Page 134 of The Comedown

Julian’s tone is biting as he tells Slade, “Your presents are on their way out.”

Their way out?

“Shouldn’t you be going with them?” Slade’s gaze touches on mine briefly before Julian forces out an ugly laugh, drawing his attention back to him.

“Nah. I got security to do it.”

“What?” both Slade and I question.

Sure enough, over on the stairwell, the girls that Julian was just in the pit with are being escorted out by two bulky security guards.

I eye Slade’s profile. So, he set this all up. It wasn’t Julian choosing anything, it was him being manipulated…again.

His nose in my hair, Julian singsongs, “Hope you kept the receipt,” to his agent, and I finally relax into him, feeling the outline of his growing cock against my backside. He’s just now getting hard which means he wasn’t before, not even with two models throwing themselves at him.

I turn my face up to look over Julian’s. Absolutely everything on him is red, and there’s a clump of Jell-O falling from one of his ears on to his shirt.

He’s adorable, in the most badass way possible. And he didn’t bite the carrot that was dangled in front of him. It was a good-looking carrot, too.

“I thought…” I trail off, not wanting to even say it out loud. It’s embarrassing, how much I still allow my ex-husband to hold me back. Julian isn’t Bodee, a fact he’s proved multiple times already, and now me refusing to believe him isn’t Bodee’s fault, it’s mine, and I have to stop.

I can’t let Bodee control me anymore. Some of my ex’s influence is out of my hands, but this isn’t. “The power’s always been in your hands.” It’s time I use it for my own benefit.

I brush away some of the gelatin coating his honeypot, letting my middle finger remain a little longer.

“You’re in my skin,” Julian rasps close to my lips.

“You mean on?”

“You’re everywhere.” He seals his mouth to mine, and I groan, tasting the Jell-O.

Maybe he has a point. It does taste better than baby food.

Next to us, Slade mutters something that breaks Julian’s concentration as well as our kiss.

He tells Slade, “Fuck off for the night. You’ve done enough.”

“Are you serious?”

“As a motherfucking heart attack.”

“Come on. Don’t be like that. It’s your birthday.”

“Go make sure your presents get out okay, then fuck. Off.” The last part he growls out, and I actually have to bite on my lips to keep from smiling. Julian understands more than Slade wants him to.

One day, hopefully soon, he’ll figure everything out, and there won’t be a contract strong enough to prevent Slade from getting fired. All the meddling, all the maneuvering, all the masking Slade’s been doing is bound to come out, especially if he’s sloppy like he was tonight.

There’s a moment of strained silence where Slade stares at Julian and Julian glares right back before Slade finally takes the hint and storms off, mumbling something about Julian being ungrateful. Gaslighting—a remora’s last stab of defense.

“You. Me. Jell-O. Now.”

Extricating myself from his hold, I spin around, keeping Julian at arm’s length while telling him, “I’m not going in there.”

Julian pretends to leave, then at the last second, ducks down, tossing me over his shoulder.

“Not again,” I groan, reaching out a hand to cover the opening of my skirt, but just like last time, Julian’s is already there, blocking my ass from view.

I’m deposited directly into the pit that’s soupier than it was when we first came down here.