Everything is fine. I’m overthinking this.
A tug on the leash makes me stop and look down to find Aggie in a heap on the sidewalk, giving me a look that says she’s not going to take one more step. “Sorry, girl,” I chuckle, scooping her up and tucking her under my arm, “I forget how short your legs are.”
We arrive home to find Luke fast asleep, sprawled out on his stomach and snoring lightly. Once my eyes adjust to the darkness, I manage to get Aggie into her crate before sliding into bed slowly, trying not to disturb him. He stirs but doesn’t wake, and I snuggle up next to him, as close as I can possibly get. His body is soft and warm with sleep. Instinctively, he throws an arm around me and hums in contentment.
I can just make out the hard planes of his broad shoulders in the dark, and I reach out to brush my fingers softly along his spine. A sudden wave of emotion rolls over me, and I recognize it for exactly what it is.
“I love you,” I whisper into the dark, as the object of my affection slumbers on.
29
RILEY
“I’m gonna sleep for a week,” I groan, kicking my shoes off and collapsing onto the couch next to my boyfriend.
Luke reaches over and pulls me into his side, shaking his head with a chuckle. “You’re being a bit dramatic, I think.”
“Am not,” I pout, curling into his side and swinging my legs up across his lap. “I love my sister, but oh my god, how does she have so much energy?” Between the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Venice Beach, and Universal Studios, I think I walked twenty thousand steps every day she was here. I never want to walk again. Luke will just have to carry me everywhere now.
“She was on vacation, and it was her first time in LA,” he chuckles, rubbing a hand soothingly along my thigh.
“Maybe, but I really don’t think we had to do everything in the entire city in four days,” I grumble. “It’s not like she’ll never be back to visit.”
My cheek vibrates from the rumble of laughter in his chest. “Well then, next time you won’t have to do as much.”
I lift my head and attempt to glare at him. “Ugh. I hate when you’re so logical and reasonable.”
“Sorry, sunshine.”
We sit in comfortable silence for a while, enjoying the feel of being in one another’s arms again. With Mandy visiting, we didn’t get a lot of alone time together. I was up early and out late, crashing so hard as soon as I got home that we haven’t even had sex in almost a week. I’ve missed these quiet, intimate moments, just the two of us.
“This is nice,” I say finally, nuzzling into his neck. “It was great to see my sister, but I’m happy to have our little bubble back.”
“Me too,” he hums, his breath warm in my hair.
“Did you get some work done this week while I was out, at least?” I try to sound as nonchalant as possible when I ask, because Luke’s demeanor after his collab with Cooper has still been weighing on my mind. Even though he’s seemed closer to his normal, happy self the past few days, there’s been a cloud hanging over him that keeps his smile from reaching his eyes, and I hate it. I want to fix it, but I don’t want to overstep, either.
“Yeah, I managed to film a few jerk off videos for my page and started editing the collab I did,” he answers. The words are flippant, but there’s a tightness to his tone.
“Oh yeah? How’d that go?” I wince a little at how perky I sound.
“Fine,” he sighs. I wait a beat to see if he’ll follow that up, but he stays silent.
Sitting up, I prop my arm on the back of the couch and face him fully. “You don’t have to talk to me about anything you don’t want to…but how are you feeling now that we’ve each collabed with someone else?”
Luke’s jaw clenches, and I can’t tell if it’s from frustration at himself or annoyance at me or both. “I feel fine. It’s just work. Sometimes it sucks more than other times.”
“I know, but I don’t want you to feel like it sucks,” I press. “What if we do our outside collabs together next month? We could do another threesome, people really liked that before.”
Luke chews his bottom lip, considering. “I guess we could try that…”
It’s not exactly enthusiasm, but it’s better than nothing. My phone is on the bar where I dumped it with my wallet, and I don’t want to get up, so I fish my hand into Luke’s pocket to retrieve his. I smirk as he squirms beneath me when my fingers brush his dick. “Anyone in your messages you’d want to work with?”
He takes his phone from me, and I prop my head on his shoulder, peeking at the screen as he begins scrolling. “Maxturbator…Jacked Jaxxxon…Hung Twunk…” I read aloud. “God, these people are really out here with these pseudonyms? These are terrible. Dixon Holes? Absolutely not.”
Luke is shaking with laughter now. “Hey, you do what you can when you need anonymity.”
“I guess. Glad I stuck with my own name, though, ugh.” He keeps scrolling, and a couple of profile pictures catch my eye. “What about that one? Uncut Caleb? That name sounds less awful, at least.”
