Page 91 of Audiophile

The fizz of the bubbles around my ears is deafening. Every loud beat of my heart is yelling at me.Make a choice. Make a choice. Make a fucking choice.

I want to be yours. “I want to see you again.”

“Good, because I want to date you.”

The grin that takes over my face is ridiculous and makes my cheeks hurt. “And the distance?”

Reed snorts. “Screw the distance. What do you say?”

I jump in headfirst. “I’ll pick you up from the airport.”

Reed makes a pleased sound that strikes me right in the heart. It pierces through all my armor and lights me up. I close my eyes, but the whole bathroom seems to glow.

“Feel how happy we are?” he asks, as though he can see inside me. “Next time you want to delay gratification, remember this, okay? I’ve been on pins and needles for weeks.”

“I didn’t know if we were better left in a bubble. If distance would diminish things.”

Reed hums. “It didn’t for me. You?”

“Not in the slightest. I think of you all the time.”

“So do I.” His admission warms me to my toes. “Now that that’s settled, and you’re in your bath, want your scene?”

I frown. “Therecording ended.”

“It was never going to be a recording, baby,” Reed teases. I can practically see his grin. “Put me on speakerphone.”

It’s his authoritative tone that sends a hot shiver from my hair to my toes, and I obey. I set the phone on a ledge and slide further under the water. “And what will you do?”

There’s a muffled noise as he switches to speakerphone as well. “Don’t play shy. This isn’t solely for you this time. That okay?”

I can’t find my words. “Yeah. Yes. That’s really hot, actually. Did you get yourself off that night? When I left your room to get ice?”

“Yes.” The quick zip of metallic teeth in the background leaves me breathless. “You could tell? How’d that make you feel?”

I can’t breathe—I’ve forgotten how. “It’s intoxicating. I wish I could’ve been there. Watching you come lights fire in my blood,tesoro.”

His thick groan sends my pulse racing. “I could know you for fifty years and still never guess what’s about to come out of your mouth.”

I’m an entirely different person as I open my mouth and words fall out. “You could always stuff it full if you wanted to avoid a surprise.”

Reed moans. Full. On. Moans. “I’m about to get on a plane right now if you keep that up. You enjoy seeing me lose control.”

He’s not wrong. I’m desperate to see him on the edge again—to hear him struggling to hold back. It makes me bold. “You unraveled is sexier than anything I’ve ever seen. The day you tied me up? You looked regal as you held my jaw and slid your cock in my mouth. The only reason I didn’t fall to my knees for you is because I was already there.”

“Jesus. Ever considered going into audios? You were born for it. I know a guy who’d want nothing more than to record you all afternoon.”

My dream creeps in from the shadows. My hope of a three-bedroom house with an office and a sound booth. “We’re pretty far apart for that.”

“We don’t have to be. My new house is in Portland.”

The bath drops out from under me and I’m falling—dizzy, scared, waiting for the crash at the bottom. But I’m also exhilarated. Hopeful. “Are you joking?”

“Not when it comes to you,” he says, and I’m struck speechless. “Don’t start objections that we both know are defenses. Tell me I’m wrong, Pet. Tell me that you don’t see potential for us, and I’ll let you go.”

“Don’t let me go,” I say, before my brain can filter my words. It’s hard not to jump at the opportunity. “Did you actually enjoy it there? I don’t want you to go somewhere just because—”

“I was fond of it before I met you. I love the rain, the quirk of the city, the amazing food. Ireallyloved the price point. And the cherry on top is proximity to a fantastic woman, if you’re okay with it.”

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