Page 73 of One Time Only (One Time Only 1)
Stone wins the first hand, then says to me, “Do you like your job?”
I give him nothing but the truth. “It makes me happy. I love what I do. Why do you ask?”
“Just wanted to know. Seems like you dig it. Seemed that way when Callum said to look out for me. Wanted to see if I was reading you right.”
“You read me right.”
I win the next one, and it’s my turn. “What was the year you took off all about? What led to it?”
He strokes his chin. “I think my dad was in my head. Some things he said to me on the last tour made me doubt myself. I needed to take a little time off and do some other things. Give back. Make sure I was in the right headspace.”
“And you found the right headspace?”
“I did. I’m glad I took the time away. But I’m even more glad I found my way back to music. Love it like I love air and food.” He dips his voice. “Almost as much as sex.”
I lower my head, hiding a smile.
Then I try to hide a blush when he adds in the barest voice, only for me, “Sex with you, J.”
Stone wins the next hand, and he tosses a question at me. “Does it ever bother you to be on the road so much?”
“I miss LA, but I’ve been on the road for a while and I think I’m pretty adaptable, so I don’t mind it at all.”
“That’s your superpower. You’re adaptable.”
“I think it’s one of them. What about you? Do you love the road?”
“I do. But I’ve been on it a long time. I love LA too.” He stabs his finger against the felt table. “Ask me another question.”
I frown. “Is that how this works? I thought the asker got to pick. You’re so demanding.”
“Yes, but do me a solid. Ask me what my next song is. The song I’ve been working on.”
I don’t know exactly what he’s getting at, but judging from the way his eyes sparkle, I’m pretty sure it’s someplace I want to go. “What’s your next song?”
His grin is crooked, pleased, but a touch nervous too. “It’s called ‘The Guy in the Picture.’”
His gaze holds mine.
I slip back in time, and like it was yesterday, he’s looking at the shot of me with my sister and saying those words. Telling me, for all intents and purposes, he’s going to write a song for me.
Now, here we are, and he is writing it.
My chest tingles, then those tingles spread to my entire being, to my soul. “Would I like the song?”
For a sliver of a second, nerves flash across his irises. But they’re gone in a heartbeat. He straightens his shoulders. “I hope so. It’s for you.”
For the first time in my whole entire life, I swoon.
My head is an electric haze.
I want to haul him into my arms, kiss him in front of the entire casino, and tell anyone who’ll listen that he’s mine. All mine.
I clench my fists so I stay still. “I want to hear it.”
“I’ll play it for you soon. I promise.” He leans closer to me. I catch the ocean breeze scent of his hair, and I nearly lose my mind. His voice is a barren whisper. “Do you want to go?”
“Yes. Now.”
We leave, and once we’re in the elevator, we move to opposite sides of it.
I grip the railing behind me. He does the same. But we stare at each other—with heat, longing, and something brand-new. The admission that I’m the guy in the picture.
That’s who I want to be.28StoneI’m buzzed as the door falls shut.
My skin is singing, my cells longing for him. I launch myself at Jackson, pushing him against the wall, slamming my body against his.
Frenzied and fevered, I’m driven by all the things we said, and all the things I still want to say.
Everything I want to tell him. Everything I’m putting down in a song.
But how do I give voice to this cyclone of emotions clawing through me? To all this newness?
I don’t know, so instead I kiss him the way I feel.
We kiss like fireworks, like an anthem, like lightning and thunder and summer rain.
When we break apart, I drag a hand down his shirt, my breath coming hard. “Did you think about fucking me all day?”
He growls his answer as he wraps his arms around me. “I always do.”
“I thought about you onstage tonight. I think about you offstage too. All the time. I can’t get you out of my head, J,” I say, trying that on for size, taking steps to telling him how much I feel for him.
His lips quirk into a dirty grin. “Sounds like tonight would be the perfect night to edge you, then.”
My skin sizzles. My bones practically hum at the prospect. “Would you?”
