Page 51 of On My Side (Quiblings #3)

Audrey

Playlist: Late Night Talking | Harry Styles

Sex with Ren was so mind-blowing that—dare I say it?—it was worth waiting a decade and a half for.

While I’m desperate to stay in the post-coital quiet, Ren reminds me I have to pee after sex.

Which is something my reckless ass never did after sex in high school, so Ren mansplains why it’s important I do it.

“Don’t get up yet,” he says, flustered as he nudges me back against the sheets. He runs to the bathroom, a damp washcloth in hand. “Let me help clean you up.”

I adjust myself to watch, but instead of cleaning, he just stares. He put his glasses back on, and it takes me back to when he saw my toy for the first time.

“Speechless?” I tease, weaving my hand into his hair.

He nods and reaches his hand between my thighs. Instead of wiping away his cum, he uses his fingers to push it back into me. I gasp at the sensation, my pussy sensitive from his thorough fucking.

“I read that in a book once,” he murmurs, eyes fixated on my cunt. “Always wanted to try it.”

After going to the bathroom, I come back into his room wearing my glasses and an oversized black t-shirt with the phrase “Musical puns are my forte” across the front.

He does a double take when I enter, and I’m certain I do the same.

He’s shirtless, his tattoos a dark contrast against his flushed skin, gray sweatpants hanging low on his hips and highlighting the V on his lower belly.

Sky has tens of thousands of listeners, and I’m the one who gets to see Ren like this.

“Where did those come from?” Ren asks, blinking in confusion at me.

“You gave me the shirt,” I remind him, peering down at it. Ren’s four inches taller than me, so while the shirt is tight across my chest, it hangs to my mid-thigh. He’s staring at my face, and it dawns on me. “Oh!” My hands fly to my face, touching the wire frames of my glasses. “These?”

He scoffs. “Yeah, those . ‘Those,’ she says, like the damn things didn’t appear magically on her face,” he mutters to himself.

“I keep contact solution and an extra pair in my purse, as well as extra meds. Did you think I came over tonight ready to raw dog it?”

The dopiest grin spreads across his face. “I mean… we did raw dog it…”

“Oh my god.” I roll my eyes and continue into the room.

“I thought you wanted to see where the magic happened?” he says as I begin to climb back into bed.

I raise a brow. “Was that not here? Is there someplace else where you have incredible sex you want to show me?”

Ren smirks. “Something like that. I want to show you where I record…”

“Oh, hell yes,” I hiss, scrambling off the mattress. I’d forgotten the whole reason he took me to his apartment. “Show me.”

He chuckles softly and envelops my hand with his before leading me out the door.

“ Meow !” screams the little fluffball sitting outside his door.

“Not now, Leia,” Ren says absentmindedly, pulling me past her and further down the hallway. “Daddy has to show Mommy the magic.”

“ Mommy ?” I tease. “Piper would throw a fit if she heard that.”

Ren stops us in front of a closed door. “She’ll get over it,” he responds, still absentmindedly. “You are entering a space no one but myself has entered before.”

“Lucky me,” I tease.

“It’s my sacred place, a place where I shed everything Ren’s supposed to be and am just Sky.”

My heart flutters in my chest. “Okay,” I tell him quietly. “Thank you for letting me in.”

“ Meow ?” Leia asks while weaving between my feet.

I look at Ren, who’s gazing at his cat child with a furrowed brow. “I think she wants to come too.”

He sighs heavily. “ Fine .” He bends over and scoops Leia into his arms. She rubs her face along his, purring happily at being held by him, and what is wrong with me? Am I jealous of a goddamn cat?

Ren turns the doorknob, and honestly, I’m disappointed at the lack of a code or lock. I was imagining his studio to be akin to Dexter’s laboratory.

But no, it’s a simple spare room with a fiddle leaf fig in the corner and a monstera next to the door.

It has a big bay window, a large desk and a plush armchair, and a bunch of recording equipment set up.

There’s a laptop and a monitor, post-it notes stuck on the desk with notes like “come harder?” scribbled on them.

Next to the desk is a rolling cart equipped with a pink sparkly pencil case, a brown leather belt, and other random objects.

A small succulent lives in the corner of his desk, right next to a large pair of lilac wireless headphones with the 4Play logo on each ear.

“So, this is where the magic happens,” I say, stepping further into the room.

I drag my finger along the edge of the desk, reading more of the colorful sticky notes stuck to his desk.

“ mask kink script?” “practice whimpers to make more realistic.” “look through subreddit for listener feedback.” “call millie for her birthday.”

