We didn’t manage to get much private time, but ran into each as other as often as would be expected when working together. We kept it professional, only giving each other a few longing stares and brushing our hands together a few times when we thought no one was looking.
Our messaging, though, was another story.
I can’t waitto feel the heat of your tongue on my cock.
I’m imagining you lying in bed wearing nothing but high heels and panties.
The next time we’re alone, I’m going to spread your legs and fuck you wide open.
I had an almostperpetual blush and had to tilt my screen to hide it from prying eyes whenever I received a new notification, never knowing whether or not it was from Neil.
The only negative was the awkwardness of being around Jayce. I’d cornered him to get some answers for a question and answer thread on a popular online forum. His answers were curt, and I found myself having to soften them up before I posted a response.
It was frustrating. I knew he was acting this way because he had seen Neil kiss me, but both of us had decided to break it off. Being together would never work. Besides, it wasn’t like we had a real relationship. We’d kissed one time in a stairwell! That didn’t mean we were boyfriend and girlfriend, and it certainly didn’t mean I couldn’t date other people.
Despite knowing all that, I could understand how he felt. We had made a connection. We were attracted to each other. It must have been hard to see me with another man. Although I didn’t feel sorry for kissing Neil, I did still feel the need to apologize. I waited until the Q&A was done.
“Is that it?” Jayce asked.
“That was the last question.”
He got up from the tour bus sofa and started toward the exit, but I stopped him with a hand on his arm.
“Can I talk to you for a second?”
“What?” He didn’t even turn around.
“It’s about me and Neil. The assistant producer.”
Jayce flopped back down on the sofa, as far away from me as he could get, eyebrows drawn down.
“Why do you call him that, anyway? I thought he preferred Connor.”
“I know him as Neil. We’ve been messaging each other online for months. Neither of us had any idea who the other was. It wasn’t until I posted something I’d told him about in real life from my personal account that he figured it out. That time when you saw him kiss me, that was the first time we’d properly met in person. I had no idea he was going to do that. It took me by surprise, too.”
The tension in his body slowly melted away, but the frown stayed. “You were dating him online?”
“No! No, not at all. We were just friends.”
“That didn’t look like a friendly kiss.”
“We had agreed to meet up for drinks at the end of summer. I guess he was more into me than I thought.” And I was more into him, but I didn’t say that out loud. “I know we both agreed there could be nothing between us, but I got the feeling you might be upset about the whole situation. I wanted to apologize.”
“There’s no need.” Jayce flicked his eyes away from mine and looked out the window. “It’s not like we’re together or anything.”
“I want you to know that I wasn’t with Neil when we kissed. Or anyone else for that matter.”
“It’s fine, Ailey.”
I hesitated before pressing on. “I just want to know that things are okay between us.”
“We’re cool. Are we done here?”
“Yeah.”
He stood back up and stalked down the aisle until he reached the front, pounding down the stairs with a heavy gait.
Things weren’t fine between us at all.
