Chapter 25: Hold Me

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This Morning

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This Morning

I'd spent all of Saturday negotiating contracts with Salim and Henry, who joined our conversation on speakerphone. We went all through midnight, which also meant I couldn't stop by Florence's room, either. It'd bothered me more than it should — but I just really wanted to feel her again.

By the time this morning had rolled around, I couldn't wait to get my fucking hands on her. She'd been there for breakfast, but with all those people around, I knew it was a risk to go anywhere near her. Truth was, I just wanted her too fucking much.

Our little rendezvous just proved that. I still caught myself licking my lips to get a taste of the cinnamon coffee that lingered on her tongue when I'd kissed her just hours ago.

Fuck.

The door slamming shut behind me let me refocus on the task at hand: the contract.

"Long time no see, Phoenix," Henry said as he entered the office, two hours late. The remainder of his grey-blonde hair was gelled but combed to the side and he wore a grey suit, looking professional as ever. I scrunched my nose from the smell of his citrus aftershave when he got closer, his hand stretched out to me. "Sorry for the delay, something came up."

I shook his hand reluctantly, not saying anything as I scooted over with my chair to get more distance from the vacant one to my left.

"Hope you had a great flight, Henry." Salim got up and reached out his hand as well, then gestured for him to sit down on the chair I just moved away from.

"Oh, yeah. A bit jet-lagged, but everything's good." He grinned a toothy grin at me and placed his briefcase on the desk, pulling out about half a dozen blue folders. "Now, let's get down to business, shall we?"

By business, he meant an entire collection of contracts I had to read, understand, and sign. He somehow got the tech company's sponsorship deal, which was a home run for both me and Azure Racing. They had some conditions like me being part of ads and commercials, which I didn't exactly agree with, but I also knew there were sacrifices I had to make.

I specifically told him I'd be willing to promote their stuff lightly, but I wouldn't be up for big productions like TV commercials. They agreed I'd mostly be on posters and short clips, so that was a relief. The whole ordeal was easier than I expected, given they'd seemed to be so reluctant beforehand.

"And there's nothing else they wanted?" I asked, glancing over at Henry.

The grin on his lips was bright as ever as he shook his head. "Nope. I had some aces up my sleeve, but it seems like they weren't necessary. Not yet, at least."

"Aces?"

Salim went quiet at the mention, and I couldn't help but look between the two of them.

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