Page 48 of For the Plot
I relaxed into my seat, realizing he was right, and I was much more relaxed now. I was noticing more and more how often he did that for me.
“Alright, I’ll play along,” I replied. “So,Josh, what do you do for work?”
“It’s James, actually.” He grinned, catching on to my game.
“Ah, yes, James, sorry!”
“No worries. I’m a bartender—the assistant manager at a bar, actually.”
“That must be fun.”
“It can be,” he hedged, nodding his head side to side. “But I just got a promotion to manager so my boss can step back and spend more time with her wife and their photography side hustle.”
“Oh, that’s incredible, congratulations!”
“Thank you!” His smile was genuine and infectious. “And you? What do you do for work?”
“Oh, you know, I do website copywriting.”
James raised a brow and broke character to ask, “Do you usually lie about your job on first dates?”
I shrugged, contemplating my answer. “I haven’t been on that many dates, but honestly? With men, most of the time yes. When it's a woman, it’s not so bad, but have youmetmen? Can you imagine what they would say to me if I said I write romance?”
James cringed, leaning back in his seat again. “Oof, yeah, OK, forget I asked.”
We settled back into our "first date" roles, the conversation flowing from there. It was weird how not-weird it was. Everything was always just so easy with James. Familiar, and comfortable. I never imagined it being like this between us in a romantic way, and I had to keep reminding myself that this was afakedate. That I didn’twantit to be a real date.
By the time dinner was done and we were eating our dessert, it was getting harder to remember that. After paying the bill, James leaned in close, a mischievous look in his eye.
“So, Nikki. You wanna come back to my place?”
I tapped my lips, pretending to think about it. “Well, I’ve never gone home with someone on a first date before, but I guess there’s a first time for everything.”
28
Nikki
Bed Chem - Sabrina Carpenter
Collinswasonshift,so when we got home, we checked to make sure Will was also gone. He’d been spending more and more time at the studio, working later hours than he usually did.Once we confirmed the apartment was empty, James pushed me up against the wall outside my bedroom door. Holding me by the chin, he kissed me slow and deep, my toes curling in my shoes as his tongue plunged into my mouth.
I placed a hand on his chest, gently pushing him away. He pulled back, searching my eyes. “Is everything OK?”
“Yes,” I assured him with a smile. “Everything is great. I just… there’s something I’ve always wanted to try.” I bit my lip, looking down at my hand on his chest. I wasn’t sure if he’d be into my request, but he had said he didn’t think there was a boundary of his that I could cross, so I might as well at least ask.
He tucked his hand under my chin, lifting my face until I met his eyes. “Anything, NikNak.”
“So when I uh, take care of myself"—I knew my face was as red as a tomato, which all things considered was ridiculous I was fully aware—“it’s always more pleasurable when I’m high.”
His eyes lit with understanding, “Ahhhh, I see where you’re going with this. You wanna have sex high, don’t you?”
I nodded. “Is that something you’d be into? Have you ever done it before?”
“Yeah, my college boyfriend and I. It was always some of our best sex, actually,” He laughed. “You feel safe being inebriated with me while we have sex?”
“I do,” I responded immediately. “And you would feel safe with me?”
“Absolutely,” he answered without hesitation. “Since it’s your first time, we should definitely start slow. How many milligrams do you usually take?”
