Page 69 of Role Play
Great.Just what we need.
“Guys,” I mutter under my breath, “I think we’re being…documented.”
Saylor, of course, immediately swivels his head, making direct eye contact with a blushing brunette who quickly pretends to be fascinated by a paperback.
“I fucking love the bookstore. It’s like fishing in a tiny aquarium,” Taio murmurs, deliberately flexing as he reaches for a book on a high shelf.
“Is this why you like books, Ty? Helps you get laid?” Saylor asks with genuine curiosity.
“Oh,hell yeah.”
Okay, now the pieces are falling into place. Taio reading to enhance his mind?Suspicious.Taio reading to chase tail?Spot-on.
“You think I could pull off damaged hero with a tragic past?” Saylor muses, striking a brooding pose. “The one who just needs the right woman to heal him.”
“Please,” Taio scoffs. “You’re the comic-relief best friend. I’m clearly the smoldering love interest.”
“You’re both the comic relief,” I deadpan. “Now cut the posing and focus. We’re here to work.”
“This is work?” Saylor sounds dubious as he pulls a book with a half-naked firefighter on the cover. “Mate, work is having to oil down a seventy-year-old widowed socialite who wanted me to?—”
“Just find the bestsellers,” I cut him off before he can finish that nightmare-inducing anecdote. “Look for multiple copies, special displays. Note the covers, the tropes.” I run a hand through my hair, frustration mounting. “I need to help Sora figure out what’s connecting with readers.”
Taio, who’s wandered to a table labeled “Staff Picks,” whistles low. “Got ourselves a spicy one here. Listen to this: ‘Olivia never expected her one-night stand to be her brother’sbest friend—or her new boss.’Oh, and judging by the blurb, Olivia has a secret,” Taio adds with mock intrigue.
Saylor snorts. “She’s a virgin, bet you anything. I swear brother’s best friend always pairs with virgin.”
“How do you know that?” I ask, surprised.
“My mum reads these by the cartload,” Saylor explains, not looking up from the book he’s flipping through. “Can’t walk through the house without tripping over a bare-chested duke or a brooding billionaire.”
“Nice,” Taio says. “Bet your ‘mum’ has mad skills in the sheets. We should compare notes.”
“I’ll rip off your balls and feed ’em to your cat, mate. Leave my mum out of it.”
“I don’t have a cat,” Taio says.
“I’ll buy you one. That’s how serious I am,” Saylor says in a manner where I can’t tell if he’s kidding or trying to be menacing.
“Sensitive,” Taio teases. “Your mom’s a piece, SaySay. I’d treat her with nothing but tenderness and respect. Let this happen, man.”
“She’d never go for a neanderthal who still thinks jackhammering away is what women want.”
“Hey,” Taio protests, “I’ve never had any complaints about my technique.”
“That’s because they’re paying you,” Saylor fires back. “They’re not gonna ask for a refund mid-thrust, are they?”
“Excuse me?” a soft voice interrupts their banter. “Can I help you find something?”
I turn to find a bookstore employee—petite, with a purple pixie cut and wire-rimmed glasses—regarding us with barely concealed curiosity.
“Actually, yes.” I summon my most winning smile, the one that usually gets me past even the most vigilant doormen. “We’retrying to understand romance subgenres. What’s popular, what’s trending. Any insights you could share would be great.”
Her professional demeanor cracks slightly, a blush creeping up her neck. “Are you…writers?”
“Researchers,” Taio supplies helpfully. “For a friend.”
“A female friend,” Saylor adds with a meaningful look.
