“You’ll be more productive if you have a break,” I insist. “Come on. Bet we can both get off in fifteen minutes.” He hesitates, and I stroke his cheek. “Jack. You’re killing yourself. Surely you can see that.” I run my hand through his blonde hair. I can feel him shaking slightly under me. I don’t know if it’s anxiety, low blood sugar, or caffeine overdose, but either way, it’s unacceptable. “Your health is more important than any job,” I remind him.
“It’s not,” he mutters. “Not this job.” He touches his forehead to mine. “You’re sweet, but I’ll be okay.”
I sigh heavily. “Okay.” I stand, squeezing his shoulder. “You can keep working. Call me if you want a break later, okay?” As I turn to go, my elbow knocks a pen off his desk. I bend down slowly to pick it up, giving him a good look at my red lace thong. “Here.” I set it back on the table and head for the door.
“Wait,” he grinds out.
I smile.
His lunch break ends up lasting well over an hour, until Cami wakes up again.
Over the next week, I also see three more of Cyrus’s shows. I can’t stay away. Some nights, I finish my shift, go home, and can’t stop thinking of him oiling himself up in the changing room. Grinding against a strange girl. Slowly pulling off his clothes. Whenever my train of thought heads in that direction, I inevitably find myself in line outside the Tease Club half an hour later, shivering as I wait to pay my entrance fee. I never tell Cyrus when I’m going, but he somehow always spots me in the dark room. Every time, he comes to my table, and I’m led up to the main stage with him holding my hand tightly.
On my third visit, he carries me through the crowd bridal style, his face buried in my neck like he’s breathing in my scent. “Careful,” I mumble in his ear as he sets me gently in the chair. “I’m not wearing underwear.”
He stares at me, missing his cue. “What?”
“This is a short dress,” I tell him. “And loads of people are watching. I don’t really want all of these people to see my goods.”
For a few seconds, he just gapes at me. I see his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows convulsively. Around us, the lights flash as the other dancers move in sync, but he stays frozen, breathing hard.
I cup his cheek. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to distract you. Keep going.”
“You are in so muchtrouble,” he growls, tugging off his tie. Instead of tossing it aside, he wraps it around my eyes, blindfolding me. I gape.
“Cy—”
He bends and nips my cheek, scraping his teeth over my skin. The crowd screams.
The performance is a thousand times hotter when I can’t see what’s happening. All of my senses are heightened as he drags my hands down his hard, sweaty abs, rolling his hips over mine. By the time the show is over, I’m sweating and panting and halfway to coming. Cy doesn’t even wait for the encore; just grabs me and drags me outside to find a taxi. When we make it back to the boys’ flat, my moans manage to drag Jack out of his bedroom pretty efficiently.
* * *
About a week after my chat with Sebastian, I walk into the flat at eight AM to find Jack in the lounge. He’s kneeling next to Cami’s bouncer, staring out of the window as he swings her gently. His shadowed eyes are zoned out. He doesn’t even notice I’ve arrived until I sit down next to him, kissing his cheek.
“Hey, space cadet. I missed you.”
He blinks, looking around at me, and his face melts into a smile. “Oh. Hey. Sorry. Off in my head.”
“Yeah?” I slip my arms around Cami, picking her up. She coos happily as I pull her into a hug, grabbing a fistful of my hair and tugging. I gently disentangle her fingers before my hairline recedes. “What you thinking about?”
He rubs his eyes. “Just some code. There’s a bug messing up one of the save points. I spent all night trying to reproduce it, and it keeps slipping past me.”
“This is really stressing you out, huh?”
He shrugs. “It’s important. And I guess I’m kind of a perfectionist. Coding is all I’m really good at, so it feels pretty crap when I even screw that up.”
I frown, nuzzling Cami’s cheek. “Coding isn’t all you’re good at. What do you mean?”
“It’s just my thing.” Cami gets bored of me and reaches for him again. He takes her off me, bouncing her on his lap. “All my siblings are athletes. One of my brothers plays semi-pro football, the other is on the national swim team, and my little sister is a gymnast. She’s working towards competing in the next Olympics.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “That’s amazing!”
He nods, smiling. “They all are. I was never sporty, though. I mean, I work out, but only because I have to. I think the gym is the dullest place on Earth.” He sways Cami from side to side, making her giggle. “School was what I was always best at.”
“That doesn’t mean it’sallyou’re good for, though,” I start, but I’m interrupted by a stream of muffled curse words coming from behind Seb’s closed office door. We both glance over.
“What’s going on in there?” I ask.