Off Camera (Love Through a Lens, #3)

by Chelsea Curto

I’m tired. Tired of shitty dates and even shittier conversations. Tired of men who pretend to be interested in the answers I give them while staring at my chest. Tired of guys who believe women are only allowed to occupy certain spaces in the world.

I don’t know when common decency—like holding the door open and not making sexist jokes—became the bare fucking minimum, but gosh I hate it here.

“And I’m sorry people have made fun of the things that bring you joy.”

“You don’t wear boat shoes to events where the dinner plate costs two hundred bucks a head?” “Fuck no,” he says. “Crocs only.”

“Cheers to paying people to sort through our shit so we don’t have to do it alone.”

I’m never the guy who gets the girl, but tonight, I want to try.

“You don’t strike me as someone who takes what they want.” I run my hands up his chest and tug on his tie. “But you can be greedy with me, Reid.”

I love when the quiet ones surprise you. Just when you think you have them figured out, they do something out of character, like get on their knees and eat you out like you’re their favorite meal.

I learned a long time ago family isn’t what you’re born into. It’s the people you pick up along the way.

“Just because our experiences are different doesn’t mean yours is less important.”

I don’t know how it happens. I don’t know who moves first. If questioned, I would deny any involvement, but maybe it’s me. Maybe it’s him. Maybe it’s both of us, drawn together like magnets, an inevitable pull I can’t resist no matter how hard I fucking try. One minute, we’re six feet apart. The next I’m pressed against his door.

“I don’t have time to date, but I do have time to get fucked. That’s what I want, and I want it with you.”

“But we’ll stop talking about Reid’s bedroom habits and switch back to masked men. Now, on the subject of morally gray, I’d argue that…”

“You need a girlfriend,” June says. “Everyone else has someone. Don’t you feel lonely?” Kids and their lack of filters.

Her smile is beautiful, pulled from a memory.

Love. What a silly fucking word.

I’ve always felt like… like I take up too much space. Like my dreams are too big.

“You don’t take up too much space, Avery,” Reid says around a shaky breath. “You should take up more. All of it, if you can, and the last place a person like you should ever be is in a fucking box.”

“You never take up too much space, Ave. Not with me,” he says. “I think I’d like you to take up more of it.”

“You came,” I whisper around a sob. “You called,” he murmurs into my hair, his embrace an envelope of comfort.

UGH FAV TROPE

“I’m in agreement, but I don’t think Dallas wants CPS called on him,” I say. “Responsible parenting.” She sighs. “What a drag.”

Sometimes being a CPS worker feels bizarre when reading things like this

“Thigh highs? God. You’re going to kill me. We’re never going to make it to see our friends, and I don’t care. Forget Christmas. Fucking you is going to be a new tradition.”

“Been watching you for a while, Sinclair. It’s about time you caught up.”

It’s time for me to acknowledge the thing I’ve been trying so hard to fight. I like him. I like him so much. I’d give him my heart if he asked. I’d promise to treasure his in return, if he let me. I think I might be a little in love with him too.

He’s looking at me like I’m made of stars. Something racing across a midnight sky made of hopes and wishes and wants. There’s wonder when he parts his lips. Joy when I give him a nervous smile. Affection, too, when he moves his hand to my cheek, his touch as soft as clouds. I’m falling for this man, and from the way my heart beats when he doesn’t let go, I know I’m tumbling head first.

“I spent three years talking to someone I pretended not to give a damn about, but the thing is, I love you,” I say. “I love you a whole fucking lot, Avery, and it’s the one part of our bet I didn’t see coming. I planned for everything else except falling head over heels for you. And I still fell. Hard. I fucking smashed into the ground.”

“I love you so very much, Reid, because you’ve made me believe in it again. I feel it when I’m with you. In every cracked corner of my heart that’s putting itself back together again. Every morning when I open my eyes, and you’re there. Sometimes it scares me how much I love you.”