The Plus One Pact Read Online Crystal Kaswell

Categories Genre: Alpha Male Tags Authors: Crystal Kaswell Advertisement

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Audio only.

A cell phone in the corner, set to record. And everything else… business as usual.

I don't check privacy settings or make sure she isn't going to send this to a friend. I only make one requirement: I record the same thing on my phone.

So, we have equal ability to hurt each other.

A strange, perfect way to share trust.

And knowing someone could hear us, that we can listen?

It's hot as fuck.

I fall into it completely.

That night, after dinner with my family, and another silly game meant to bring us closer, I go to my bedroom, and I replay our session again and again.

Why did I never think to do this?

There's something about Ivy's voice.

Familiar in this strange way.

And sexy in a way that's not at all strange.

The next day is strange and perfect.

This time, our group breakfast is a walk to a local cafe. Since we need to "scope out our competition." After too much coffee and cold eggs, we walk to the beach, where we practice the art of discomfort by running into the ocean in our clothes.

According to Mom, waiting until the sun dries our clothes is a great way to "learn the art of patience."

Lunch is a picnic in the backyard, where we take turns answering abstract questions designed to build intimacy. At first, we answer the easy questions together. Would you like to be famous? If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? What were three qualities that first attracted you to me?

We take the harder questions upstairs.

What makes you feel most loved? What's your most embarrassing memory? What is a fear you've never shared? Do you think love is more than just a feeling?

Somehow, it's easier sharing with these abstract questions. Like I'm not offering her a peak into something I'm supposed to be hide.

But I want to do more. Do better.

So, this time, I tell her the truth. I have to hide what I do not just because I know my family will never approve of trading sex for money. But because, deep down, this isn't the life I envisioned.

And even though I love so many parts of it, I can't escape the image of Romeo the, well, Romeo.

The girl-crazy kid who doesn't know about anything except how to seduce a pretty girl.

I have other skills. Other senses.

But I'm proving my brother right every time with this job. I'm proving this is what I do best.

I kiss, I flirt, I fuck.

And for once, I want to be valued for my brain. I want someone to want my thoughts. Care about my personality.

When I say that, she kisses me, and we have a different sort of sex. Soft and slow and romantic and real.

That's the only way to explain it.

No pretense from her or me.

Just two people who like each other enough to lie to their families about their jobs. Even though this isn’t a normal relationship, it is something real. I care about her. She cares about me.

And I want more than this.

More than a ruse.

Even if it means changing everything.

I fall asleep next to her. Wake up in a haze of bliss.

A haze that breaks as soon as I check my phone.

A text from Sasha.

This sounds familiar. Be careful. XO

With a link to an article in the Orange County Register.

Who is Doctor O’s Cassanova? Rumors Swirl Around Viral Episodes of Local Sex Therapist’s Podcast.

What is Sasha—

There’s no way—

The details are similar, but so what? There must be lots of divorced sex-therapists in Orange County. Sure, this woman is the right age, and she’s quoted as saying all the same things—

And there’s an audio sample.

I listen, just to prove it to myself.

But I know the second I hear her voice. Modified somehow, but unmistakenly Ivy. And she’s talking about me.

Have you ever thought about hiring a professional? Because I did.

Is that all this was to her? Content for her fucking podcast?

I rush to the door. Stop myself just in time. I can’t confront her. That will make this public to my family.

I need to play this smarter.

But I don’t have time to figure out how.

Cynthia knocks on my door a few minutes later. She’s here to break the news. She’s put it together too.

My brother’s fiancée knows what I do.

Shit.

I open the door.

There’s none of the disgust or shock I expect to see in her eyes. Only sympathy.

"I put it together yesterday," she says. "You're the guy she hired."

I start to deny it, but I see it all over her face. She won't buy it.

"It makes a lot of sense. Why you were always so defensive about work. And I haven't told anyone, but it's only a matter of time before everyone else puts it together. This is all over social media. So, you should break this to Daniel before someone else does."


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