Page 8 of Never To Suffer

“You’re still ignoring my request for an address by deflecting.”

“Okay, but your degrees are in law, not psychiatry. I’ll message you the address later if you can get me out of this Tokyo trip so I can work. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“Not happening, kiddo.” My father’s voice barges into the room before he does. I assumed he took the day to go golfingsince he does that almost every other day of the week. “I need you on this one. Now stop squirreling away the snacks and take the bags from the pantry. Milly can show you where they are.”

“Charles, you know the doctor said those weren’t good for your heart.”

“That’s why the candy bowls are small. Fewer to tempt me.” He waggles his thick eyebrows at me and winks.

“Dad, come on. Tokyo? Can’t we, like, video call or something? You know I don’t understand any of the business talk bullshit.”

“Watch your mouth,” my mother scolds before returning to her book.

“I’ve got your ticket. The driver will pick you up and take you to the airport,” my father says, watching me pour his snacks back out. He either doesn’t smell the weed from the baggie, or he doesn’t recognize it. “It will be fun, Alex. I promise! I’ve set up a lovely assistant for you, and sent you an itinerary of meetings, dinners, and when you’ll have free time toroam aboutwith your assistant.” His eyebrows waggle again and my stomach clenches.

“Dad, that’s…what?” My dad tries too hard to be cool, and I’m pretty sure he intended the innuendo, but I’m not one hundred percent sure. I shake my head, undo my tie, and go back into the bathroom, getting out of this stupid suit and back into real clothes. When I come out again, the conversation picks right back up where we left off.

“The driver can’t taxi your son to the airport if we don’t have his new address, dear. How would poor Albert know where to go?”

“His name is Alberto, Mom.”

My father’s mouth forms a flat line as he raises his eyebrows and shoves his hands in his pockets. “She has a point. Remedy that, would you, son?”

“I’ll get to the airport on my own. Don’t worry about sending Alberto.” I pull on my backpack and kiss my mother on the cheek. “I’ll see you guys at the party. Hopefully. I gotta get some work done so they don’t shut off the power.”

“You’re so dramatic, Alexander. They don’t turn off people’selectricity.”

Once again, I don’t bother correcting her. She lives in a special world and there’s no bursting that ironclad bubble.

“You’re working? That’s great, son!” Dad beams. If he ever figured out what I’ve set up, the worddisappointmentwould come out and play, and I’m not fucking around with that word right now. The act with my parents requires a delicate touch, to say the least.

“Yeah, I'm still building freelance gigs, working on app development. Nothing long term, but it pays the bills, and I have a few that might, you know, take off someday.”

“Well, that’s a start. Bring your computer things with you on the trip; you should have ample free time to keep working yourgigwhile we’re there.”

“Already thought of that, Dad.” And all the freaky shit I can get up to in Japan. With or without my assistant. “See you later! Don’t forget, Dani’s coming to the party. She doesn’t eat meat, mom!”

CHAPTER 4

HERE COMES YOUR MAN

PIXIES

“Ahhh! That’s so fucking great!”Xander yells as he lifts me into the air, spinning us both around. It’s well past midnight, and he’s trying to be quiet about his excitement, but it’s too much to hold in. “You’re in the competition, you finally ditch Megan, AND you kick Rory out? Best day ever!”

“Okay, not exactly the response I needed, Xander. I mean, even without the whole Megan cheating issue, how are we going to do this? Find a bassist, figure out the tour, pay for this apartment? We can’t do all this. We can’t.”

“We’ll find a way. Like we always do, Beetle.” He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear before his fingers trace my jaw and slide down my neck. His thumb runs over the center of my throat before he walks me backward and into a wall. His voice becomes more of a deep growl than his usual, light tone. “You know what I wanna do to celebrate this? I wanna fuck a rock star to make sure you remember me while you’re gone on tour. I want you to think about what I do to you while you’re tempting sexy, hedonistic fans into your bed until you come back to me.”

“That’s more a you thing, Xan.”

“But you shouldn’t miss out on the full rockstar experience. Either way, I still want you. Now.”

His other hand finds my hips and slips under my skirt and into my fishnets while he still holds me against the wall. I wasn’t even that horny until he lowered his voice. After that, I turned on like a fucking faucet. It doesn’t help matters when his rock-hard cock pressing against me through his tight jeans. My blood becomes fire as his mouth crashes into mine, igniting my body at every point where our bodies touch. He grinds against me, whimpering when I grab his bottom lip between my teeth and bite down. It’s not enough to draw blood, but enough to make him want more.

My leg wraps around him, pushing my hips up to feel him as he dry humps me against the wall. Such a strange name for something considering I’m anything but dry, soaking through my panties and his jeans, too. He squeezes my neck as he pulls away from the kiss and grins. “You taste like tequila and limes.”

“I should say that’s racist, but it’s true.”

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