“Um,” Jem said. He glanced at his watch—shivered as he remembered how it felt when River put it on him—and tried to gauge how much time he could devote to this conversation before he’d be late for work. “No, I… I appreciate the frankness.” So did his dick.
“And I know I’m paying you, and that makes everything complicated. But now you have a car either way, so you can quit if you… if you don’t want to….”
Fuck it. Jem palmed his dick through his pants and then popped open the button. “River.”
“Mm-hmm?”
“I’ve been hard since I read your note. You gave me a car and all I can think is you should fuck me in it.”
River’s breath rushed out in an audible gust. “Name the time and place, sweetheart.”
“Later,” Jem promised fervently. “But now I have to go, uh, take care of a situation so I can go to work, you monster.”
“I could help you with that,” River offered lowly.
“I will definitely be late if you try. But I’ll think of you,” Jem promised.
“You can tell me about it later,” River suggested.
“Oh my God. Bye, River.”
Jem hung up and went to deal with his problem.
But having a car did make his life easier. He made it to the school early, which was both a blessing and a curse, because it meant Tori had time to corner him before they had to be in their classrooms. She slung herself down into the seat next to him inthe teachers’ lounge and leaned forward with her head propped on her hands. “Good morning, bestie.”
Jem met her eyes and told himself not to flinch. “Hi, Tori.”
“Did you have a good weekend?”
“It was all right.”If you like fancy parties, private concerts, and bathroom hand jobs, it was pretty great.“Except for the movie. That was weird.”
“Mm-hmm. I saw some of the pictures online.” She tapped her blue-painted nails against her cheek. “That’s a nice watch. Is it new?”
“Mm-hmm,” Jem echoed. He wasn’t giving her anything. If she wanted to interrogate him, she could ask outright. Instead of offering anything else, he reached for his coffee mug.
Tori narrowed her eyes. “So did River give you a ride this morning?”
The coffee tried to go down the wrong pipe. Jem put the mug down and coughed, avoiding Tori’s gaze. He kept his head down when the fit passed, taking slow, shallow breaths, gradually pulling in more air until he could be sure he wouldn’t start coughing again.
When he looked up, Tori’s eyebrows had retreated to her hairline.
Jem cleared his throat. “In a manner of speaking.”
She tilted her head. “Inwhatmanner of speaking, Jem?” Her voice stayed light, but it held an edge. She might be a Flat Tires fan, but Jem knew if it came down to it, she was ride-or-die for him.
And honestly, he could use someone to talk to about this, and his options were limited. He glanced around furtively, wary of the school gossip vine, then leaned over the table and lowered his voice. “He gave me a car.”
“Excuse me!?” Tori hissed. Though she kept her voice quiet, the tone drew attention anyway, and she stood up from the table. “Okay, come with me, we need another venue.”
Arguing would get him nowhere. Jem let her drag him across the hall into the music room and waited for her to close the door behind her. She leaned against it, eyes wide, and said, “He gave you acar?” Then she took a moment to collect herself and followed that with, “How good are your blow jobs?!”
Jem’s face went hot and he dropped his head into his hands and collapsed on one of the plastic orchestra chairs. “I mean I think they’re pretty good, but uh, River wouldn’t know.”
There was a beat while Tori processed this. “He gave you a car and you’renotsucking his dick.”
“And the watch,” Jem said. “Also the outfit I wore to the premiere and, uh, a Taylor Swift album. Oh, and he’s having the Prius fixed.” Though Jem would probably sell that now, he guessed. He didn’t have two parking spots.
“Jesus,” Tori said. “If you’re not fucking him, maybe I should. My kid’s gonna need a college fund.”
