My lungs burn.
My vision is cloudy.
Then he jams deep, and holds—his cock kicking inside me.
I feel each spray as it hits my throat before dripping down to my belly. And he keeps me pinned, milking himself with tiny jerks and I swallow around him, kneeling, sticky in my own mess. But there’s no shame. I’m weightless. I’m his.
When Carey finally lets go, I collapse forward, coughing as my palms hit the tiles.
He puts himself away, and once his pants are back up he squats down in front of me to gently smooth back my hair and cup my cheek. “Are you okay?” he asks. So pure. So full of kindness.
I lean into his hand and smirk; my words coming out like gravel. "I can’t believe you werethatjealous.”
He sits down against the door and holds his arms out to me. "Of course I fucking am. She's the hottest woman in Broadrock, and all she does is throw herself at you."
"But she's not my boyfriend."
"Your what?"
"I've only got room in my life to belong to one person, Carey." His lips part but I hush him before collapsing into him and letting him hug me. "You've been calling me Oppa for weeks. I know you remember what that means."
“I’m gonna want a cut of your tips now, as well, if that’s the case.”
“And why is that?” I ask smugly.
“Cause that was the deal the last secretary got when she was dating someone in the shop.”
“But you’re not a secretary.”
“That’s right… I’m better.”
To Jintae:Work is finally slowing down. I’ve only got a few of Eden’s clients left, then no more twelve hour days. Carey is here every day now and it feels like he always has been. He’s nicer to be around than Shawn, but that’s not hard. He’s redecorating the place, though it still feels empty without Eden and Reeze. I want them back, even Reeze. All three of us together, how it’s meant to be… I’m still here whenever you're ready to talk. No judgement. Please just let me know you’re safe.
Ihit send on my most recent weekly update to my brother and exit the back room.
I’ve still not heard from him. It’s mid January, we’re no closer to knowing if he’s alive or dead, and I’m starting to understand the appeal.
If I disappeared with Carey, then it wouldn’t matter what my parents thought. There’d be no need to tell them. No need to worry about who might see us and run straight to my mother. No need to stress over who might call Eden and tell him I’m fucking his brother. We could live out of my van during the summer, traveling up and down the continent to wherever the waves were best, then get a cute little place where I could set up a shop in the winter time. I’d miss the bustle and the banter of working with my best friend, but what I have with Carey brings me so much happiness I really think I’d be willing to throw it all away. To make my choice. To choose us.
But as I look up at him and Liv standing together on top of the side bench, rearranging the frames to fit more in, laughing, I know that can never happen. Carey needs a home. Somewhere stable. With his own friends and an actual family.
So I can’t be selfish. We need to make this work, right here in Broadrock. In Teken Ink. With Liv, and his brother, and—fuck it—Reeze too.
It doesn’t matter how hard I have to work to prove to Eden that the way I feel about Carey is more genuine than anything I’ve ever known. But I’ll do it. I’ll pay whatever dues he charges. But… that’s all for Carey. Forme,formyparents, I’m not willing to try so hard. I’m not willing to live inside their box anymore. I don’t know how—or when—I’ll tell them, but when I do, I’ll make it clear that Carey Novak is my only option. Either accept us being together, or don’t. No ultimatums, no conditions, noyou can come over on holidays but we won’t talk about it.It’s all, or nothing.
“What are you so happy about?” Liv asks when she turns around to see me smiling up at Carey.
“You mean other than his twelve o’clock looks like a no-show?” Carey answers her.
Liv digs her phone out of her back pocket. “At what point d’you consider the appointment forfeited?”
“You can wait till your appointment.”
“What? No! I’m already here. I need my dick shark.” She takes the framed sketch off the wall. “Then I’m gonna buy this baby.”
I roll my eyes. “They’re not for sale.”
Carey jumps down from the bench. “Why not?”
