CHAPTER 17
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We’re hanging out in Meggy’s house for girl time, because of some serious catching up we have to do. Shelby has come, armed with all kinds of dishes she had Dean make her. Her pregnancy is making her crave some weird stuff. Not necessarily bad, but eating tacos with hummus and having a side of pumpkin pie cheesecake was a little on the adventurous side for me. Never mind it was the middle of the day and absolutely not the time to be having a full dinner. I’m not complaining though, I like being well fed while having girl time..
“She really spat at the cop?” Shelby asks me with wide eyes as she’s holding a huge mug filled with tea.
“Hm-hm,” I confirm while the thought of Celia spitting at the officer is giving me chills. Bodily fluids are gross if not in a consensual setting. I pick up two of the strawberries covered in chili-chocolate and stuff my mouth. Fuck acting like a lady. After swallowing them down, I answer Shelby’s question. “It was gross.”
“Wait,” Meggy intervenes. “Can we back up to the handcuffs?” Shelby also looks at me curiously as she waits for me to answer.
“What about them?”
“Were they fluffy?”
I snort. “No, they were the real deal. If they would’ve been of the fluffy kind, Celia would have broken through them in an instant. The girl acted like she was possessed by a demon or something.”
“I bet Gil has all kinds of fun stuff to play with,” my redheaded friend says with a dreamy look.
“I can’t tell you anything about that,” I answer honestly.
That gets me some unbelieving looks. “What?” I ask, possibly a little on edge.
“Oh come on girl, don’t expect us to believe that.”
“Believe what?”
“That you’re not tapping all of them.”
Seriously? They are thinking I’m sleeping with all of them? I’m not! Just, like, half of them. I cringe. Maybe it isn’t that weird of a thought. Should I tell them about what’s going on, or do I keep my sex life private? I guess they’re my friends and that’s stuff you talk about with your friends, right?
“I haven’t slept with Gil. I’m just... casually having fun with Jonah... And Dean.” I say that last name while watching how Shelby reacts out of the corner of my eye. Perhaps that’s something she doesn’t want to know about her baby brother. Seeing my discomfort, she laughs.
“Hunny, don’t worry. I took him to buy his first box of condoms and showed him how to use it on a banana. And even if I hadn’t done that, I lived in the same house as him while he was a teenager.”
That leaves a mental image that makes me giggle. Meggy seems to be clinging to every word I say, thriving on my gossip.
“So yeah, I’m trying this whole not a relationship thing. And it confuses the fuck out of me. But we all seem to be on the same page.”
“Girl, you’re living the dream,” she says as she gives me googly-eyes.
“I’m not complaining,” I say suggestively.
“I should go get me some,” Shelby yawns. “This damn baby just makes me so tired. It’s not even born, and I'm already thinking back longingly to pre-baby times when it comes to sex.”
“How about sleepy sex?”
“That might be our only option at the moment,” she says. “I’m just not sure if I can stay awake long enough to get to the good part.”
“Aren’t you together like, forever?” Meggy asks. “Doesn’t that mean you’re in the always-a-quickie phase of your marriage?”
“Na-ah, we like to make it last.” Shelby gives me a shocked look. “Don’t tell my baby brother about that. I’m fine with knowing what the hell he does, but he doesn’t have to know what I’m up to.”
I mime locking my mouth and throwing away the key. “As far as Dean is concerned, it was an immaculate conception should he ask me.”
That makes us all chuckle a little. I grab some of the pumpkin pie cheesecake and ignore the fact it’s my third piece.
“Who’s your latest conquest?” I ask Meggy who’s currently sitting on the ground and eating the pumpkin pie cheesecake straight from the plate with a fork. “I haven’t heard you talk about who you’re seeing for a while now.”