Page 139 of Texting Dr. Stalker

But…X had successfully thrown me into a whirlpool of confusion.

“Um…third question.” I pursed my lips, thinking. “You said you live alone. Would you take me to your house sometime?”

He stiffened. “No.”

“Never?”

“Never is a long word.”

“I’ve thought of a better question.”

“Four wasn’t in our contract.”

I smiled. “Neither was three. But I asked anyway.” Stretching over him, I brushed my lips against his ear. “My fourth question is…if you won’t let me feed you cake as a thank you…can I do something else instead?”

His muscles turned to granite. “I told you, you don’t have to thank—”

“I get the feeling you’re not good at accepting appreciation.”

“It’s not that, it’s just—”

“Tell me, X, does anyone look after you as well as you look after everyone else?”

He added a layer of ice to his granite. “No. I mean, yes. I mean—”

“How long has it been since someone did for you what you did for me last night?”

He groaned, long and low and deep. “Lori…you’ve got to stop. I’m begging you.”

“Do you know the acronym of fear?”

His eyebrows shot up. “What?”

I grinned at how he struggled with my subject change. “I stumbled on a psychology website one night when I couldn’t sleep. I was searching for ways to break out of my terror, and it said fear can be broken into an acronym. Fantasised Experiences Appearing Real.” I rolled my eyes. “Of course, Milton was very much real and despite my fading bruises, I will carry the scars of that night for the rest of my life. However…everything else? The cracking of the walls as they cool. The shadows I see out the corner of my eye. The anxiety I feel about him coming back or being hurt again…those aren’t real. Those are simply echoes of the past and as long as I learn to let go and not let my panic consume me…they can’t hurt me.”

“W-What are you saying?”

“I’m saying, I respect your decision not to sleep with me. And I’ll always be grateful that you broke my self-imposed barrier over being able to climax. But…just like you have to help others, I have to repay that help. Call it good manners or the polite thing to do, but I need to thank you, X, and so…you have two choices.”

He sucked in a heavy breath. “What two choices?”

“I took advantage of you the other night. It was manipulative and I still feel bad. So…you either eat the cake, or I give you an orgasm. How you accept my gratitude is entirely your choice. But you’re not leaving until this debt is settled.”

* 34 *

Zander

Self-Control Only Goes So Far

I WASN’T JUST GOING TO HELL, I was there.

I had literally everything I had ever wanted. I had the woman I’d spied on for years offering to make me come. I had the girl I’d crushed on since I was a boy wanting toknowme.

And the only reason she was in my arms was because everything I’d told her was a lie.

A lie just waiting to blow up my life and leave me in pieces.

God,no onehad ever asked to take care of me.

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