“Good. I want you to hold out as long as you can.”
“It’s not going to be too long.”
“That’s okay because I’m so fucking close.”
“Are you stroking yourself?”
“Fuck, yeah. I’m jerking myself and thinking about having your mouth and your hands on me.”
Her orgasm hit her hard and she cried out as she heard Baz bite out a broken, “Fuck,” then groan.
With her fingers still inside her pussy, she felt the pulsing contraction and her wetness. And she wanted to be pulsing around his cock.
After at least half a minute, when all she heard was his heavy breathing through the phone, she finally took a deep breath and pulled her fingers from her body, making her shiver.
“You okay, babe?”
She smiled because she knew exactly what he’d look like if she could see him. He’d be staring at her with half-closed, hazy green eyes.
“I’m fine.”
“Good, ’cause I’m fucking wrecked.”
She laughed. “Is that good or bad?”
“Very, very good.”
“Okay. Glad to hear it.”
Silence fell again, though this time, she could tell he wanted to say something, but either didn’t know how or wasn’t sure what he should say.
“You tired?” was what he finally said.
“Yeah.” She thought twice about saying anything else. She didn’t want to bring another man into this conversation and anything she said could possibly lead back to that.
“As much as I want to keep you on the phone all night with me, you should go to bed so tomorrow will be here sooner.”
Her chest tightened at his sweet words. “Sebastian . . .”
“Yeah?”
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
“Me, too, babe. So fucking much.”
* * *
Baz’s ringing phone jerked him out of a deep sleep and he grabbed for it without looking at the number.
“Yeah. What’s up?”
“You called me, man. I’m listening.”
Nik.
“Hey. Thanks for calling me back.” He bit back the “finally” that wanted to follow that sentence. “We need to talk.”
“This isn’t talking?”
“Fuck you, Nikky. You know what I mean. We need to get together and hash this out.”
Nik sighed, loud and clear. “Yeah, I know.”
Okay, the bastard was going to make this difficult. And Baz wasn’t even half awake yet. But Nik had called so Baz dragged his ass out of bed and headed for the bathroom.
“Where are you?” Baz turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on his face.
“Still in Downingtown. Why?”
“Can we do this face-to-face?”
Nik paused and Baz’s heart tripped over itself.
Why the fuck was this so hard? Oh, yeah. Because he’d fucked up everything.
“Sure. Why the hell not? I can’t do it today, though.”
He sucked in a breath. “Okay. When?”
“Tomorrow. . I’ll text when I’m available.”
“Fine. That’s . . . fine.”
“Yeah, alright. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Nik hung up without another word, leaving Baz feeling like he’d just been kicked in the gut.
Fuck. Why did this fucking suck so much? And how the hell was he supposed to fix this?
They’d never been so far apart for this long. Had never not talked to each other for more than a couple days. At least not before last year.
Maybe it’s too late to fix it.
No, he refused to believe that. He was finally getting his shit together. This would work out and Baseline Sins would go back into the studio and they’d record again and they’d go on tour.
And he’d leave for months, possibly a year.
The thought didn’t make him feel like puking anymore, like it had for months after his overdose. But now . . . he had other things to consider.
Someone else to consider.
Christ, he could be completely jumping the gun on this, but the thought of not seeing Tru for months on end made him want to hit something. Something that might hit back.
For the past couple of months he’d seen her almost every day. He’d gotten used to it. To talking to her every morning. Until their conversation devolved into sniping and griping.
And he’d enjoyed that, too.
But the past couple of days had been amazing, not including her date last night, which he really didn’t want to think about.
No, he’d rather think about what she’d done with him after her date. That phone call last night . . . Christ.
He couldn’t fucking wait for tonight. Couldn’t wait to show her part of his world. And hope like hell she didn’t run screaming.
Amazingly, his phone didn’t ring the rest of the day. Apparently everyone else had their own lives to live. He got a few texts, but mostly he spent the day working on music, just him and his guitar.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d done this and not been climbing the walls or wishing he could take something to make him calm the fuck down.
Even better, by the time he needed to stop to get ready to pick up Tru, he had a complete song.
A ballad. An actual, honest-to-freaking-god love song. Something he’d never had any desire to write before.
Ever.
The song stuck with him through his shower and while he dressed, keeping him from being a girl and worrying about what to wear. He already knew where he was taking her to dinner and hoped like hell she didn’t have an objection to cheesesteaks, fries, and soda.
He had a feeling her date last night had been somewhere she had to wear a dress and that just wasn’t him. Not that he wouldn’t mind seeing her in a dress again. Something soft and feminine and maybe a little slinky. Not that she didn’t looked amazing in a pair of tight jeans and a t-shirt.
Like she did right now.
“Whoa, Tru. You look fucking hot.”
Her lopsided smile and the slight shake of her head as she waved him inside made him wonder if he’d said something wrong.
“Thank you. Let me just grab my purse and we can leave. Are we walking over to South Street?”
“Yeah. I figured since it’s only a couple of blocks . . .”
“No problem.” She pointed at her feet, and he smiled at the slightly worn, bright blue Converse Chucks on her feet. “I planned on it.”
After she grabbed her purse, slung it across her chest, and checked to make sure she had her phone, they headed toward South Street.
The air temperature still hovered in the mid-sixties, a beautiful early-May night. South Street buzzed with people. Tourists with their heads on a swivel as they poked in and out of shops. City dwellers on their way to dinner. Teenagers yelling and laughing as they rushed to be somewhere. Older couples strolling along as if they had all the time in the world.
With a ball cap on, no one looked at him twice as they waited for a table at Jim’s, talking about the crowd, the beautiful weather, and the fact that neither of them had gotten out all day to enjoy it.
Once they were seated, he took off his cap and ran his fingers through his hair before he realized she was watching him.
“What? Do I have hat head?”
Her smile made him want to lean over and kiss her, but he didn’t want to draw any attention. Not that he really expected anyone to recognize him, but he knew the possibility was always there and sometimes people weren’t as polite about it as he wished they would be.
Tonight, he just wanted to be a guy on a date with a girl and shut out the rest of the world.
“No. You just look so different when you wear a hat. I don’t know why that is.”
“Probably because I only wear one when I don’t want anyone to notice me.”
“So tonight you’re incognito?”
“Yeah. Because I don’t want to share my time with you with anyone else.”
She blushed, just a faint pink color in her cheeks that let him know he’d said the right thing. Good. He wanted to keep that up.
The waitress showed up to take their orders and returned in seconds with their drinks: sodas for them both. Maybe he’d have a beer later. Then again, maybe he’d want to be stone-cold sober when he got her into bed tonight.