Page 52 of The Masks We Wear

“I’m one of a kind,” I preen.

“That you are.”

I want to learn every facet of information about this man. “So what’s your long term plan? After you get sick of babysitting mentally deranged people like me, of course.”

He grins as he shakes his head, “I have no clue,” he shrugs.

I raise a surprised brow. “Wow. Harvey Taylor with no plan, no organization. Are you feeling unwell?” I tease, pressing the back of my palm against his forehead in a show of checking his temperature.

Harvey nudges my shoulder with his, “I’m feeling just fine, thank you.”

I shift my tone, my energy becoming serious, “Harvey,” I give him a warning that whatever I’m about to say is going to be deep with just my tone. He gives me his full attention. “I’m really sorry your father left you. You didn’t deserve that and you also didn’t deserve your mother placing so much responsibility on you. You’re worthy of so much and deserving of so much because as much as you try to hide it, I know there’s a big heart inside that ice cold chest of yours and you love so deeply and fiercely. I don’t know if anyone has ever said this to you before, but I’m proud of you and how far you’ve come even though we haven’t known each other long,” I convey as much conviction and emotion into my words as I can, hoping it’ll help heal his bleeding heart even if it’s only by a small amount.

He just stares at me with eyes full of surprise. He opens his mouth to speak but closes it a second later, the words not quite finding a way out of him. He grabs my jaw before I can anticipate his movement and kisses me fiercely. I kiss him back with just as much fire and we melt into each other completely.

In a matter of moments, we’re a mess of wandering hands,awkward positions, and gasps of breath. He lifts me off the bench and lays me on top of the piano, stripping my clothes off my body. My heel lands on the keys, an off key melody echoing through the studio walls. He bares my body to him completely, my breasts on display with my nipples taught with need. I already feel warmth spreading at my center and I’m about to beg him for some kind of release when he beats me to it, taking his already hard cock out of his slacks and pressing the tip at my entrance. He slams into me in one thrust and my back arches off the piano at the familiar feeling of being full of him.

He pulls my hips closer to him, my ass hanging off the piano and I move my hands, desperate for something to cling on to, but my clammy palms just slide around the piano lid. I moan as he pounds in to me, “Fuck, Harvey!”

His head lowers and he sucks a nipple into his mouth, one hand lowering to stimulate my clit. I feel overwhelmed with the sensations, so much so that he wrings an orgasm out of me in minutes. I tighten around him and he groans, “You’re so fucking perfect, baby.”

This sex between us feels so much more intimate than anytime before. All the other times we’ve fucked it was just that, fucking. This time feels different, it almost feels like we’re making love to each other and the thought scares me. I already know where my emotions are heading towards him but he’s made it so clear he has no intention of sticking around after the contract ends. I’d do well to remember that because I’m falling for a man I can’t have in another three weeks.

He plays my body like an instrument, another orgasm washing through me, consuming me as heat spreads through my veins like wildfire. His movements stop as my walls tighten around him again and his cock twitches inside me, his orgasm finding him too.

We both gasp for air, recovering from the aftershocks of ourorgasms and he slowly pulls out of me. “Fuck,” he mutters almost sounding annoyed when he’s no longer inside.

I sit up, “What’s wrong?” I ask, confused. Did I do something wrong? Why does he seem annoyed? He’s staring at my pussy with worry etched into his features like charcoal on paper. My eyes widen when I realize what’s got him twisted up. We were so caught up in each other that we both didn’t realize he never put a condom on. His release seeps out of me, dripping down my thighs and onto the lid of the piano.

“I’m so sorry,” he apologizes, cupping my jaw in both hands. “I should’ve realized. I’m clean though, I promise.”

I give him a gentle smile to reassure him that I’m not upset. “It’s okay, I’m clean too and I’m on the pill.”

He exhales, the tension leaving his body. “Thank God,” he mutters.

I don’t know why his relief almost disappoints me.

“I’ll get tissues, don’t move,” he commands me and I watch as he tucks himself back into his slacks and turns, walking away on a quest to find tissues.

One month. That’s all we have together and then I’m never gonna see him again. The idea leaves a Harvey sized hole in my chest and the thought causes my heart to sink. I’m falling for someone for the first time since before I got famous and I have to say goodbye in three weeks.

Chapter 22

Harvey

Our night in thestudio was revolutionary for me. I’ve never been so open about myself or my past with anyone before and it felt…strange but also freeing in a way. I trust her with everything, my past, my present, but not my future. I’ve grown so used to being in her life and having her in mine and it’s hard to remember that we only have two and a half weeks left together and then we move back to our home states and return to our regularly scheduled lives, hers a life of debauchery and mine a life of order and routine.

It worries me how easy it is to forget we have a clock looming over us, how open I’ve been with her, how much I crave her. She occupies my every thought and the scent of her lingers in my nose. I’m full of her in so many ways and I still hunger for more of her. It’s a sickening thought, truly. Now I understand an addict’s tribulation because mine is the same but the substances are swapped out with the little rockstar who challenged me at every opportunity she got and went above and beyond to make my blood pressure rise. I know that when the inevitable comes and it’s time to say goodbye, that I’ll miss her witty mouth, her full lips, the wicked smirk she gives me when she’s up to no good or has a deliciously sexual need that requires fulfilling, the way she loses herself in song, but overall, I’ll missher. I’ll miss what we have now and that scares me. It scares me because I’m vulnerable for the first time in my life since my father left.

She makes me vulnerable and she makes me feel and I have to remind myself it isn’t going anywhere because it can’t. Atthe end of the day, we live two completely different lives and it would never work out. Besides, I’ve never been in love and I’m not looking to be. My phone vibrates inside my pocket and it shifts my focus from my deep thoughts to the room I’m in and the name on my screen. I look up, debating whether or not I should answer and when I find Brody and the girls completely focused on the new song they’re working on, I hit the green answer button and step out of the room. “Hey, Luce,” I greet my baby sister. We talk everyday, whether through text or through calls. She must’ve just gotten home from school if she’s calling me at this time in the afternoon.

“Hi,” Lucy greets from the other end, energy present in her voice.

I smile at the sound of her small voice, “What are you doing?”

I can practically hear her shrug, “I just got off the bus and I’m gonna do my math homework. What about you? Where are you now?”

I lean against the wall outside the studio, “We’re in Florida now.”

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