Page 40 of Sling’s Awakening

“What is?” she asks, not moving from her spot.

A win is a win.

“Getting you relaxed.” I grab her lighter off the glass table in front of us and light up the blunt.

“So you’re just taking all the credit for it?” she asks. “Because I was doing just fine before you came over.”

“Really?” I snicker. “It didn’t look like it. You looked like you were thirty seconds from doing something crazy. You’re lucky I happened to see you, really.”

I bring the blunt to my lips, taking two hits before passing it to her.

She holds her hand up as she shakes her head. “Oh no, I’m good.”

“Come on,” I push. “I promise you’ll have the best sleep of your life.”

She looks between my face and the blunt before finally taking it and mumbling, “I’ll have the best sleep of my life if someone doesn’t wake me up at the ass crack of dawn.”

“I vow not to wake up the princess tomorrow and let her get her beauty rest,” I say as I place my hand over my heart for emphasis.

Blake rolls her eyes as she takes a hit, sagging further into the cushions.

I snake my arm around her again, this time instead of resting on her arm I begin to massage her neck.

She lets out a low moan as she arches into me, giving me better access.

“Feel good?” I ask.

“Mhm,” she mumbles, her eyes drifting closed as she takes another hit.

I had been spot on with thinking she looks wound up tight as fuck. She looks relaxed right now, but her neck is in knots.

“What’s got my toots so stressed out?”

“Work,” she says, still mumbling as she lets out another small moan as I work on a knot.

I mask my shock of her actually opening up to me with no attitude or anything.

“What’s going on at work?” I ask, trying my luck.

If she says it’s Russ, I’m going to fucking kill him.

Blake releases a sigh of contentment as she arches her neck in the other direction as my hand moves on. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

“Try me.”

“I’ve been feeling like something is off for a while now, but now I know I’m right about that feeling.”

“Does this have to do with Russ?” I ask, keeping my tone casual as I knead a little harder.

Blake sighs as her body leans into me. She sounds exhausted, betraying how her body is reacting to me. “Unfortunately. Stuff hasn’t been adding up lately and Russ has been… more on edge than usual.”

“How so?” I press.

She’s making it really hard not to get up and ride my ass down there and see what’s up. This guy has rubbed me the wrong way from day one. And him calling me up today like he’s doing me a favor makes me want to pound his face in.

“I don’t want to bore you with the details,” Blake yawns, her lids lowering as she takes another hit.

My hand works its way up her neck, kneading as I go before I switch to playing with her hair as I twirl a strand around my finger. It’s silky smooth to the touch and long enough that it can wrap around my entire finger.