Chapter Nineteen #2
Even as his libido revved, he cringed at his complete and utter lack of creativity. “Is that an option?”
She angled her head to one side and jutted her hip to the other. “You sound surprised.”
Did he admit how pedestrian his fantasies were? “I’d just never presume to ask for that sort of thing.”
Her eyes narrowed. “But you’re into it.”
It wasn’t a question. He nodded anyway.
“I’m not a queen of kink or anything, but I like to be adventurous.” She came over and ran a finger down his chest. “And I’m always open to suggestion.”
Who was this woman, and what in the world had he done to capture her attention? More, her desire. He normally didn’t get caught up in questions like that, but damn. Ellie was unlike any woman he’d ever known, much less been with.
“Your imagination is running wild, isn’t it?” Ellie asked.
He nodded. His brain might be floundering for immediate specifics, but he had no doubt it would conjure all sorts of possibilities as soon as it picked its proverbial tongue up off the floor.
She lifted her chin. “Like what?”
Dammit. “I’m experiencing a momentary short-circuit. Perhaps you could share some of the things you like while I reboot.”
Her smile came slow and smug, though it was hard to know if she was gloating or liked that he cared about her desires. “Role-playing can be fun. Bondage. Edging. And like I said, I enjoy a little strip show now and then.”
“Yes, please,” he said.
“To which?”
“All. Any. Yes. Thank you.” He was laying it on thick now, but Ellie seemed to dig it.
She tipped her head side to side. “I think we should start with the striptease, then. It involves me actually doing something for you, which was the point of this conversation in the first place.”
He’d clearly lost track. “Do you have a lot of experience with that?”
Ellie shrugged, all casual now. “I took a few burlesque classes, performed once.”
Christ on a cracker. Was she trying to kill him? “For real?”
“Pasties and everything. But audiences of one are the best. Eye contact, blurring the lines of what’s burlesque and what’s a lap dance.” Her tone remained light, but her expression told Jack she knew exactly the effect she was having on him.
He cleared his throat. “I’d do a lot more than help you move for that.”
“It doesn’t have to be a trade.” She grinned. “Though you did promise to teach me how to rewire a lamp.”
Maybe he should be asking her to teach him about plaster or color theory, but the only thought swimming around his brain had to do with her, undulating in front of him to some sexy ass music. For him. Only for him. “I can do that.”
“Cool. I’ll put a little something together.”
Jack blinked a few times, trying to prevent his brain from fixating on the idea. “Cool.”
“So, like, did you want to hang out tonight? I’m open, but I’m sure you’re beat, and I totally get if you want to go to your place and crash solo.”
The abrupt shift helped, and Jack pounced on it.
He liked that she offered. Directly, too.
Not in some weird roundabout way where she tried to feel him out without revealing her own leanings.
He understood why some people did that, but it drove him up a tree.
“I’d love a low-key night with you. Do you want help making your bed, or do you want to go back to my place? ”
“I so want to go to your place. I’m super excited for mine, but I’d love to not have to deal with any of this until tomorrow.” She made big sweeping circles with her arms. “If you’re saying I can have that and you won’t even judge me for it, total bonus.”
He shook his head. “No judgment. You may be surprised to learn this about me, but I sometimes struggle to relax around chaos.”
Ellie laughed. “Shocker.”
“I don’t expect people to accommodate me, mind you. But it’s my truth.”
“You know what I love about trans guys?” Ellie asked.
“What?”
“A lot of things, but in this moment, I love the fact that most of them understand enough about identity and privilege that they use phrases like ‘my truth’ in all sincerity.”
Jack laughed then, long and hard. “To be fair, I picked it up from Clover. She’s all about living her truth.”
“I knew I liked her.”
“She’s a lot for some people, but she’s also one of the very best humans I have the privilege of knowing.”
“A lot how?”
He considered what to say. Or, perhaps, how much.
Clover was super open about herself, plus a firm believer in taking the taboo out of talking openly about sex and relationships.
“She’s poly, and while I’d never call her pushy about it as the right choice for everyone, she is pushy about how people need to be more honest and communicative about who they are and what they want. ”
Ellie laughed. “That doesn’t seem so bad.”
Jack tutted. “It’s all fun and games until she starts asking about why you’re so scared of being vulnerable.”
Ellie folded her arms. “Did you learn that from personal experience?”
“Maybe once or twice. But damn it all if she isn’t always right.”
“Those poly people, man. They’ll get ya.”
He squinted, not surprised by the sentiment so much as Ellie having it. “Do you know a lot of poly people? Crap, are you poly? I should have asked.”
Ellie smiled. “I don’t identify that way, but I’m not unilaterally opposed. Rhett is, but only somewhat recently. We’ve talked about it. A lot.”
“So much talking, right?” He chuckled. “I like the way you put it, though. I haven’t tried it, but I’m not one of those people who wouldn’t even consider it.”
“Nice. And sorry. I didn’t mean to send us on such a tangent.”
“Pretty sure it was mutual.” Jack checked his watch. “What do you say we head over to my place before it gets dark? We can take two cars if you want, but I don’t mind bringing you home tomorrow if you’re not feeling up for driving now.”
“Have I told you that you have the best ideas?”
“You know, I don’t think you have.” And it carried all the more weight considering how little they’d agreed on at first.
“Well, you do. Let me feed Emily Dickinson and we can go.”
Jack considered his own propensity for being single-minded and stubborn—traits he wasn’t necessarily proud of but didn’t try to deny.
Yet, there was something to be said for new ways of looking at the world, different ways of moving through it.
Since Ellie had gone to the kitchen, he called out, “Turns out, the feeling is mutual.”