He freezes, only for a second, then laughs, a single, mocking puff of air against my skin.
“You’ve been gone for two days,” he scoffs. “And you come home, not wanting to get on your knees for me?”
I push myself away from him and step back. “I said no, Brian. I’m tired.”
“Right,” he snaps, jaw ticking. “Because you’re always tired when I want something.”
He stalks closer, pointing his finger straight into myface. “But God forbidyouwant something, then we gotta pause the world and make Layla happy.”
His voice deepens into a sneer, words spitting out like venom. “You think you can leave me horny for days? Are you fucking serious?”
I hold my ground even though my knees wobble.
“You can go f?—”
He cuts me off with a harsh laugh and shoves my shoulder, hard enough that I stumble backward into the dresser.
“Spare me,” he snaps. “You’re useless to me if you can’t even?—”
He stops just short of saying the word.
But he doesn’t need to finish his sentence; I already knew what he was going to say.
He turns his back, pulling his phone out from his back pocket, already scrolling, already over it.
“Forget it. I’ll handle it myself,” he mutters, dropping onto the bed.
The clackingof his keyboard echoes from our bedroom, punctuated by bursts of laughter through his headset as he yells into the mic at his friends.
He hasn’t said a word to me in an hour.
Which is... honestly a relief.
I’m curled up on the living room couch with my laptop balanced on my knees, headphones half-on, half-off. My latest video timeline is open, the one from Boots & Bourbon.
Clips of Reed behind the bar crowd my screen; pouringdrinks with that lazy wrist flick, leaning in whenever a customer laughs, his smile soft, but his eyes sharp.
My audience is going to eat. this. up.
If this video does well, I’ll be able to escape, do what I want, and have my own creative freedom with my content without Brian.
Just the thought sends a spark of hope skittering through my chest.
My phone vibrates beside me.
I tap the side button just enough to light up the preview.
Reed
What are you doing?
A smile spreads before I can stop it.
I slide fully into the corner of the couch, tucking one leg under me as my fingers dance across the screen.
Layla
Working. Trying to make the Boots & Bourbon edit perfect
