Page 243 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

His waistband reaches the dark patch of hair framing his cock,

then slips slow down the shaft⁠—

And I snap.

Stumble to my feet,

my chair screeching under me⁠—

Andrew stops,

waistband halfway down his cock.

And his eyes lift

until they’re crashing into mine.

The corner of his mouth lifts next.

“Took you long enough.”

His waistband snaps back around his hips, and he steps around Gia, erasing the distance between us fast, coming at me like a heavy metal song.

My chest’s heaving faster.

I step back, needing to leave the room.

My pencil clatters to the table.

Then he’s standing over me.

I turn my head away from him.

I need more time to hide all these feelings, to stop this rage shaking in my hands.

It’s the withdrawal. It has to be.

“Yo—” He dips down, grabbing my gaze, his mouth an inch away. Gingerly, I lift my chin, and his menacing eyes narrow when they catch mine. “You don’t wanna play that game with me. Trust me, I been doin’ it a lot longer than you.”

He tilts his mouth closer to my ear, his ruthless whisper brushing hot across my cheek, “And it ain’t only you who’ll lose, Allison.

“We both lose. Every goddamn time.”

His stare jumps across my face as he realizes how close he is to me. How it’s the closest he’s been in days.

I feel his heart pounding from outside of him.

A lump slides down his throat.

I clench my teeth so I don’t move⁠—

whether it be closer or away,

there’s no telling what my body’ll do,

so I stay entirely still,

breathless and still.