Page 37 of Yard Sale

“Maybe…we’ll run into each other again?” God, I sounded pathetic.

He huffed, then flopped down beside me. “Phone.”

“What?”

“Phone,” he said in a terrible attempt at a French accent. “I don’t know how you actually say it in French.”

“They call it un cell in Quebec, but I never call it that,” I told him. I patted my pocket before realizing I’d dropped it on the seat, so I skimmed my finger to the side until it came into contact with the side.

Gripping it tight, I pushed a few of the buttons by accident, but it didn’t matter. “What do you need it for?”

“I’m giving you my number. I know you’re still mad at me, and this is clouding your judgment. If you want to yell at me later, you should be able to get in touch with me.”

His fingers skimmed over mine as he took it.

“I’m not going to yell at you later,” I told him quietly.

He snorted. “Is there anything special I need to do? You know, the voice thing, or…”

I shook my head. I was still learning it, and I was too slow at the moment since I couldn’t process the speech feature as quickly as some of the other guys. The level Jonah used sounded like Mickey Mouse on a mixture of helium and speed.

I wasn’t sure I would ever get as good as him.

Aravind said nothing, but I could hear the haptic feedback as he opened up my contacts and began to type. And not long after that, I picked up a buzzing sound nearby.

“I texted myself,” he said, then tapped my knuckles with the edge of the phone. “You can also block me if you wake up tomorrow and realize what we did was fucked.”

“You think it was fucked?”

“I think it was the best decision I’ve made in a long while, but I’ve also made a long string of very bad choices, so my bar is kind of on the floor.”

I couldn’t help a smile. “If you change your mind tomorrow and you need to yell at me⁠—”

“I’ll figure out where to find you,” he said. “I prefer to do my yelling in person.”

I sucked in a breath to say…well, who the fuck knew. But I didn’t get the chance. The speaker clicked on, and the ferry captain announced that we were arriving at the dock.

This moment, whatever it was, was over. It was finished. And I wasn’t foolish enough to believe that anything this good was going to happen again.

CHAPTER 10

ARAVIND

I hated myself for being grateful Tiago couldn’t see much of me, but I was. He had to be very selective about what he looked at if he wasn’t using his phone camera, so he probably didn’t notice the way I was shaking.

I didn’t know what the fuck I had been thinking. I had no idea what had come over me when I climbed into his lap and shoved my fucking panties into his mouth. But god, the sight of his teeth digging into the lace was too much.

I nearly came in my pants, and it was by sheer will alone I held off.

I hadn’t planned on any of this, of course. Yes, I had noticed he was hot. It was impossible not to notice. Even if he wasn’t my usual type, he was close enough that he’d caught my eye when I stepped into the locker room that first night and I found him on the bench in front of his stall.

It had felt wrong and good all at the same time to be able to watch him, knowing he didn’t realize I was staring. It was one more thing I needed to silently atone for.

But never, not in a million years, did I think I’d be standing beside the railing with bits of his dried come on my wrist as the ferry slowly pulled into port. There were bits in my hair too, and it was going to be a bitch to wash off, but I didn’t care.

At all.

I still had the come-covered panties in my suitcase. I had no idea what I was going to do with them, and I had no idea what that made me for keeping them.