Off Camera (Love Through a Lens, #3)

by Chelsea Curto

I wonder if I can use the knife sitting next to my plate to stab him in the jugular. I could make it look like an accident. I’d feign innocence and claim I was defending feminism. I doubt anyone would miss the prick.

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.

“You’re pretty. Very pretty, and also the first woman who hasn’t made fun of me for liking superheroes. I’m wondering if my friends put you up to this as some sort of dare, because I’m not sure what the hell I did to have someone as gorgeous as you rattle off comic book titles at me.”

“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.”

She’s funny. Quick-witted and smart. Gorgeous and a total knockout. And when she dropped a comic book title into casual conversation like she was talking about the weather? My heart almost fell out of my chest.

“I wanted to kiss you at the bar,”

“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.”

“Can I touch you?” I ask, wanting to make sure we’re still on the same page. “I might kill you if you don’t.”

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.

“Jesus Christ,” he says after a few minutes of silence. “I don’t think he’d approve of what happened in here.”

He’s leading our game, but I’m still a winner. I get to be here with him.

I learned a long time ago family isn’t what you’re born into. It’s the people you pick up along the way. The friends in that photo are my family now, and I really fucking miss them.

I felt safe with him, like I could tell him everything about my past and he would listen without judgment. Like I could explain why I throw myself into work until I’m run ragged and on the brink of exhaustion and he’d understand.

“The quiet ones are always the most fun.”

“Permission to pause the feud?” I ask. “Pretty sure it paused fifteen seconds ago when my dick got hard, Avery.”

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

“You’re not in charge of her feelings, Reid. You’re in charge of yours. You need to do what makes you happy. Otherwise, you’re going to be miserable for the next thirty years.”

“No one’s taken care of me the way you do, and I want it again.”

“Want. To. See. You,” he grits out. “When. I. Make. You. Mine.”

“You’re beautiful,” Reid murmurs, and I tuck it away close to my chest. “Sometimes I still can’t believe I get to have you like this.”

Reid

Fuck you. Me That’s the plan for later tonight. Hopefully you’re willing to lend a helping hand. Reid And if I’m not? Me You can sit in the corner and watch.

“Your cockiness isn’t cute,” I say. “But your new glasses are.” “I bet your wet pussy would tell me differently.” He’s right. My underwear is damp. My nipples pebble under my shirt, and I cross my arms over my chest so he can’t see the effect he has on me. “In your dreams, Duncan.” “Trust me, you’re always wet in my dreams,”

“Fuck, I’ve missed you.” “You talked to me every day.” “Not the same. I don’t like going so long without seeing you.”

“Fuck,” I draw out, opening an eye. “You killed me.” “I’ll send flowers to your grave.”

I fucking love what I see. It’s the most possessive I’ve ever felt, and a word echoes in my head. Mine.

she admits. “Meeting you has reminded me of how much good is left in the world. How much love there is to give and receive. Look at you and your friends. Look at me and Maven, and now Emmy, too. I’m happier than I was back then, and that’s a wonderful thing.”

“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.”

“Remember when Emmy and I thought we could do the friends with benefits thing and you told me I was an idiot because there’s no way to have a friends with benefits arrangement without someone catching feelings? That it’s just sex until it isn’t because emotions always get involved? Surprise, motherfucker. It’s you. You’re the one with the feelings, and things are about to get messy.”

“Sounds like you might be jealous, Sinclair.” I reach a hand up and brush my fingers down her cheek. “But you don’t have to worry about them. I’m only looking at you. I have been for a while now.”

“If I didn’t know any better, Duncan, I’d say you’re obsessed with me.” Reid is quiet on the other end of the phone. I check to make sure our call didn’t drop, and then he’s saying, “What if I am?” so quietly, I think I might have misheard him.

I feel so safe around you, and today all I want is to feel safe.” She pauses before adding, “You take care of me, and I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”

I’m still looking at her long after she falls asleep, and I think I’d like to find a way to keep her here for more than a year. I want to find a way to keep her here forever.

“Because seeing you happy makes me happy.” Because I like you more than I should. Because I’m breaking our rules, Reid. Because I think I might be falling in love with you, and it’s terrifying.

“That’s generally when people fall in love. It’s not something you plan. It’s something that happens along the way.”

“To be honest, I’m still in shock you’re here at all. Add in the whole naked and on top of me talking about comic books thing, and I swear I’m having a stroke. You’re—god. Calling you the girl of my dreams sounds so fucking cliché, but it’s true. If I had to put together my perfect person, every part of them would be made of you.”

“Do you know whose I am, Reid?” she whispers. “Yours. Only you can make me feel this way.” Fucking fuck.

Mine. I want her to be mine. Totally and completely, in every sense of the word. I want to put a ring on her finger and maybe have a couple kids. I want to grow old with her and sit on a porch, talking about all the good things we’ve done together. I want to argue and fight with her and let her push me out of my comfort zone.

I want to love her, and I want her to love me back.

“You’re mine,” I tell her, letting the words slip free and she smiles. “Today. Tomorrow. For as long as you’ll have me.” “Yours,” she repeats, circling her hips in the way I like.

This man. This man is here taking care of me and getting nothing in return. This man is reading my romance book and ordering food so I’m fed. This man brought me a heating pad, for fuck’s sake. I should be on one knee asking him to marry me. My breath comes out in short bursts the longer I stare at the hook of his nose. My chest hurts when I see his smile stretch wider.

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.

“You’re a fucking weirdo.” “Yet here you are. Curled around me like a vine and making no effort to leave.” “Yeah, because you’re my weirdo,”

“God. You’re so beautiful.” “You told me I looked like shit earlier in the night.” “You’re still beautiful even when you look like shit.

“I can’t believe I get to exist within a four-foot radius of you. You’re made of dreams, Avery, and I’m the guy lucky enough for even a few minutes of your time.”

“You’re my most favorite person in the world, Avery.”

“Five months ago, I hated you. I would’ve done anything to bring you down. Now I’m wondering how I lived so long without you.”

“You’ve always had me,” I say. I reach up and cup his cheek, my thumb running over the rough scratch of his beard. “In a way, I’ve always been yours.” I might love you. I think I’ve been waiting for you for a very long time.

“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.”