Adelaide
Let’s throw the shy girl a sex toy party.
It was Iris’s idea. Wren and Callum’s wedding was coming up, and this was her bachelorette party. Sex toys and sangria. I’d never seen one person blush for so long. Even after a large glass of sangria, Wren’s cheeks were still on fire.
A lady named Clarice, who wore grandma glasses and her steel-gray hair in a bun, was currently showing us a giant, sparkly purple dildo. Wren had her face buried in my shoulder, giggling. Despite her wicked embarrassment, she was having fun. I would have whisked her away otherwise.
And well…I suspected Iris wouldn’t have put her in this position if she hadn’t known Wren would enjoy it.
Iris Adler was one of my musical idols. I’d met her at a few of my dad’s events, but this was the first time we’d really spoken for any length of time. God, she was cool.
When I’d arrived at her apartment for the party, she had hugged me like we were long-lost friends, told me I was beautiful, and shoved sangria in my hand. Then she hooked her arm in mine and showed me around, introducing me to Hope, Rodrigo’s almost-wife, and Claire, who was married to another rocker, Dominic Cantrell. A handful of other women from work, including Natalie, were here too. Natalie’s presence was a bummer, but for once, she was keeping her snark to herself. Probably because she realized in this situation, she was at the very bottom of the heap and couldn’t lord over anyone.
It was nice to know she could be put in her place.
“I don’t think I need a dildo.” Wren peeked out from my shoulder, fanning her face with her hand. “I’m great in that department. Holy granola, am I great.”
Iris crossed her legs. “Toys are like accessories, honey bunny. You can wear a fuck-hot dress but add a killer necklace and you’re blazing. Have you tried a vibe?”
Somehow, her face got even more red. “Not yet. I don’t know…”
Clarice cleared her throat. “All sales are private. If there’s anything you want to try, all you have to do is write it down and it will stay between you and me. Personally, I’m partial to this one.”
She held up a thick, silver butt plug. My first reaction was to laugh, then I thought, good for her. I hoped when I was her age, I was still getting it.
“And it’s all my treat, of course,” Iris chimed.
“I don’t think I want a butt plug,” Wren whispered to me.
I bit back a grin. “You don’t have to have one, babe. Promise.”
Clarice put on a good show. We were licking lube off our arms and feeling up dildos thesizeof our arms. It was ridiculous and silly and absolutely perfect. Wren vacillated between blushing and giggling so hard, she bent in half, clutching her stomach.
When Clarice held up the Rose, I waved my arms around. “Oh, oh, I can tell everyone about this one. The Rose and I are old friends. New friends. Best friends.”
Wren patted my knee with the back of her hand. “Don’t you have a boyfriend?”
I wrinkled my nose. “I have a Simon. He’s not really my boyfriend, and we don’t—”
“You don’t have sex?” she whispered, her owlish eyes widening ever further.
“Not really.”
The answer was no, but “not really” sounded slightly better.
“Wait a minute.” Iris leaned around Wren to get a good look at me. “What’s the purpose of having a boyfriend if you’re not having sex?”
I shrugged. “It’s not like that. He’s not my boyfriend. He’s a guy I like to hang out with and sometimes kiss.”
What I didn’t say was we had sex twice and Simon came within the first few minutes both times. I didn’t mind a quickie so long as I got mine. Simon tried. He did. God, did he try. But it was like he and my clit were mortal enemies. She either hid from him or he unintentionally abused her—no in-between.
Hewasa good kisser, and that was something. But yeah, my relationship with my vibrator was more fulfilling than the one I had with a living, breathing man. At least that particular living, breathing man.
Natalie clacked her long nails on a glass dildo. “Sounds like the daddy’s girls from high school who were saving themselves for marriage while letting the football team do them in the ass because it didn’t count.”
I cringed. “Uh…that’snotwhat it sounds like, and what a weird thing to compare me to.”
Clarice chimed in. “There’s nothing shameful about enjoying anal sex.”