Page 38 of Long for Me
Thank goodness for Miranda. I was relieved, and really, there was no good answer to give Gabby. She shivered when she talked about his power and all I saw in my mind was when he unleashed it.
“It’s been an experience,” I muttered.
Gabby reached out and covered my hand. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, I have a tendency to say whatever’s in my head, whether it’s appropriate or not. My brain-to-mouth filter frequently malfunctions.”
I laughed and shook my head. “Wasn’t offended in the least. Bennett and I don’t always get along, that’s all.”
“Huh,” she said again. “That’s so strange. Everyone I’ve ever talked to thinks he’s pretty easy to get along with it.”
Ha ha ha. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing. Struggling to keep it in, my thoughts reeling like one of those old videos where movies played in short jerky, bursts, mostly focused on Bennett and his cock and his hands and his lips and his smiles... I grabbed my beer and gulped it.
“Hi, welcome to Wasted Bull, what can I get for you?” The server asked as she returned. Dressed in short, cropped denim shorts so short her butt was almost visible and a skin-tight red tank top with a WB stitched onto the chest of her shirt, there was little left to the imagination but she was young and cute and perky. Her timing earned her a huge tip from me, too.
Gabby ordered a beer like Miranda and I and then we placed our dinner orders.
By the time Gabby’s drink arrived, a tall and thin brunette was at our table, shrugging out of her North Face knee-length puffy coat. I liked her immediately. Every woman north of the Mason-Dixon needed the exact coat. “So sorry I’m late,” she said, huffing like she’d had to run here. She blew into the palms of her hands and fell into the booth next to Miranda.
Miranda wrapped her arm over her shoulder and squeezed her. “No problem, Haley. We’ve just ordered anyway. And this is my friend Rebecca.”
We shook hands and said our hellos and listened to Haley talk about the flu and how long it took her to get over. “I swear,” she said, brushing her chocolate hair over her shoulder. “It lasted forever, so long Jensen convinced me to take a pregnancy test. The man’s crazy. And no...” she eyed the table, “... I’m not pregnant. The Long Islands I plan on having tonight will prove it.”
“Just run down with the resort?” Gabby asked.
“I don’t think so, it’s just a bug I must have picked up. The resort is pretty calm right now. It hasn’t been cold enough to get out on the ice yet so we’re pretty slow.”
Conversation flowed easily and happily after that. We talked about our jobs, sprinkling frustration with their men in an “I love them to the death, but if they leave their socks on the floor one more time, I’ll kill them” sort of way.
We ate our burgers, had a few drinks, laughed loudly and not once was Luminous or kinky sex mentioned. When Miranda said friends of hers from Luminous were joining us, I assumed she’d set up some sort of intervention to talk me into being with Bennett. Now that they hadn’t, I almost wished they would.
Because I had a sexual contract burning a hole in a file folder on my kitchen table, and I had no idea what in the hell to do about it, except get their help and advice.
“So,” I said after Gabby got done talking about how she’d had to subdue some linebacker sized male at the bar last night.
All eyes turned to me and I pushed aside my beer, in an effort not to chug it.
“What is it, Rebecca?” Miranda asked, smirking.
“Well, um...” I looked around the table, all eyes on me, and my fear and nerves bubbled and overflowed so I blurted, “I need help knowing what to do about Bennett and the contract he gave me.”
Silence landed on the table like the apocalypse had just hit until Gabby slammed her hand on the table and bellowed out a laugh, tossing her head back shouting, “Now, this is the kind of girls’ night I’m talking about!”
She whooped, threw her hand in the air and clapped her hands with glee.
“I’m not sure my question requires that much raucous.”
“Oh,” Gabby said, eyes gleaming with delight. She leaned in and whispered knowingly. “That’s where you’re wrong. Every girl’s first time deserves some raucous.”
“Well, um.” Damn. My throat and cheeks burned and I rubbed my neck to cool it. Was I allergic to beer suddenly? Perhaps the hops or yeast in it? “The thing is, it wouldn’t be our first time.”
“Bennett took you to bed without a contract?” Haley asked, looking at me curiously. “That’s so unlike him.”
“He took her home after New Year’s Eve,” Miranda supplied, completely unhelpfully. “I tell you, hewantedher and he was taking her.”
Oh my God. She hadn’t just said that. Except she did. Gabby threw another laughing fit.
“This is perfect,” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “The quiet, controlled Dom who’s a complete stickler for rules and safety threw it all out the window for his assistant.”
When she put it like that, it didn’t exactly sound good.
