She slid down next to him and rubbed his chest, needing to prolong the contact, enjoying the simple pleasure of watching him breathe. When had she become so damned sentimental? It was probably Christmas’s fault. The room was quiet, aside from the sounds of their breathing. From the floor, something buzzed.
“Was that the vibrator?” she asked sleepily.
Under her ear, his laugh rumbled through his chest. “My phone. Ignore it.”
“No, you should check,” she said, pushing herself up on her elbows. “Go ahead. It might be important.”
With a sigh that said he was only humoring her, he reached over the edge of the bed to grab his phone out of his pants pocket. She admired his sculpted ass and the long stretch of tightly muscled body as he moved. Leaning back, he held the phone over his face and narrowed his eyes at the screen.
He was silent for so long, she started to get nervous. “Everything okay?” she asked lightly.
“Yeah, just my agent.” He set the phone on the nightstand and turned back to embrace her, but paused, glancing down at the streaks drying on his belly. “I need to clean off.”
“We both do.” The inside of her thighs felt sticky, but more than that, the thought of showering with him appealed immensely.
But his reaction to the phone bothered her, and she couldn’t let it go. “So…what did your agent say?”
“Just reminding me I have to give him an answer.”
Her breath caught. She struggled to keep her tone as casual as the hand he rubbed along her back. It moved in a lazy circuit from her shoulders down the curve of her butt, and back up again. “An answer about what?”
“I got offered a role,” he said quietly, almost nonchalantly. Like it didn’t matter, like he got offered roles every day.
Hell, maybe he did.
“Oh yeah?” When he didn’t elaborate, she pressed. “What role?”
This had suddenly become the most important conversation she’d ever had.
“Pete Oliynyk inRaise Your Voice. They want me to be dance captain in the national tour.”
Holy shit.
Raise Your Voicewas currently the hottest show on Broadway, a timely true story about a diverse group of teens fighting for immigration reform. Tickets were expensive, and you had to buy them over a year in advance. She hadn’t even known it was going on tour.
But of course it was. And of course they’d tap Nik, a rising star, to play one of the bigger side characters, with the added honor of being dance captain. As an immigrant himself, the role likely meant something personal to him. There was no way he could turn it down.
How long had he known about this?
She swallowed hard. He was leaving. Hehadto. This was the kind of opportunity he’d be stupid to pass up, no matter what he said aboutthemorus.
There was no them. There couldn’t be. Because if it wasn’t this tour, it would be another one. He was too talented to interrupt his career forher.
Somewhere along the way, she’d forgotten that this was just supposed to be for fun.
His hand on her back slowed, and turned his head toward her. His gaze held a question.
I’ll stay, if you want me to.
“New Year’s Eve,” she whispered, feeling sick inside. She’d give him his answer then.
That would at least buy her some time to convince her heart that letting him go was best for both of them.
Chapter Seven
December 23rd
The next morning, the light seeping around the edges of the curtains had a distinct quality, soft and sort of dreamy, like…
