Page 10 of Stranger Session

“Okay, I think we have enough shots to go through. You guys are done!”

There’s an instant emptiness when he pulls away. My hands long to pull him against me again, to feel his breath on my skin once more, but I stay still and offer a weak smile.

“Have a good day, Mariah,” Del says.

My heart breaks as he hurries away, leaving me feeling completely abandoned. I didn’t expect him to stick around, but my stomach sinks at the speed with which he rushes toward his car. Maybe I didn’t affect him as strongly as he affected me—though his raging erection says otherwise.

“Bye, I guess,” I whisper, too low for anyone else to hear.

Del

I pull onto the main road as a hurricane of thoughts whips through my mind. Mariah had looked so lost as I pulled away from her, but I had to leave as quickly as I could after Sarah said we were done. I wouldn’t have stuck to the contract if I’d stayed around a moment longer.

I wanted her. Istillwant her. Even as my car reachestown, I can’t stop thinking about her or the smell of her skin. A sweet, fruity scent that lingers inside me. She infiltrates my body and takes over my mind.

And she can’t. She absolutely fucking can’t.

I light a cigarette to drown out her scent, but not before pulling my shirt to my nose and getting one more hit of her. I’m hoping the heat of possession cools by the time I get to my house. This just isn’t normal. No one should feel this way toward another person after meeting them once. But most people don’t meet a person for the first time and get to have their hands and mouth all over them.

This situation is unique. But equally shitty.

I pull into my driveway and hope Taylor isn’t home. I really don’t want him to ask any questions. Despite my hope, I nearly collide with him when I head into the house.

“How was it?” he asks.

I throw him a death glare.

He puts his hands out to shield himself from my silent wrath. “That bad?”

He doesn’t know I went to the photo shoot. He thinks he annoyed me enough that I went on a regular date.

“No, it was too good.”

His head cocks. “I’m not following. If it went well, why do you look so damn angry?”

“Because I went and did one of those asinine blind date photo shoots. The stranger session.”

A shit-eating grin walks across his face, just like I expected.

“And it went great.”

“So what the hell is the problem, dude?”

“I signed a contract that said I wouldn’t see her again.”

Taylor laughs, and it makes me want to punch him in the throat. “That has almost no legal standing, Del. Howdid you not know that? They can’t keep you from seeing someone once you leave their property.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. I wish I’d thought about that before I cold-shouldered the fuck out of her. I wouldn’t want to see me if I were her.

And how will I find her now? Aside from her first name and her earlobe kink, I know nothing about her. There wasn’t much time for small talk. They kept the shoot so impersonal yet somehow super personal at the same time.

Frustration simmers in my gut, ready to boil over. The obsessive tug munches away at my insides. Despite the contract, despite knowing that it’s a terrible idea, I know what I have to do to make this insatiable ache go away.

I have to find her.

Chapter Nine

Del