Page 59 of Dirty Rock

“I had no idea the Rhett Ryan Experience would be filled with so much flattery.”

“You, more than anyone, know I only ever say what I mean. And that was some damn good lovin’ last night.”

She huffed out a laugh and rolled her eyes, that damn blush appearing right on cue. I wanted to sink my teeth into those cheekbones like they were two sweet little apples. I wanted to sink my teeth into all of her—to taste her again and savour every drop.

“I brought you food.”

“There’s something else in front of me I’d like to eat first.”

She inhaled a long, slow breath, holding it in her chest for a beat too long that made it come out in a heavy rush that deflated her whole body. I really hoped that wasn’t regret she was trying to rid herself of. Regret was one of the few emotions Iwasn’tfeeling.

Reaching up, I pinched her chin between my finger and thumb.

“You okay?” I asked quietly.

“I… don’t know.”

“Don’t get responsible on me now, baby.”

Her eyes softened, a look of sadness washing over them that made my chest tighten.She raised a hand to cup my cheek, and the two of us held each other for a moment.

Eventually, her smile broke free. “Eat your breakfast. I promise that I haven’t finished with you yet. It’s my turn to show you who’s in charge around here.”

“Has there ever been any doubt?”

“When I was a jellied mess beneath you, I had my concerns.”

“You were a beautiful mess. I’d like to make you a mess again.”

“Lucky for you, we still have time,” she whispered softly.

* * *

My phone was dead. I smacked the side of it three times, like that was the sorcery it needed to regain power.

“Here,” Julia said, coming up behind me. She pressed her body to mine before she leaned around me to reach for the phone. She snatched it out of my hands and walked over to her vanity unit to plug my phone into a charger. “See that? It’s like… magic,” she whispered sarcastically as she spun back around to look at me.

I didn’t even have a response other than a dopey smile.

Jules stood there in tight black leggings and a long, grey knitted jumper that fell halfway down her thighs. With ruby red lips and dainty little earrings hanging low, she looked like the catalogue image of perfect winter. She was my winter. She was the blanket I wanted to wrap myself up in. She was the heat I wanted to lay beneath. She owned the eyes I wanted to watch sparkle like lights on a tree. She was the present I wanted to unwrap every day. She was the hot burn in my chest that dark spirits gifted you with. She was the crackling fire I wanted to watch glow until I fell asleep.

She made me want to write.

I was lyrical as fuck.

Shuddering the thoughts away, I watched on as her eyes drifted down over my clothes. Same shitty jeans, a clean, yet basic, black Ralph Lauren T-shirt, and my denim jacket again.

“I’m not sure you’re going to be warm enough for our walk,” she told me. “That jacket won’t protect you from anything. It gets cold around here.”

“I’ll be fine,” I assured her before I glanced out of the bedroom window that overlooked the ocean.

After we’d screwed again, we’d laid in bed and… talked. This house was Julia’s safe haven away from the celebrity life. Her cottage sat beside four others in a row along the shoreline of Mersea Island—a place I’d never even heard of before. Julia told me how she and her twin sister would escape here whenever they got the chance. When she eventually saved enough money of her own, she approached the owners of her favourite cottage, and she made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. She’d paid way over the value of the place, but in Julia’s words,sometimes you’ve got to lose a bit of cash to gain a lot of value in your life.

That kind of stayed with me as she talked endlessly about her relationship with her sister, Sarah. She talked about her with so much reverence, it wasn’t until we’d finished that I realised she hadn’t mentioned her parents once. I decided not to ask too many questions about that. I, more than anyone, knew how awkward those conversations could be.

What did I actually care for, anyway?

She stepped towards me now, tugging on the edges of my jacket. “Your face has fallen. What are you thinking?”

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