Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Oooookay, she thought. He could have mentioned that she was his girlfriend, but whatever. She shouldn’t be fussy. When the introductions were done, she tried catching his attention, but Vassi actually pretended not to notice and instead engaged his director in a conversation with Fyodor and the other boys.
This continued for the rest of the morning, which finally forced Seri to admit that something was wrong.
Very wrong, and it was making him extra circumspect with her, almost like he was just her stepbrother—-
Oh.
She remembered last night’s strange conversation. Was that what this was all about? Was that why Vassi suddenly seemed allergic to standing next to her and making eye contact?
She turned to Davey, hissing under her breath, “Come with me.” Drawing him to a quiet corner at the set, she asked, “You noticed it, too, don’t you?”
“Vassi being less than touchy-feely?” her friend guessed.
“I knew I wasn’t imagining it!”
“You weren’t, and frankly it’s kinda creepy when Vassi’s being such a gentleman.” Davey paused. “But then, it could be he’s a late bloomer.” At her bemused look, Davey explained with a sigh, “It takes time for things to sink in for some people. I think that’s true in his case. You almost lost your life, he was almost convicted as a rapist, then having to convince the world that you two aren’t incestuous—-”
“But we’re not,” she protested irritably.
“It’s a judgmental world we live in. Deal with it.” Davey shrugged. “But you get my point, right? It’s only now that he finally has some time and space to think things through, and it’s probably just now Vassi’s questioning himself whether he did the right thing, going public with you.”
She shook her head in sheer disbelief. “Vassi can’t be so insecure—-”
“Seri, the man’s head over heels in love with you. That will make him insecure for the rest of his life.” Davey’s eyes widened. “Oh my God, did that make you happy?”
“Umm, no?” She fought back against smiling, but it was hard.
“Who would’ve thought you have a sadistic little streak in you?”
“Shut up.” But she couldn’t stop grinning. Davey had just made her day, saying that Vassi was head over heels in love with her. However, if Davey also proved right about the other thing, and he usually was when it came to relationships—-
She had to do something about that.
Seri whispered, “Can I ask you for a favor?”
****
Seri was probably mad as hell with him now. Without trying to be obvious about it, Vassi had tried to looking for her all over the set the moment he realized he hadn’t seen her in the past fifteen minutes. But when it became clear that she had either disappeared or left, Vassi knew he was the only one to blame. Had he really thought she wouldn’t notice the way he had tried to be different with her?
Excusing himself from his family, who were seriously considering investing in the director’s next film, Vassi made his way to his trailer. At least there, he could be assured of some semblance of privacy while he made his call to Seri and performed some light groveling over the phone.
Unlocking the door, he stepped inside—-
“Surprise!” A naked Seri jumped out from behind the sofa.
He managed to kick the door shut just as Seri launched herself at him. “What—-”
“We’re going to fuck,” she announced with a grin. “But first—-” Reaching behind him, she tapped on the button activating the trailer’s sound system. She had already preset the playlist, and a second later, Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande started playing.
When he raised a brow, she confessed, “I set a playlist so we won’t run out of music while we...you know. Also, I didn’t want everyone to hear me make, you know.”
“Not that I’m complaining about...you know—-”
She made a face.
He grinned. “But...what made you think of doing this?”
“Well...” Avoiding her gaze, she said, “I had a sudden feeling that you were having second thoughts about us, and you were thinking about being selfless again, and—-” She shook her head firmly at him. “We are not going back to that again. We agreed to be selfish and love each other. So, I thought you needed a reminder of how g-good it is to be selfish. Also, I thought it was adorable, the way you seemed insecure—-”
Seri shut up when she realized what she had just let slip. Her gaze flew to Vassi’s face.
Uh. Oh.
“V-Vassi—-”
“Insecure, am I, leech?” he asked pleasantly.
“I didn’t say that.”
He switched the sound system off and opened the windows.
“Vassi!”
She immediately tried climbing down from his arms, but he shook his head, saying soothingly, “Relax. No one’s going to see you.”
She stared at him suspiciously. “You promise?”
“Yes.” Hearing, however, was a different matter altogether, but he counted on ensuring she didn’t notice that until it was too late. Caressing her face with his knuckles, he said huskily, “And now, we’re going to play a game. I’m going to use your playlist as a basis on how to fuck you.”