“Is Millie’s birthday soon?” I ask, tracing the edge of the post-it note.

“That’s from last month,” Ren answers. “I haven’t gotten around to throwing them away.” He’s fidgeting with his St. Anthony medal with the hand that isn’t holding Leia, whose satisfied purrs rival the volume of a motorcycle.

Me too, girl. Me. Too.

“Tell me about this mask kink note,” I say teasingly. “What inspired that?”

His blush deepens. “Nope, I’m not telling you.”

I tilt my head to the side. “What! Why not?”

He narrows his eyes. “You know exactly why, you unrelenting woman.”

I bite my lip to stifle my giggle. “Will I make fun of you for it?”

“Most definitely.”

I clasp my hands and put them beneath my chin, blinking at him pleadingly. He groans. “What if I promise not to?” I ask innocently.

“Then you would end up breaking your promise.”

I wince. “Damn, that bad?”

“That bad,” he confirms.

“Does it have to do with Star Wars ? Are you wearing a Carrie Fisher mask and wearing that skimpy bikini…” I trail off at the look on Ren’s face. He seems intrigued, and that worries me. “Stop making that face. That’s not a fantasy you have.” If I demand it, it makes it true, right?

“I mean. That’s not what the audio was gonna be about, but now that you mention it…”

As he rambles about his newfound fantasy of dressing in the costume most straight men fantasize about their female partner wearing, something in the rolling cart catches my eye.

“Oh my fucking god !” I shriek.

The noise startles both Leia and Ren, the former wrestling her way out of Ren’s arms and leaping over his shoulder onto the floor. She sprints out of the room as I lunge for the cart, clenching my fist around the black fabric.

“Jesus Christ , Aud. What the…” He’s silent when I turn around, a Ghostface mask in my hand.

“Please tell me it’s because we started watching Scream ,” I beg, nearly vibrating with excitement.

His face of horror morphs into a self-satisfied smirk. “Ah, you’re into it.”

“I never said that.” I toss the mask to him, and he catches it, shit-eating grin still in place. “Put it on,” I demand.

Ren takes his glasses off and places them on the edge of the desk. He slips the mask over his head and looks at me. “You have a mask kink. I was right.”

“Sure,” I say, biting my fist to keep in my laughter.

I can see how this image would definitely work for a lot of his listeners, cat scratches red on his chest, tattoos on full display, and those evil gray sweatpants hanging on to his hips for dear life.

“Will you read the script for me?” I ask, batting my eyelashes despite the fact his vision is currently impaired by both his lack of glasses and the mask.

“You can’t make fun of me when I enlarge the font,” he says, closing the office door.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I agree.

He sits at his desk, mask still in place, and turns the computer on. He opens a file folder and clicks around until a document is pulled up. I keep my word, not laughing when he enlarges it to a forty-eight-point font.

“Hello, slut,” he says, lowering his voice to Sky’s. Oh, we’re just going there. “I bet you didn’t expect to see me…”

“No, I didn’t,” I respond.

He turns his masked face to me. “Aud, you don’t have to answer. It’s like… rhetorical.”

“Oh. I guess I’m used to answering when I’m alone with my headphones and toy…” I sigh wistfully and trail my nails over his shoulder.

It doesn’t elicit a single goosebump. Not one shiver. “I get it, but… it’s kind of taking me out of my Sky mindset, you know? Like I have to stay in the zone to record and stay in character and…”

I bark out a laugh. “Okay, diva.”

He wraps his arm around my waist and rolls closer to me, burying his face just below my breasts. He says something, but with the mask covering his mouth and his face buried in the t-shirt, I have no idea what it is.

“What?”

He sighs and straightens. “I don’t mean to be a diva, but it’s how I do a good job.

That’s what it is, you know? A job. I enjoy it, but it’s not something I’d do if I weren’t being paid.

It’s not arousing or sexual or pleasurable for me.

I love that it is for so many people, but that’s not what it is for me. ”

I hear what he’s saying, I respect it, and I know he’s serious.

But he’s still wearing that damn mask.

I gently take it off him and search his eyes. “That’s fair,” I tell him, dropping the mask to the floor. “And I can literally continue to not be involved with the process if that’s what you need.”

“I mean… I’m not aroused when I record,” he says. “And I don’t want to be, the idea of thousands of people listening to me in such a vulnerable state?” He shudders.

“What if you recorded something just for the person you want to be aroused with?” I say carefully.

He frowns. “You mean… you?”

I bite my lip to hold in a giggle. “Yes. Me.”

He licks his lower lip, and I have to mentally hold myself back from leaning forward and nipping at his tongue. “Would you like that?”