Page 42 of Scandalous Lover

“Over and over and over.”

A new feeling rises up from my stomach, mixing with the dread and sending my whole nervous system into chaos. It’s not a bad feeling. If anything, it’s kind of…curious.

“But we didn’t even have sex.”

I try to imagine her, alone in her room, watching a video of herself giving me head, but my brain starts to short circuit.

Naomi just stares. Some of the timidness from a moment before lifts and she’s standing straighter, looking at me more directly. “I watch what we did, and then I close my eyes and imagine you fucking me.”

Her words send a shockwave through my entire system, like all the water in my body is gathering into a tsunami.

I can’t think of a response fast enough, so Naomi drops another bomb on the smoldering ruins of my mind.

“It’s really hot. If you ever want to watch it?—”

“I don’t,” I say quickly, before anything else can sneak out of my mouth.

The last thing in the world I want is to curl up on that sofa with this woman and watch a video of us fooling around on her phone.

Right?

Naomi just shrugs, as if she offered me a soda and I turned her down. I feel alarm starting to rise again at her nonchalance.

“I would be far more comfortable with you deleting it off your phone.”

She cocks her head to the side, watching my unease with narrowed eyes. I marvel at how quickly the tables have turned. Not two minutes ago, I was the one standing tall while she cowered. Now, I’m starting to feel like I might crumble.

“It’s not on my phone. I have a secure server. Heavily encrypted. You have nothing to worry about.”

Her dismissive tone sets something off in me. “Says the woman who just got taken down by the online community for untrustworthiness.” It’s a low blow, but I haven’t got much else to work with here.

I watch my words hit her.

She flinches slightly, not validating my words with a response.

“I should go,” I say, finally coming to my senses.

“Sam, stay.”

She reaches me as my hand hits the door handle, her firm touch on my shoulder making me pause.

“Why?”

“I don’t know. This could be fun. We had fun before, right?”

I can’t go down this road with her, so I just shake my head. She tries to remove my hand from the knob, but I don’t let her.

“That’s a big, fat lie,” she says, her voice unnervingly calm. “I know you had fun because I watch you almost every night.”

I close my eyes and wish I was anywhere else. “You did not have my permission to film me.”

Naomi lets out a sigh and takes a few steps back, her hands hitting her sides with a soft thud. “I know. And I shouldn’t have done that. That’s why I’m telling you now.”

I grip the door handle like a life raft. “What? Why?”

“Because I want to ask for your permission.”

“My permission for what? You already did it.”

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