Page 118 of Ocean of Stars

“No. You sound concerned about the game that you see Avery playing with me.”

“I’m not jealous of her because there is absolutely nothing to be jealous of. I am concerned about the bullshit that she’s pulling and I’m also territorial about you, Zac.”

“I feel the same way about you because you’re mine.”

“That I am.”

“I hope you can find some humor in what I’m about to say. I nearly shit myself when I saw you walking into the produce section. The possibility of you being at Whole Foods hadn’t even crossed my mind.”

“I didn’t expect to see you there with Avery. I was caught completely off guard, but Zac, I would never just walk up to Avery and make a scene. I know the possibility of me doing that very thing ran through your mind.”

“Yeah, it did and I can understand you wanting to walk up to her and give her a piece of your mind.”

“The only time that I would ever do that is if she made a scene that involved you or Malcolm and I was a witness to it.”

“I hope you never have to witness how she really is. It’s ugly.”

“Yeah, it is. I’ve seen the evidence of her ugliness on your body.”

I sighed. “And speaking of bodies… I wish I could see yours. I wish I could see your face.”

“Then Face-Time me.”

“You don’t mind?”

“No. Why would I?”

“We’ve just never done that before.”

“There’s a lot that we haven’t done before and we’re just gonna keep marking off that list.”

“Sounds good to me.”

We hung up and I got up off the bathroom floor, then leaned against the counter and Face-Timed Stevie. As soon as I saw her on my phone screen, I smiled.

“Look at you, my beautiful lover,” I said.

“And look at you, Mr. Moby Dick.”

We both started laughing and it felt so damn good.

“Thank you for doing this with me, Stevie. I already feel better just from getting to see you.”

“Would you like to see more of me?”

I grinned. “You know the answer to that.”

“Well, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”

“You’re serious?”

“Absolutely.

“Okay—but I wanna seeallof you.”

“Take off all your clothes first and let me watch you do it.”

I chuckled and shook my head. We were really about to do this. “Okay. Hang on.”

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