Page 365 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

My chest panics.

The rest of my body freezes, wanting him to take my mouth hard, and not wanting him to take my mouth at all.

And before his mouth touches mine,

I press my palm against the center of his chest, dragging up, gripping the back of his neck, stopping him from coming any closer.

“Please don’t,” I murmur.

The muscles in his face flex, jaw ticking,

heartache spilling across his expression.

My fingers rake his nape,

a disgusting attempt to soothe,

and the words leave a bitter aftertaste.

‘Cause I want to kiss him—I do, madly.

But it wouldn’t be fair to let him go there. I need to tell him about what happened with Raymond.

Tonight.

I'm going to tell him tonight.

Andrew presses a kiss to my forehead instead, sad, intense, his warm exhale hitting my skin.

In the background of him, the band fades into the intro of a Teddy Vale song, an old-timey melody with 1950s misery.

Teddy takes the stage,

fingers curling around the chrome mic.

Andrew slips my hand into his.

“C’mon,” he murmurs across my brow.

“One dance before we go.”

He drags me off the stool, our fingers lacing together as he guides my hands to the back of his neck. Hardly able to catch my breath, I sink into him as his other hand dives warm down my bare back, pulling me flush.

He ignores the weight of Teddy singing around us, swaying me into a sedating rock, holding me close so I don’t drift away to another man’s voice.

For the moment, I close my eyes,

let myself be cracked open,

wanting all of him,

and only him,

to fill me.

In our little pocket of the world, he slows time and dims everything that’s not standing in the spotlight of us.

But when I open my eyes again,