Page 18 of Off Camera
I rest my head on Reid’s chest, and his heart pounds rhythmically under his white cotton shirt. I track the beats, and they’re as quick as mine. “You’ve known Dallas a while?”
“Over ten years.”
“Did you play football with him in college?”
He bursts out laughing. “Absolutely not. We randomly met each other. He invited me out for a beer, and the rest is history.”
“I’m guessing you’re also close with Maverick? You guys looked like you were having a good time up there during the ceremony.”
“Watching me, were you?” Reid murmurs.
“Hard not to when you’re front and center.”
You were too difficult to look away from, I think in some deep recess of my brain, but I keep that to myself.
“They’re my best friends.” He shrugs, and a button presses into my cheek. “I don’t see them as superstars. I see them as the guys who get their nails painted because June wants to try out a new color, and the dorks who spend hours playing video games with me. To the rest of the world, they’re gods. Athletic freaks of nature with gifts people would drain their entire life savings to have. But with me, they’re just the people I can call in the middle of the night if I need to talk.”
His right hand moves to my arm and rubs up and down. I sigh and relax into him.
“It’s good to have people like that,” I say.
“I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”
“I wanted to ask you earlier, but we were short on time. Are you here with a date?”
“No,” Reid says around a low rasp. “Did you come solo?”
“Yeah.” I nod and lick my lips. Desire curls through me like a wisp of smoke. “I want to make sure no one is going to be mad at me for taking up so much of your time.”
“Not a soul.” He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear and his touch lingers on my cheek. “Can I tell you a secret?”
I nod, desperate to hear what he has to say.
He rests his forehead against mine. I love how close he is. How warm he is, and how he’s staring at me like I’m the only person in the room.
“I wanted to kiss you at the bar,” he confesses quietly. “I’m not good with spur of the moment things, though. My brain goes into overdrive when I’m thinking about something I’m going to do. I come up with a hundred ways to attack a situation. I’m not one to live in the here and now, but I’m feeling that way again. Like I want to kiss you and get lost for a while.”
“You should’ve,” I say, matching his quiet tone. “You could right now, if you wanted.”
“I could?”
“You don’t strike me as someone who takes what they want.” I run my hands up his chest and tug on his tie. “But you can be greedy with me, Reid.”
“Fuck.” The word is sinister, a promise and a plea. “Can I—” He swallows and rubs his thumb down my jaw. “Not here. I don’t want people to watch you. To listen to you. If I’m going to be greedy, I want to do this right.”
I clench my thighs at his possessiveness. At the thought of what he might be like behind closed doors with his head between my legs.
“What did you have in mind?” I ask.
“Follow me.”
He offers me his hand, and I let him lead me past the party guests. My heart races in my chest, a dangerous whirr that only increases when I follow him into a deserted hallway.
“Where are we going?”
“Just… somewhere else. Somewhere I can see you and hear you. It’s too loud in there.” He turns to face me, and his bashfulness is back. Red cheeks again, downcast eyes. “I have a confession to make, but you have to promise not to make fun of me.”
“Oh no. Is this where you tell me your fetishes? That you’ve had a relationship with an inanimate object?”
