Page 139 of The Comedown

“I think I want to be anywhere you are. Even if it’s some jank-ass small-time bar, I’ll be there.”

“Julian.” I tilt my head. He has to know… “After tour—”

Desperate eyes lift to mine. “Don’t…leave me before you even leave me, Collette. If I wake to find you gone—”

“Back you’re sinkin’ to that prison of your own creation?” I guess, even though I don’t have to.

I want this to be our normal, our life—together. I also know the chances of that happening are slim. Very slim. With drugs pulling him in one direction, and touring pulling me another, how can we meet in the middle? I’m not sure we can outside of this tour. If The Family Julez Tour is the only time we’ll get to, then we should try to enjoy this while we can.

Dropping the subject, I go over and straddle him, taking his face in my hands.

“Happy birthday, Julian.”

His lips stretch into a hesitant grin, then grabbing my ass to mash our fronts together, he murmurs, “Best birthday ever.”

And we make out like a couple of teenagers for the rest of the ride.

Collette

My eyes want to close so bad, but I fight to keep them open. If I fall asleep now, it’ll be hours before I wake up again. We haven’t slept a wink since we checked in, and even though we’re both exhausted, neither of us are succumbing to sleep’s persistent call. I don’t want this to end any more than Julian does.

Seated at the round table just inside a sliding glass door overlooking a private courtyard, I snuggle deeper into the hotel’s robe, grinning at Julian beside me as he fashions the middle piece of the elaborate belly chain necklace I wore last night into…something else. The rest of it’s a lost cause after Julian broke a few of the thinner chains and tangled several others.

“What are you making?” I finally ask, drawing my knees closer to my chest as I watch him deep in concentration. My hair’s still wet from a shower, and when I prop my chin on a knee, drops of water fall on to the thick white cotton.

If heaven handed out cocoons of bliss, I have no doubt this moment is what they’d be made of.

Wordlessly, Julian holds his handiwork up, saying, “A triangle,” before using a butter knife to clang around in the center of it.

“Clever,” I say through my spread lips.

Placing the handmade triangle on the table, Julian spears another piece of pineapple with his fork. Our fork technically since he’s been feeding us both with it.

“I want a strawberry,” I tell him with a headshake.

He teases my bottom lip with the yellow fruit, explaining, “Pineapple makes your cum taste better.”

I open my mouth, biting the sweet chunk off the fork.

“I thought that was for men. Cranberry juice might be for women.”

The fork bounces off the plate with a loud clang as Julian drops it to reach for the phone on the nearby desk.

“What are you doing?”

He ignores me, asking whoever answers, “Ayo, do you guys carry cranberry juice?” I smother a laugh, making Julian smirk even as he tries to keep his tone serious while ordering an entire bottle from room service. It’s only eight in the morning and we’ve already ordered five different meals to graze on. I’ve never eaten this much in my life, and I’m so busy, so happy, with Julian, I don’t even consider the calories I’m consuming.

“I didn’t know I tasted bad,” I mutter against the robe’s collar once he’s off the phone.

“You taste like you smell, amazing, but I take my research very seriously.”

I accept the next bite, this time a grape.

“Right. And what exactly is this research?”

“I feed you, then I feed on your pussy.”

I wait for him to finish, but he never does.