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“Of course, you’re smart, you jackass,” she says, squeezing my legs a little. “Look at how you learned to adapt. And how long you’ve kept this secret from the world, especially given your career-choice. There must be countless times you have to read out loud.”
“Gershwyn’s the genius, not me. He handles everything so I don’t have to,” I tell her, thinking maybe she’d be better off dating him. The thought makes my blood boil, and I brush it away. “He quickly picks up anything that requires reading, while I distract and redirect people. Sometimes, when they push it, I act like I have better things to do or that I can’t be bothered at the moment, but I’ll get to it.”
“You charm them.”
“Exactly,” I answer. “Once, I even stooped as low as to pretend to be high at a table reading.”
“Wow,” she says, and the look on her face terrifies me. I’m one-hundred-percent sure she’s about to tell me how disappointed she is in me, but she doesn’t. Instead, she says, “And that story has followed you for years.”
“Yeah, pretty stupid. If I had kept that up, I would’ve been out of a career real fast.” I lean down and press my forehead against hers, not wanting her to see the shame I’m feeling.
We stay like this for a minute, then she lifts her hands and places them on my cheeks. “I’m sorry you went through all of that,” she says.
I shake my head. “Half of it was self-inflicted.”
“No, I’d say your parents inflicted it on you.” She gives me a soft kiss on the lips, followed by another one, this time, more urgent. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Hudson. They’re the ones who should be ashamed of themselves.”
I kiss her back, not wanting to talk anymore. Not wanting to feel ashamed or embarrassed or less than. Pulling her up onto my lap, I kiss her harder, feeling loved and accepted. I run my hands along her waist and up her sides, feeling her breasts through the silk pajama shirt. She grinds against me, through the fabric of our clothes, and I’m suddenly desperate to have her again, to feel her skin against mine, to taste her, touch her everywhere. And I know damn well it’s what she wants too. In a frenzy of movements, we help each other get naked, and soon, I’m on top of her, with her legs wrapped around my back, as close as two people can be.
It’s everything. This moment. The two of us together like this. It’s love. I know it is. She’s showing me how she feels, that she accepts me the way I am. A distant part of my brain is telling me not to trust this. That she doesn’t know how pathetic it is when I have to read something for the first time, but I silence that thought and focus on her—on how she feels under me, how powerful I am when I’m with her like this, moving over her, bringing her as much pleasure as I’m giving myself.
When it’s over, we collapse into a heap, tangled up together, panting and satisfied. “You’ve got some serious gifts,” she tells me with a smile.
I chuckle, then kiss her again. “You do too.”
She runs her hands lazily up and down my arm while I plant kisses along her neck. After a few minutes, she says, “You know how I’m relentlessly curious?”
“It’s one of the things I love most about you.”
Grinning, she says, “I want to hear about how you learn your lines.”
“Oh, that,” I answer, surprised that I’m actually happy to talk about this. “Gersh scans my scripts and changes them to the Dyslexie font, then records himself reading them out loud. I listen to it over and over while I follow along until I’ve got the entire thing memorized.”
She stares into my eyes, and I can feel the love radiating from her. “So, you’re secretly an extremely hard-worker masquerading as an easy-going surfer dude.”
“It’s been the greatest role of my career.”
“Wow,” she says. “I’m not sure if anyone’s told you this lately, but you’re amazing.”
“You’re only saying that because you want me to shag you again.”
She lifts one hand and caresses my cheek with her fingertips. “I’m serious. You’re amazing, Hudson. What you’ve accomplished is incredible. Only someone who’s a really fast thinker could do what you’ve done.”
Shrugging, I say, “Meh, I may be fast, but I have my limits.”
She gives me a serious look. “Listen, because I’m about to say something you need to hear. Everything you’ve learned, every skill you’ve developed—it took determination and intelligence to do that. I’ve never met anyone as good at reading people as you, and that’s one of the most important skills a person can have.”
“I don’t know about that. I could never do what you do.”
“So what? You’ve built an incredible life for yourself, and it took guts and talent.”
“All right, I’ll shag you again,” I say, doing my best to sound reluctant about it.
She laughs, then says, “Oh good. But first, can I ask you one more thing?”
“Seriously? I’m offering you a mind-blowing orgasm and you want to ask more questions?”
“You knew what I was like when you got involved with me,” she answers. “Besides, I’m pretty sure the offer will still be on the table in a few minutes.”
