28. Chase
Chase
Do It For Me by Rosenfeld
This is going to be a very very long week.
Day one of welcoming the investors, and I’ve already freaked out, practically mounted my COO in the stairwell and avoided him for the rest of the day.
How am I supposed to survive this?
“And you said this was easy?” Mia teases from behind me.
I’m elbow-deep in a sticky mess of pizza dough that’s resembling more like mistakes and regret.
“It was easier… when Jeremiah did it,” I mumble under my breath.
Mia groans. “Why are we doing this again?”
“I need a distraction, Mia. I can’t sit still. I can’t—” I rip the wet dough from my fingers like it personally wronged me. “This isn’t working.”
Splat.
“You’re telling me. That looks like a crime scene,” Ryan calls from the couch.
“What do you know? You don’t know dough.” I huff, trying to ball the mess into something vaguely edible.
Mia sighs. “He’s really got you in your head, huh?”
I curl my hands in a messy fist. “I seriously can’t think about anything else. This cannot be healthy.”
“You’re in love,” Mia says quietly, her eyes softening.
I laugh, sharp and humorless. “No. No way. I just…” My voice drops. “I just want him. Badly.”
Mia slips her arm around me and places her head on my shoulder. I melt into her, leaning my head on hers.
“I don’t think this is just about sex though, Chay.” She pouts. “You want him, want him. Like, take him out on dates—stay up all night talking about nothing—travel the world together and create memories—kind of want him.”
My chest aches. That sounds so fucking nice.
Fuck. I hate that she’s making so much sense. When he was describing his travels with me the other night, all I could think about was being there with him, seated right beside him on a plane flying to God knows where.
“Just my luck, eh? Finally wants to date someone and gets immediately rejected,” I huff out a laugh, picking up and slamming the sticky, wet dough on the parchment paper.
Mia sighs, sadly. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to throw out this sad excuse of pizza dough. We’re going to get ready and look hot, go out for some real dinner, then I’m going to come back here and sleep over.”
My heart fills with love. “That sounds perfect.”
“Yeah, Mia, that sounds perfect.” Ryan repeats, signaling that he’s coming too.
Mia rolls her eyes, making me laugh.
***
Deciding at the last minute to hit up a new spot in the city called Funny Bunny was the right decision. Mia and Ryan’s back and forth teasing was the perfect distraction over my dinner.
As we sit back on the couch in the apartment, watching the latest episode of Severance, my mind can’t help but travel back to that sexy, broody, handsome, COO.
I feel my bottom lip between my fingers.
The way he softly, yet urgently sucks and bites at my lip had me in a frenzy.
I don’t think I’ll ever be the same after that.
“Now, I’d turn gay for Mr. Milchick.” Ryan nods his head at the TV.
“You don’t just turn gay, Ryan. God.” Mia palms her forehead.
“I mean, Chase did. All it took was Jeremiah getting hot.”
I huff out a laugh. “Jeremiah was always hot.” I freeze.
Daring to glance out of the corner of my eye, I find Mia and Ryan staring at me, their expressions full of shock.
“Are you serious, right now? What the fuck, man?” Ryan whips a cushion at my head. “That’s why you were always so fixated on him. I wouldn’t have been so mean to him if I knew you were just secretly obsessed.” Ryan shakes his head. “It’s really your fault, when you think about it.”
My eyes widen. Shit. He’s right.
I find myself absently biting my bottom lip, fingers twitching against my thigh. Jeremiah had all the right to hate me back then… so, how could he trust me now?
No wonder he’s not willing to risk it for me.
“Shut up and watch the show.” Mia kicks at his foot, pointing back to the screen. “You okay, Chase?” Mia whispers, lightly bumping my shoulder.
I smile softly. “I’m fine.”
I glance at my phone just as it lights up. As soon as I see the sender, it knocks the wind right out of me.
Boss Man: Hey
My heart skips a beat seeing his name at the top. Holy shit, what’d I do to deserve a late night text?
I decide to go with a calm and collected answer.
Me: how’s it going?
Boss Man: Good
Boss Man: You know we’re switching from Golf to Pickleball tomorrow?
Me: I didn’t know thx
Boss Man: I’ll pick you up at 9
Me: That’d be great
I wait patiently as three little dots appear and disappear from our message. What could he possibly be stirring about?
There’s no harm in giving him a gentle push…
Me: Thinking about pickleball so late at night?
The typing bubbles appear.
Disappear.
Reappear.
Oh, he’s fighting himself again.
I sigh, dropping my phone on my lap.
Oh, Jeremiah. Always so scared to go after what he wants.
A buzz comes through my phone and I immediately pick it up to check the message.
Boss Man: What are you doing?
A smile creeps on my face. There we go.
