Page 117 of Role Play
“I’m saying, you guys are overthinking it. Just get it out of the way so you can get to the good stuff.”
“Poetic,” I deadpan.
“My guy, you’re trying to make sex some big declaration of your love. Yet, you’re not ready to declare shit. So stop focusing on what sex promises, and start focusing on the point—you’re just connecting. The rest will unfold as it should in time.” Taio pats my shoulder.
“Um…”
“What?” he asks, looking puzzled.
“Sorry, that threw me off because it was actually helpful. Wasn’t expecting that from you.”
He scowls. “I hope my future roommate is nicer to me.”
I chuckle. “Me too.”
Taio holds up a finger. “Since we’re on the subject, I’ve got something for you.” He pushes himself off the couch and disappears down the hallway to his bedroom.
When he returns, he’s holding a dog-eared paperback. The cover shows a shirtless man with a mask, his muscular arm wrapped possessively around a woman in a red dress. The title reads,Midnight Captor.
“What the hell is this?” I ask as he tosses it onto my lap.
“Research,” Taio says smugly. “Dark romance. It’s what all the cool kids are reading these days.”
I flip through the pages, noticing colored tabs sticking out from various sections. “You color-coded it?”
“For your convenience,” he says with exaggerated formality. “Red tabs—don’t even think about it unless you want to do hardtime in prison. Orange tabs—proceed with extreme caution, and get her consent in writing first. Yellow tabs—go forth and conquer, my friend.”
“Christ.” I skim one of the yellow-tabbed pages and feel my eyes widen. “Women read this?”
“No, they inhale it,” Taio confirms, looking entirely too pleased with himself. “With dark romance, it’s all about the pulse. Keeping her adrenaline flowing.”
“By scaring the shit out of her?”
“By keeping her on edge. A little scared, a lot turned on. Make her feel like if she submits to your power, you’ll protect her always. It’s primal, man.”
Despite myself, I keep reading, oddly captivated. “This is…not what I expected. All the sex scenes are this intense?”
“Yeah, so the general gist is you can do whatever you want to her as long as she orgasms first.” Taio pops his brows high. “In fiction only.I’m serious, brochacho, do not attempt those red tabs. You’re too pretty for prison.”
“Noted,” I grumble distractedly. The dirty scene on the page is stuck to my eyeballs like bubblegum.
“You know what would be perfect?” Taio says suddenly. “There’s this year-round haunted house upstate. Hellfire or Hell’s Manor or some shit. Apparently, it’s legitimately terrifying.”
The gears in my head start turning. “A haunted house?”
“Think about it,” Taio continues, warming to his theme. “Dark, creepy setting. Adrenaline pumping. Her clinging to you for protection. Then you whisk her away to some cabin in the woods afterward…”
“Where nobody can hear her scream?” I joke, but I’m actually considering it. The masked man trope. The danger, the rescue, the release of tension. I toss the book back to him. “Why are youso invested in helping me and Sora anyway? Trying to get in on the ground floor with a future famous author?”
He catches the book, laughing. “Yeah, that’s it. I’m playing the long game. Gonna ask her to name me in her acknowledgments when she hits the bestseller list.”
“Seriously, though.”
Taio’s smile fades, replaced by something more genuine. “Honestly? I haven’t seen you like this, maybe ever.”
“Like what?”
He looks right at me, no trace of his usual smartassery. “Falling in love, man.”
