Page 126 of Take What You Want

“I miss you, too,” I admit. “I wish you were here.”

Nikolai had to stay back to work on his album. He’s heading into the final few weeks until he needs to turn over a demo to the label.

“I wish I could be, too. I’m sorry, if I didn’t have to work?—”

“You don’t need to apologize, I get it.” We are dedicated to our jobs, and I fully understand the obligations and pressure he’s under. “It’s just too bad that you won’t get to see my dress for tonight.”

“Oh?” He perks up. “Well, you’re more than capable of sending a picture, aren’t you?”

I eye the dress hanging across the room. I steamed it earlier and the red, silky material shimmers as it sways slightly with the air conditioning blowing through the room.

“I could just switch you to video chat,” I say coyly. “You could watch me get dressed from all the way on the other side of the country and know that you can look but can’t touch.”

He groans, and I picture him shifting on the couch in his studio, bathed in dim lighting, trying to focus on the task at hand. “You know the studio doesn’t get good enough receptionhere. I don’t want to see a pixelated version of you. I want to see the HD version.”

I hide my disappointment. “I know, I was just teasing.”

“You better send me something though now that you got me going again.”

“Don’t you need a break?” I laugh. In the couple of days since our night with Reid, we’ve been nonstop going at each other. We have time to make up for and we’ve been making the most of it anywhere and everywhere around the house.

Well, except for his bedroom. For some reason, Nikolai has yet to take me in his bed.

“From you? Never.”

I smile at that. “Me too.” I clear my throat and shift the conversation. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something the other night, and I want you to be completely honest with me and know that I won’t judge you.”

I hear Nikolai sit up. “Yeah, what is it?”

“When we were with Reid…he, you know, he touched you, too.”

Nikolai starts to interject, but I cut him off.

“I’m not upset about that. At all. Trust me, it was…hot.” Seeing him squirm beneath the both of us is forever going to be ingrained in my memory. “But I’ve just been wondering and thinking about what Reid said and I’m curious if the two of you have ever been together…without a woman in between you.”

“No,” he answers simply and all traces of worry are gone from his tone. “We like sharing, and yeah, I’ll admit that I liked when he would touch me, too. But it’s never gone past that. And before you ask, he never let me touch him like that. I tried once and he about took my hand off.”

My chest shakes with laughter at the image. “I can’t see him liking that.”

“No, he didn’t.” Nikolai chuckles. “Does that bother you?”

“What?”

“The fact that he used to do that to me.”

“No.” It doesn’t change anything or how I view either of them. I was nervous that after we all came down from the high of that night, the next morning, one of us would wake up with regrets. But things haven’t been awkward between me and Nikolai, and he and Reid have been back to talking as usual. “I was merely curious.” And I know that I’m the only one who gets a piece of Nikolai anymore, so I have no reason to be jealous of Reid.

Well, there is Kerra still in the mix…

“Are you ready for your performance with Kerra Monday night?”

Nikolai groans and immediately shuts me down. “I don’t want to talk about her or work right now. Can we instead talk about what kind of underwear you’re going to be wearing under this dress of yours? I’d be much more interested in that.”

I drop it and indulge him in great detail about every aspect of my outfit for the evening, including a few pictures of myself along the way as I get dressed.

We chat for about an hour until I have to leave. Goodbyes are reluctantly exchanged, but I’ll see him tomorrow when I fly back to LA. I quickly pack up my small purse, grab a room key, and I’m out the door. Chester arranged a car service for everyone tonight. Likely because he didn’t want the headache of anyone potentially getting a DUI after the open bar at the party.

The drive to the hotel where the party is taking place is short but littered with traffic.

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