Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 99918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
“It’s the reason I finally messaged you tonight.”
“How is he?” Tristan had to know.
“Not too good. He’s not eating or sleeping. He’s edgy,” she described.
“Then we’re doing about the same,” Tristan replied.
“What are you going to do about this?” Teri asked. Damn, that woman got right to the point.
“Where is he right now?” Why hadn’t that occurred to Tristan earlier?
“He took something. He’s sleeping right beside me,” Teri replied.
“Can I see him?” Tristan asked. His palms turned sweaty as he waited for Teri’s answer.
“How?” she asked.
“Turn on your webcam. Secret makes it simple. Click the button on the bottom. The one that looks like a camera.” Tristan turned his on and waited.
“I don’t want to wake him. He hasn’t slept all week.”
“I know the feeling. I’ll sleep better if I see him,” he confessed. “Lower your volume before you accept the final directive. Leave chat up,” Tristan said. After a minute more, Teri appeared on his screen. He smiled and lifted a hand to wave at her. She began to type.
“Ignore the dark circles and my unruly hair.”
“You’re beautiful,” he typed and her smile deepened.
“Well, all I can say is, I can see why Dylan finally broke. He’s done well with you.” She typed and that had him smiling. “Do I just put the pad to his face?”
“Yes, but minimize me, so if he wakes, he doesn’t freak,” Tristan responded. Teri looked to her left and came back.
“I should fix his hair. He’s been sleeping hard.” Her words almost had him laughing. He didn’t care. He just wanted to see Dylan. God, did he want to see the guy. The thought of getting a look had his heart pounding in his chest.
“He’s perfect like he is,” Tristan said, ready for her to move this along. She lifted the pad and kept her face positioned so she could make sure her angle was right. When she realized he had the perfect shot, she moved out of the way. Tristan had a sleeping Dylan on his screen. He took a picture of the screen with his phone just to have the shot as he continued to stare.
Dylan’s full lips were slightly parted and he had the most peaceful look on his face. He hoped he was dreaming of him. Tristan’s body grew hard. He ignored what was going on in his pants. He’d take care of that later with the picture he’d taken. Dylan stirred, probably the light in his face. Teri jerked the pad away, placed it back on her lap, and he heard Dylan’s deep sleep-filled voice.
“You should go to sleep soon,” Dylan mumbled. Tristan heard the bed and assumed Dylan had turned away. He typed quickly.
“Thank you. I needed that.” Tristan was still grinning from the small glimpse he’d gotten.
“You need to call him. He won’t call you. I’ve tried to get him to. He’s too worried about us, and he thinks you don’t want someone like him,” Teri said.
“That’s funny, because he’s all I want. I planned to call him if he hadn’t called me soon. I wanted to give him time to get right with things. I also planned on coming to Dallas soon. Check out the place, sign the contracts in person. Put myself in front of Dylan,” Tristan typed, and as Teri read, she shook her head.
“Keep things separate. He won’t jeopardize Secret’s staff for anything. You could always come here and just have a date night with him.” Tristan read her words and frowned at the screen.
“Trust me,” she said. He realized she was watching his reactions through the webcam and he looked up to see her smiling.
“Okay, so I’ll call him and ask him out for next weekend,” Tristan responded.
“Good, and I’ll send you the contract in the morning. I was stalling. He’s my best friend—he always will be. I need him taken care of. He’s too honorable and loyal for today’s world. I’m always watching out for him.”
“I can see that from just the short time I’ve known him. Thank you for reaching out. You made me nervous. I didn’t want to give anything away. Seems he keeps his secrets wrapped up tightly.”
“I’ll send all my contact information to you. Maybe we can meet when you’re in town next weekend. A quick something. We’ll need to double-team him I think,” Teri proposed.
“That would be great. I’ll overnight my signed contract. If we can work it out before I get there, then I can keep everything separate. Don’t kill me if I have to combine the contract with the date though. This gives me hope. After our last few minutes together, I didn’t expect him to hold out so long. We got along really well,” Tristan responded honestly.
“I’m happy. Thank you for letting me pry.”
“Thank you for prying.” Tristan smiled.
“Good night then.”
“Good night.” Tristan lifted a hand and Teri returned the smile before the video went dead. Just like Secret promised, Tristan watched as the screen slowly ate up the message until there was no trace of it left.
Feeling a little better about things, Tristan quickly selected Dylan’s photo as his background picture on his phone. He and Teri had met and she seemed to approve of him. That had to be a milestone, even if Dylan wasn’t aware of the exchange. At least he had someone on the inside to have his back.
After seeing Dylan, his body ached. He needed to jack off. He grabbed his phone and left his home office. Tomorrow, he’d plan a trip to Dallas. He couldn’t really remember much about Dallas, except the incredible summer and the terrible politics. None of that mattered. He said a quick prayer. Something he rarely did.
Please let him accept my invitation.
Four days since Tristan had his heart-to-heart with Teri, he found himself talking to her every single day. She secretly kept him posted on Dylan, on his mood, how he acted, and anything she could get out of him about the two of them. She also sent him several pictures through email and text messaging. They were photos of a young Dylan and some through the years. One of him cooking dinner in their kitchen with two of their children helping in the process. Dylan never knew she’d taken that shot.