“Okay, shoot.”
I take a sip of my coffee. “What?”
“Talk to me, mate. I’m all ears.”
“About what?”
“About what you’ve been daydreaming about lately.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. Since you moved in with Johnny, you’ve been distant and often get lost in that pretty little head of yours.”
“I have not.”
“You have, too. He’s consuming you, isn’t he?”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know.” I sigh and push the proofs away. I’m not focused enough to do a good job at it anyway, so I might as well stop pretending. “Hey, Lay, can I ask you something?”
“I’m your man. Shoot.”
“I know you’re saving your virginity for marriage, but you know stuff about stuff. Being nosy and all.” Layla’s mum, her aunts, cousins and extended family — which is huge — are really forthcoming about sex, but only with their female friends and family.
I might have had sex before, but Layla knows more about it than I ever will. She’s an encyclopaedia in practically everything.
“First of all, suck my D. Second of all, I’m not nosy. I like to know things so I’m prepared.”
“Okay, fine. So my question is…” I trail off, wetting my lips.
“Any day now.”
“What does it mean if a man only likes oral?”
“He needs Viagra. Wait a second, Johnny needs Viagra? Way to ruin my daddy fantasy. Hey, what do you think his reaction will be if I mail him a pack?”
I burst out laughing. “Don’t do that.”
“Why not? I’m giving the man a boost. If anything, he should thank me.”
“It’s not like that. He does get…you know…hard.”
“Then his performance must be rubbish.”
“I don’t think so.”
“I actually don’t think so either.”
“What do you mean?”
“He seems like the type of man who commands everything, even in the bedroom. Control is his kink.”
She can say that again.
Layla drinks her coffee, seeming deep in thought. “How about you ruin it?”
I pause with the straw halfway to my mouth. “Ruin what?”
“His control. People like Jonathan get off on knowing the result before they even go in, so when you destroy that pattern, they act out, either by showing their ugly side or their hidden side. Both are their true selves.”