“Are you surprised?”
“Not at all.”
“Both Ann and Carina said they knew people who might want to hire me for their events.”
“Now that is a bit of a surprise,” I admitted.
“In a good way, I assume,” she said.
I leaned into her. “Oh, the best. It’s not that I didn’t think you were good enough, it’s just that things don’t usually go that fast.”
“Not usually, no.”
“It was an unusually good opportunity.”
“Which was all thanks to you,” she pointed out, leaning down and kissing me on the cheek.
“I just saw the opportunity, you’re the one who rose to the occasion.”
“With a little help from my friends.”
“Oh, no.”
“What’s wrong?” Emma asked, genuinely concerned.
“No way are you are a Ringo. You are at least a Paul if not a George.”
“What about John Lennon?” Emma asked.
“A four-chord wonder who faked it until he made it,” I said.
“Wow, that’s a hot take.”
“It is just how I feel. He never wrote a bar of melody I couldn’t play backward.”
“That’s a point,” Emma said, considering it.
“I also think The Smiths would have been better as a trio.”
“The hell you say!”
“Indeed, I did,” I conceded.
“How do you figure that?”
“Have you ever heard Johnny Marr sing?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“More of the talent with a quarter of the ego,” I pointed out.
“Interesting.”
We lay in silence for a bit. I felt her breathing slowly. It was like she was content.
“I’m sorry I left last night,” I said, suddenly comfortable enough to bring it up.
“I-It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not, it was a mean thing to do. I mean after all you’ve given me the least I can do is stay until breakfast.”
“It would have been nice,” Emma agreed.
“I also can’t help but think you might have felt used.”
“A bit, yeah,” she admitted.
“I know this is supposed to be all be pretend, but it doesn’t feel pretend to me.”
I felt her take in a deep breath. “Me either,” Emma said, “if I’m honest, I would like to be with you all the time.”
“I feel the same way.” I turned to look her in the face. She was blushing, with her eyes wide.
“Then why didn’t you just say so?”
“I’ve never been really good at relationships. I guess I was trying to keep a distance so I wouldn’t hurt you, even by accident. That didn’t go very well, did it?”
She reached over, running a single finger over my forehead and into my hair. “Why are you scared?”
“Fair question. I think it is because things were really great with Gina, too, until things went off the rails. She was my last serious relationship. It ended really badly. She is still convinced that I will see the error of my ways and go back to her. I won’t, just in case you’re wondering.”
“Will the same thing happen with me? With us?”
“You don’t seem like the cheating type,” I joked.
“Please, I need to know.”
“I can’t say for sure. I can’t see the future, but going by the present, I would say no, it won’t happen that way.”
“How can you know?”
“I don’t know for sure. There is something different about you, Emma. I’ve never felt this way about anyone, which is part of why I don’t want to make promises I don’t know if I can keep.”
“You don’t have to promise anything. Just be here now,” she said, pulling me closer.
“I can do that.”
I kissed her lightly and lovingly on the lips.
Chapter Seventeen
Emma
It happened so suddenly I don’t think either of us saw it coming. To be fair to Noah, he kissed me, but it was likely out of affection. I was the one who introduced the tongue action. I just couldn’t resist him. I need to fuck. I literally ached for it and wanted to communicate this to him as clearly as possible. It might have been a mistake, but I was beyond the point of caring.
Noah didn’t seem to mind either, returning my affections in kind. In a weird way, I was proud to be able to keep up with him. I had always been a good student when given the opportunity to learn. I had actually gone into the interview at the cafe with the manual memorized. I hadn’t been there very long, and there were already murmurs of management.
Without looking, I got my hand under the blanket, into his shorts and around the shaft of his rock-hard cock.
“Okay?” I asked, stroking Noah’s dick.
“Yes,” he moaned.
“I’m gonna suck it, okay?”
He nodded, being beyond words at that point. Gently moving the blankets away, I shifted his boxers and slipped his cock most of the way into my mouth. I’d never really sucked cock in that position before and was surprised how much easier it was. I could get him almost all the way in without gagging once. I made a mental note to only suck him that way or at least as often as possible.