Page 56 of The Game Plan

All my pleasure points stir. “Yeah.”

I hear him sigh, and his voice lowers. “I want to look at that pic you sent me. I want that so badly my dick hurts. But Iknow if I do, it’ll hurt more. I can’t beat off to thoughts of you anymore, Fi.”

My breath hitches. “Why?”

“I’ve had the real thing. Imagination no longer cuts it.”

“Have you... You used to think of me when you touched yourself?”

I swear I hear him swallow down a groan. “You know I did.”

“We could...” I sidestep a woman running toward the subway. “We could talk through it.”

Another groan from Dex. “No,” he says. “It’ll kill me, Cherry. Not being able to touch you.”

“I can touch myself. Pretend it’s you.” I don’t know why I’m pushing this. I’m in the middle of Manhattan and can’t do a thing.But teasing Dex is fast becoming one of my favorite things. Only because I know he likes it. Even more, heneedsit. Dex is too closed off. Which wouldn’t really matter, but I’ve seen that spark of life in him that’s aching to come outand play.

I can hear it now when he gives me a dark chuckle. “Babe, the thought of you touching yourself is even worse. That’s somethingI need to see, not hear.”

“We could FaceTime.”

“Fi.”

“Ethan.”

The smile in his voice remains, but he sounds tight. “I don’t have smooth words. I’d fuck it up by saying the wrong thing.You don’t need to hear how today I thought of backing you into a quiet corner of my locker room so I could shove my hand upyour skirt and fuck you with my fingers, knowing my guys walked around a few feet away. I’d tell you to be nice and quietwhile I did it, not make a sound, even though you were dying to.

“Of how I’d pinch one of your perky little pink nipples with my other hand. Nice and firm the way you like it.”

I’ve slowed to a complete stop, my skin on fire, my breath short and rasping, as the world passes me by. Jesus. My nipplethrobs as if he were here now, tweaking it with a rough touch; my sex aches, the ghost of Dex’s thick, long fingers pumpinginto it.

I clear my throat. “I think you got the talking down pat, Big Guy.”

He pauses and takes an audible breath. “I never got to taste you, Fi. I regret that. I have no idea what a pussy tastes like,and all I can think about is yours. God, I want to spread you wide and take my time, savor every inch, see if your flavorchanges when you come.”

“Ethan,” my voice cracks.

“See? It’s too much, isn’t it?”

Somehow, I manage to laugh. “Any more and I’m going to spontaneously combust right here on Fifth Avenue.”

“Yeah?” He sounds surprised. Poor, deluded, sexy center.

“I think you’re right,” I say, forcing myself to walk again. “No more sex talk. It’s killing me too.”

A sad sort of half chuckle rumbles through my phone. “I know. So...” His voice strains as if he’s reaching for lightness.“Tell me something else to take my mind out from under your skirt. How’s work?”

Yeah, right there is an immediate buzzkill.

Fuck, my throat hurts again. I want to tell him everything, right down to the bone-deep agony I feel in failing once again.But I don’t want him to see that side of me.

Flighty Fi who can’t keep her shit together. I can’t stand the thought of being diminished in his eyes.

“It’s fine.”

He’s silent for a moment, and for the first time, I’m grateful for the physical distance between us. He can’t see my face.

“I thought you had to leave because of a work issue,” he says carefully.