Page 42 of The Bodyguard Proposal

I scratch fourteen times for fourteen days left along my arm. Two weeks sounds like a lot of time, but for some reason it’s already closing in on me.

“Don’t worry,” my mother says, trying to reassure me. “I know you. If anyone can pull together an itinerary, it’s you.”

“Yeah, but London just feels”—there’s a long pause as I burrow into bed covers—“like pressure I’m not living up to.”

“You’ve always worried about doing the right thing, and it’s probably happening now, too. But I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. I’ve always been proud of my put-together planner. You’ll figure it out. You always do.”

“Trust me, I’m trying.” I watch sunshine stream in through the window. It highlights floating dust. As my eyes track over to a hanging clock, I notice I’ve slept in. It’s almost noon.

“Good,” Mom says cheerily. “Trying is all that matters. And really, if you need help, Huan is there which reassures me, so thank you for allowing that.”

“There’s not much for him to do.”

“I know it must be weird to have the head of security following you around, but he’s younger than most of them. I thought he would blend in—” My mother sighs. “Actually, I wanted to give you the best. You know me, I get a bit paranoid, especially with your name getting more and more recognized since the movie casting news. Huan thought it was a bit much.”

“He did?”

“It took a lot of pushing, but he’s there because of me. I hope it’s been okay?”

“Huan is?—”

“Not slacking, I’m sure. Even though I know London doesn’t have the same risks as home.”

“Um—”

“Is it not working out? Is that what you’re trying to say?”

WhatamI saying? Nothing about the precipitous appearance of his dick last night, brought forth by adrenaline. Even inside his pants, it felt borderline obscene. Okay, maybe obscene isn’t the right word. It implies negativity. It’s just that the bulge was very prominent. Larger than other bulges I’ve seen. The man is packing. Big cock alert.

I sit up. “No, I’m not saying anything at all. He’sgreat. Helpful.”

“Okay, call me if you need anything? I’m trying not to check in too much, because I know you’re spreading your wings, and we’ll be spending loads of quality time together soon.”

“I can’t wait,” I say automatically, trying to erase the termhard cockfrom my head. I’ve now got fewer days before this trip ends, so I should be focusing on other multiple hard cocks, not his. He is off-limits. Broad daylight reminds of that.

Scratching at my legs, I say, “Talk to you later, Mom.”

“Love you!”

I tryvideo calling my friends. They don’t answer, but I get text messages right away. Nim is in a makeup chair getting a bald cap applied because the designer she is working with is obsessed with balls. Reena is inside an immigration office to renew her passport. One of her clients might fly her to their vacation home for her baking abilities.

As we chat, I do my eyeliner in the bathroom. I don’t tell them about pre-production starting earlier because I don’t want to think about that, but I tell them about last night.

Somewhat.

KOMAL: If a guy gets a boner and tells you not to move so it won’t get worse, but then tells you it’s not your fault, what does that mean?

NIM: Hypothetically?

REENA: What? Nim! This very specific scenario is obviously about her!

NIM: Okay, but I require context. Give us the details, Komal!

REENA: YES TO COCK DETAILS. ASAP! IT’S ALMOST MY TURN AT THE PASSPORT OFFICE AND I’VE BEEN WAITING SO LONG I’VE GROWN A WHITE HAIR. CAN’T CHECK IN PUBLIC SO UNVERIFIED BUT MIGHT BE PUBIC.

As much as I love my friends, they ship Huan and me too much. They want us to have a torrid, illicit, and very inappropriate affair. Probably because their obsession with Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner has no bounds, and because I mentioned one time that I thought Huan was hot. Best friends never forget. Even when you want them to.

I can’t feed that obsession, but I need their expertise. So, feeling more than vaguely bad, I pretend Huan is Judd, explaining we met last night. I tell them “Judd” embraced me in the streets and got hard.

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