Page 37 of Feral Touch
Ren wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me tight. “God, you’re perfect.”
A smile spread across my face and I buried my face in his neck. That had been a million times better than when I’d touched myself thinking about him.
“Do you have any tissues?” I asked, hesitant. I didn’t want to break the moment, but I was sticky in more ways than one.
He pressed a kiss to my hair. “In the bathroom, maybe.” He heaved himself off me. I mourned the loss of his body heat, but he simply picked up his shirt from the floor.
“Here.” He used the shirt to clean me up. I felt bad that his shirt was ruined, but on the other hand, that meant he had to stay shirtless.
I grinned inwardly. I could live with that.
After we were both clean and dressed, I didn’t know what to do. I stood there fidgeting with my hands. Ren finished buttoning up his jeans and noticed. He took my hands in his and pressed a soft, quick kiss to my lips.
“Can I have that glass of water now?” I asked.
He laughed. “Sure. I’ll get you something.”
I followed him into the kitchen, not wanting to let him out of my sight. I didn’t want to bethat girl, but I figured I had some right to be clingy after what we just did.
Ren passed me a bottle of water and I sat down at his kitchen table. He took a seat across from me. It was oddly formal, but he reached across the table and took my hand, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles. Even after everything, that small touch still had the power to make me blush.
“I had an idea,” he said.
“About?” More sexy stuff?
“About your situation.”
My heart sank. I pulled my hands away, not wanting to get into another argument. “I already told you—”
“Not the scholarship. I’m talking about something else.”
“What is it?” Maybe he was going to force the event company to hire me after all, although I couldn’t let him do that either.
“Let’s forget about the scholarship for now. What if there was another way for you to make money?”
I was skeptical, but willing to listen.
“What if we do a duet?”
“A…duet?"
“Jayce is always doing these acoustic versions of our songs. They’re really popular. I’ve always wanted to do a classical version. What if we composed a song together? I could play piano and you could play cello. We could release it as a digital-only single. I'll pay you for your work.”
Piano and cellowereoften paired together for duets. I thought about it for a moment, tempted, but there was a voice in the back of my head that said I would still be using Ren. I couldn’t let some rich boy swoop in and rescue me like in all those ridiculous TV shows and movies. I shook my head.
“That’s not going to work.”
“Why not?”
“I need to do this on my own.”
Ren bolted up from the kitchen chair and paced, growling. “Why are you so stubborn?”
“I don’t need your charity.”
“It’s not charity!” The frustration was evident in his voice.
“Why are you so determined to solve this for me?”
