Glitch (Next Level #1)(47)

“You’ve got this,” I say against her hair.

She clings to me, still shaking. “I can’t even believe I got it.”

I don’t know why. Her talent is beyond anything I’ve ever seen. “Come on.” I pull Ara back and steer her towards the front door. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Where are you going?” Erin asks.

“To her studio. She’s not going to sleep until she gets some of this excitement down on canvas.”

That earns me a massive smile from Ara. She rushes over to hug Erin and Beetle goodbye and promises to be back for dinner sometime soon, and then we’re in the car heading to her studio again.

She keeps staring at her phone, reading the email over and over. But she’s quiet. That energy has crackled into something spikier. I can’t tell what it means.

“What if I fail?” she whispers. “What if my idea doesn’t translate like I want it to?”

“You won’t and it will.”

She’s not convinced. Her insecurity demons are rallying. I pull over and throw the car in park. “Look at me, Ara.”

She stares into her lap where her phone is.

“Hey.” I gently cup her chin, making her face me. “Didn’t you just say there are no mistakes in art?”

Her bottom lip quivers.

“You’re going to slay this. And then you’re going to slay the next project and the one after and the one after. Do you know how?”

She shakes her head.

“By telling those demons barking all that negative bullshit in your head to shut the fuck up. You one hundred percent have this. They loved your proposal, or you wouldn’t have been picked.”

“Maybe I was the only one who submitted.”

“So what if you were? That doesn’t say shit about your talent. What you do with your opportunity will. I can’t wait to see it.”

She stares back at her phone. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” I shoot back. “I’m so honored to get to be a part of this, Ara. Seriously. Seeing you this happy is… fuck, it’s… it’s everything.”

My girl lunges into my chest and kisses me so hard our teeth clack. When Ara leans back, she’s grinning again. “I’m gonna do this.”

“Yes, you are.”

“It’s going to be amazing.”

“Damn straight it is.”

“And then more commissions will roll in and maybe I’ll even get another exhibit somewhere.”

“Abso-fucking-lutely.”

She shimmies back into her seat and reaches over to unbuckle my belt. “I want your dick in my mouth.”

“I will never say no to that.”

Her hot tongue is on me a moment later. She sucks me off so hard I see stars. “Holy shit, I hope you get never-ending commissions.” Ara laughs with a mouthful of my cock, and it vibrates down to my balls. “Fuck.” My hips jack up and my dick crams down her throat. She gags. I growl.

Her cell goes off with a text.

We both ignore it.

She draws me in and does wicked things with her tongue that make me think of glorious ways to return the favor. “Such a good girl.” I hold her hair, guiding her head up and down my length. She uses one hand to pump me and licks my head like it’s a fucking lollipop.

“Give me your cum, Glitch.” She licks and sucks and draws me in until I hit the back of her throat again.

“Just like that,” I say. “Keep sucking it just like that and I’ll give you what you want.” I don’t last long. “Swallow it all.” I groan just as my cock jerks in her mouth. She doesn’t miss a goddamn drop and when she lifts her head, she swipes her finger along the corners of her mouth and licks it clean. I run my thumb across her bottom lip. “Good girl.”

Her reaction when I talk like this will never get old. Her pupils are big, her cheeks get all rosy, and she squirms. “Take me back to my studio and fuck me?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She giggles and sits back in her seat. Picking her phone up, Ara stares at the screen again. Only this time, her face pales when she clicks on her newest text.

The energy in the car shifts again and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “What’s wrong?”

Ara starts to panic. Her breaths punch out of her in short spurts. “No. No, no, no.” She holds the phone to her chest so I can’t see it.

“Ara, what is it?”

“I’m…” She unbuckles her seatbelt and fumbles with the doorhandle, only to tumble out of the car.

Jesus. What the fuck? “Ara!” I scramble out of the car. She’s running. Running and crying and freaking out and I have no clue why. “Ara, stop!”

She doesn’t. I chase her down and pull her back with my hands around her waist. “I’m going to kill him!” she scream-cries. “I knew it! I knew things were going too good. Nothing this good happens to me for real.”

I’m so confused I don’t know where to start. “Talk to me.”

She crosses her arms and cries harder.

“Ara, goddamnit, talk to me!”

She shoves her phone in my face, and my heart falls out of my ass. Then my blood turns to toxic, fiery poison.