Rachel and I watch Carl go over some of my photographs in the living room. We’re standing in my small kitchen, waiting for him to decide my future. It’s funny how life works sometimes. Just a couple of weeks ago, I thought that I had hit rock bottom. My life seemed to be in shambles. I had a dead-end job and a broken heart. Then I met Rachel, and now Carl Brunswick is in my apartment, sizing up my work.
Rachel bumps my shoulder with hers. “What are you thinking about? You’re quiet.”
I meet her gaze and grin. “Breakfast.”
She smiles. Lost in memories from this morning, we don’t hear Carl walk toward us until he’s standing two feet away from us. “Ronan, my boy, Rachel wasn’t wrong. You are very talented.” He glances in Rachel’s direction. “Are you all right, honey? You seem flushed.”
“I-ah-it’s just very warm in here. I’ll be fine. Excuse me.” Her eyes a soft, dazed blue. “I need to use the restroom.” She starts heading there but stops after taking a few steps, realizing that she’s not supposed to know where it is. “Ronan, is it this way?”
“Let me show you.” I look at Carl who’s smiling knowingly at us. “Excuse me.”
I follow her and once we’re out of Carl’s sight, I push Rachel up against the wall, my bulge cradled in that soft, warm spot between her legs. I cup her ass possessively, caressing the roundness and lowering my head to hers. “Stop blushing or I’m going to have to take you again.”
“No … Carl is …” She leans her head to the side, offering herself to me, and closes her eyes.
“I don’t give a shit.”
She laughs throatily. “Haven’t you had enough? I can barely walk.”
“No, Rachel.” I press her lower body into mine, imprinting the outline of my cock on her fancy skirt, showering kisses on her neck, my lips grazing pearls, and the swell of her breasts rising above her shirt. Grinning, I say, “Not by a long shot.”
“Ronan, please. Be serious.” She swallows and grabs the back of my head, pulling me closer to her. Her words deny but her body eagerly welcomes me.
I push her straight, perfectly blown out hair out of the way, and begin to suck the back of her neck, marking her. “Oh God … Yes, Ronan. Fine. Later.”
I let her go and grin like a cocky motherfucker as I watch her walk away with shaky legs and burning eyes, heat spreading through her cheeks.
Back in the living room, I find Carl looking at another photograph. By the time he notices me, he places the picture down on the coffee table and walks back to the tiny kitchen. “You’re a very talented young man. I’m truly surprised you’ve remained under the radar for so long.”
“Thank you. I guess I never pursued anything too seriously. Life kept getting in the way.” After I got into art school, Jackie got pregnant and needed my help. I put my dreams on the back burner, quit school, and got a job that paid okay money. We couldn’t allow our grandparents to pay for everything. And then a couple years later, another chance came knocking on my door. Edgar got me in touch with an art dealer, who had seen a shoot that I did for a very obscure fashion magazine and liked what he saw. We set up an appointment to meet at his gallery the day before he was flying to Milan. On my way to the meeting, I got a call from school. Ollie had fallen from the monkey bars and broken his arm. Jackie was working and couldn’t get out of work and our grandparents were away visiting friends in Florida. I called the art dealer and apologized. We never met.
“I see… A word of advice?”
“Yes?” I raise an eyebrow.
“Be gentle with her. She just got out of a nasty divorce.”
Reclining against the fridge, I cross my arms on my chest. “We’re just having fun.”
He takes his glasses off and carefully polishes them with a handkerchief. “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt, isn’t it?”
“With all due respect, what Rachel and I choose to do is none of your business.”
“Of course, but—”
“She’s an adult, she knows what she’s doing.”
“I know she is, but do you?”
I scowl. “What do you mean?”
“I get the feeling that you’re playing a very dangerous game, Ronan. One that will leave many people hurt. Do you know what I think?”
“Why don’t you enlighten me?”
Carl stares at me, like he’s able to see past all my walls. “I think that you’re chasing more than fame here—something that Rachel and I can’t give you. I could be wrong, but I rarely am.”
At that moment, Rachel comes back into the room, forcing us to drop the subject. I make myself unclench my jaw so I can smile at Rachel, who’s watching us carefully.
“What were you guys talking about? You seem so serious.”
Staring at Carl, I take Rachel’s hand in mine, raise it to my lips, and kiss it. “Nothing important.”