Adjusting my position in the corner of the couch, I get more comfortable. Hoisting my legs up on the coffee table, I fold my ankles on top of each other and shoot a quick picture of the TV screen and my legs lounging.
Me: Socks on or off?
Before thinking anything more about it, I send the message and picture through. I look to my left to see Mia and Ryan quietly watching the TV, unknowingly.
Buzz.
I open his message.
Boss Man: On, thanks.
I bite back a laugh.
Me: What? Feet aren’t your thing?
Boss Man: No.
Me: What is it then? Dirty talk? Roleplay? A little light choking? Come on, give me something.
Boss Man: Goodnight, Chase.
I clench my teeth. Dammit, too much.
Me: Send a pic to seal the night
Daring but I have to try.
My heart races at the thought of him actually going through with it. Fuck, what I’d do for a picture of Jeremiah on my phone. Correction—what I’d do with a picture of him on my phone.
My wishes are granted when I see a picture on my phone come through.
Holy shit. And it's spectacular.
It’s a bed selfie. His hair looks damp, tattooed arm slung over his eyes. I can’t make out much more than that under his white t-shirt, but just this picture has that familiar pressure start to build in my pants. I press down my growing dick with the heel of my palm.
“Seriously, Chay. You okay?” Mia asks me. I turn my phone screen away from her, concealing the evidence. It was so nice of her to come over tonight to comfort me and yet, here I am gushing over the guy that put me in this turmoil in the first place.
“Yeah, um—But honestly, I’m getting pretty tired. I think I may head to bed, if that’s cool.”
She smiles softly. “Yeah, of course. I’ll probably head to bed too after this episode.”
I look over at Ryan who’s still watching intently at the TV.
“You good to set her up with extra blankets and pillows?” I ask.
“Yeah, yeah. Of course,” Ryan says, shooing me off in his tone.
“Okay, night.” I quickly kiss her temple before scampering off to my bedroom.
Me: Off please, thanks
I close the door behind me and flop onto my bed. Biting my thumbnail, I wait patiently for this message.
Boss Man: What do you want off?
My breath hitches.
I get a choice?
Me: Anything. Everything.
The message bubbles are back and I just know he’s fighting with himself over this. It makes me both excited and nervous that he’ll back off.
Me: Live a little, Jer.
Typing. Pausing. Typing.
A few torturous seconds go by, but what comes through makes it all worth it.
He’s fucking topless this time. His face sadly isn’t in it but his glorious, tattooed chest is. I can see every ridge of his abs which makes me salivate.
My fingers type before I can stop them.
Me: Holy shit. You’re beautiful.
A few seconds go by of bubbles until another message pops on the screen.
Boss Man: It’s your turn…
Boss Man: Make it good.
I suck in a breath. Alright, what to do? I’ve gotta impress him without coming on too strong.
I sit on the edge of my bed and aim the camera down—shirtless now, abs visible, V-line cutting low into my sweats. My dick is straining against the fabric. It’s thick and obvious. This is pretty suggestive so if it wasn’t clear what I was doing…it’s going to be clear now.
I hold my breath and snap the picture before hitting send.
Holy shit, holy shit, I can’t believe I just did that.
A couple minutes go by and I start to feel nervous. Is he getting cold feet again?
All of a sudden, my phone light comes through, alerting me that I’m receiving a FaceTime call from him. I sit up in my bed.
What the fuck?
I swipe to answer, my screen immediately filling with the glorious beauty that is Jeremiah Blackwood. Looks like he’s still in bed, topless, resting back against his headboard.
My mouth goes dry. “What are you–”
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” he says plainly.
I raise a brow, taunting. “And yet, you called me.”
His eyes squint, as though he’s annoyed with me. It almost makes me laugh.
“So, what do you want, Jere?”
“You know what I want,” he says low, making me suck in a breath.
I frown, acting oblivious. “Hmm, no, I don’t think I do. You’re going to have to say it.”
I see his jaw tense, which only turns me on even more. “Take your cock out for me, Rutherford.”
My jaw drops. Thrill erupts inside me to hear those sweet words from his lips. I never thought I’d be so into that but here my dick is, straining tightly against my pants.
“Fuck. See? That wasn’t so hard,” I say in a low breath.
“Stop teasing me.”
“Or, what? You going to drive over here right now?” I ask, biting my bottom lip gently. I hold my phone with one hand while I lightly squeeze my aching dick with the other. “What would you do if you did?”
His eyes burn. “Chase—”
“Tell me. Please,” I beg softly.
His eyes look hungrier than ever. His nose flaring and his clenched jaw tells me I’m not the only one feeling the way I’m feeling right now. Seeing him like this is driving me crazy. I squeeze my dick tighter in my fist.
“It’d be very hard to keep teasing me…” he says slowly. “With my cock stuffed in your mouth.”
My body shivers.