“Oh. Oh, that’s…”
“Yeah.”
Chloe’s own throat grew tight at the image, but not with tears. Don’t laugh, she ordered herself. Don’t laugh.
“Just laugh already,” Jenn said darkly, and Chloe burst into loud guffaws of unladylike, unhelpful laughter. Jenn didn’t join her.
“I’m sorry,” she gasped. “I’m really sorry. What happened?”
Jenn set her forehead against her arm so that she was staring down at her shoes instead of the water. “God, I don’t know! I, um, climaxed and then I just started crying.”
Slapping a hand over her mouth, Chloe tried to control her amusement. It didn’t work. “So he was still…active?”
“Yes.”
“Christ, Jenn.”
Groaning, Jenn shifted on her feet, her back shaking a little. A tiny sob floated up on the wind, and Chloe sobered immediately. “Sweetie? Are you laughing or crying? Jenn?”
“I’m laughing!” she cried, straightening up with a tortured smile on her face. “Why would I be crying? I save all my crying for when I’m having the hottest sex ever with a guy I really like!”
Cringing, Chloe half groaned and half laughed.
“It was so
bad. After I stopped crying, I begged him to put it back in.”
“You did not!”
“Okay, I didn’t say it exactly like that, but I asked if we could try again, as if he were ever going to get another hard-on within twenty feet of me.”
“That might be the worst story I’ve ever heard.”
Jenn raised an eyebrow. “Really? Worse than…”
“Oh, Thomas faking his death. Touché. Worst sex story I’ve ever heard, then. But,” she said as Jenn’s face crumpled, “I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as you think.”
She nodded. “He probably thought it was cute that he gave me an orgasm and then, instead of getting his own orgasm, he got to comfort a hysterically crying naked girl.”
“Better than a hysterically crying girl who’s fully dressed.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s true.” A deep breath expanded her slender chest. “But I never want to talk about this again, all right? Ever.”
“All right.”
“Thank you.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Chloe managed to hold her tongue for a full thirty seconds. She tried to distract herself by watching the approaching coastline as it got larger on the horizon. A heron burst from the water ahead of them, white feathers flashing like angel wings. “So… Anyway… Do big penises run in families? Because…”
The genuine laugh that burst from Jenn’s mouth made Chloe grin. The strain had vanished from her voice, thank God. “I think they do.” She giggled. “It was dark, but it certainly felt… I can’t believe I’m talking about this!”
“Aw, welcome to the twenty-first century, sweetheart. I think it’s cute that before you knew the boys, you were talking about a threesome, and now you can’t even mention the word penis without turning bright red.”
Jenn swung her hip into Chloe’s, knocking her off balance. “Shut up.”
Once she’d found her sea legs again, Chloe slung her arm around Jenn’s shoulders and they faced the dock together. “So what’s wrong? Why were you crying?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been feeling stressed and I’m having trouble sleeping. And I hadn’t been with a man in a long time. I don’t know. It was all too much.”