the cushions for my cell. It could be anywhere by now! Especially after the raunchy oral that went down—ha, ha—yesterday. Pierce watched me with lightly veiled amusement before standing up as I reached his side of the couch.

I flipped the cushions up and finally—“Ah, ha!” I grabbed my cell to find it dead. Shit. Plugging it into the charger I kept in the living room, I bit my manicure as I waited the torturous sixty seconds for it to power on. “Fuck, fuck, fuck . . .”

Sure enough, it showed three missed calls from my client—thank god I forwarded the landline number to my cell, but FUCK, why did I silence it?—and about ten texts from Amelia once the screen was lit. I’d never missed an appointment before. Like, never.

And this was one of my regulars, who I actually enjoyed. Not Ezra-level-enjoyment, but he tipped well and his kinks were sort of in my wheelhouse.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” My guilt threatened to topple me. I knew it was just some phone sex, but it was also so much more than that. It was my freedom. If I was sloppy with clients, who knew if I’d be able to have a comfortable future, or even comfortable present. Plus, I liked knowing I was a dependable part of their lives. And if I expected them to follow my rules, how could I not hold myself to the same standard?

Fingers curling into fists, I tried to calm my racing heart. Anxiety crinkled under my skin like electricity sparking off an exposed wire. I needed to regroup and calm myself down.

I quickly tapped out a response to Amelia to let her know I was alive. So far, at least.

Pierce stood behind me, brushing my damp hair over my shoulder before dropping a kiss to the side of my neck. His physical attention had the opposite effect on me.

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