Page 5 of Rating the Book Boyfriend

“Favorite flower?” I ask Ava.

“Anything yellow,” she replies, bobbing her eyebrows at me.

“Uh-huh.”

I stomp around the room and manage to stay in character the entire time while barking out more and more outlandish commands, and my crazy friends play along.

Then I approach Ava and poke her in the chest with my weapon. “Say something inspiring, Costa.”

And then Ava—dear, sweet, shy Ava—wraps her small, pale hand around my throat and squeezes slightly before growling, “You are mine, Libby, and if anyone lays a finger on you, I’ll paint the earth with their blood.” My eyes almost bug out of my head in surprise as her blue ones darken. “Am I understood?”

I’m unable to speak for several long seconds before I croak out, “Well. I suppose that’s acceptable.”

“Christ, Ava,” Gemma says from behind me. “I think I just had a spontaneous orgasm. Who knew you had that in you?”

Our friend releases my throat and brushes non-existent lint from her shoulder as she smirks. “Maybe I’m not as sweet as you all think I am.”

JoJo skips over and tugs Ava’s dark ponytail. “I think we’ve learned a lot here tonight. Ava is a secret domme, and Libby would be a superb man trainer.”

We all laugh and plop back down onto our respective seats for more drinks. The bottle of vodka is emptied, and words begin to slur over the next hour.

“I got to meet Riggs Romero today,” JoJo announces. “He’s even more impressive in person.” A ping of jealousy shoots down my spine.

“Oh, that book cover model? He’s soooo hot,” Ava agrees.

“Libs has a huge crush on him,” Gemma adds. “Look, she’s blushing just thinking about him.”

My face is indeed heated, but I demur. “It’s just the alcohol.”

“Whatever. Your eyes were like saucers today when he was walking around in our area.”

“He’s nice to look at,” I allow, and Gemma lifts an unimpressed eyebrow at me. “Okay, fine. I want to lick every book cover that man graces. Are you happy now?”

“Ecstatic,” she replies smugly. “I was watching him, and he was definitely eyeballing you today.”

“He was not!”Has someone turned on the heater in here?

“Was too. I think he was headed to your table next when the director pulled him away for that industry panel. Otherwise, he would have hopped on the Libby Cocks train.”

“Mmmm, a train. Can you just imagine a whole line of Riggs Romeros waiting to take their turn with you?” JoJo mused.

I squeeze my thighs together and squirm in my seat on the couch. Gemma’s correct. I have a huge crush on a man I’ve never met in person.

Riggs was the muse for every single male main character I’d ever written. Even the ones that didn’t have jet-black hair and sexy tattoos had some piece of the stunning man in them. His ice-blue eyes. His sharp, square jawline. His chiseled abs. His parts I could only dream about…

Luckily, my condition goes unnoticed by my best friends as JoJo brings up the subject of book sales.

“My sales have been in the tank the past month,” she laments. “I’ve been busy writing and preparing for this booksigning, and I haven’t had much time to market on social media.”

“It’s hard to keep up with everything,” Ava agrees.

“Mine have picked up, but they always do around release time. It’s helped a lot since I’ll have moving expenses now.”

“Still no luck finding a job?” JoJo asks, tilting her head so her blonde hair falls over one shoulder.

“Not since leaving Texas. I’m doing some freelance web designing, but no one wants to hire a full-time designer. Apparently, twenty-seven is ancient in my industry. But added to my book sales, the jobs I have picked up are enough to pay my rent and utilities. Luckily I already had this trip paid for.”

We continue drinking as we talk about our respective book sales, and I’m pretty sure I’m completely drunk. My fingers and toes have gone numb, and my words come slower and with more effort. I become aware that Gemma has been silent for quite a while.

---