I chew on my lower lip. “But why now? We’ve literally been corresponding for two years. We talk every day. Why now, on this trip, and not after one of our many Zoom calls?”
“Maybe he can’t get enough of how you smell. Or maybe he’s seen your tits in person and can’t fathom his life without y?—”
“Okay, you really need to stop reading those kinds of books. That stuff doesn’t happen in real life.”
“Did he fuck you again last night?”
I wrinkle my nose. “That’s such a crass way of putting it. But yes.”
She squeals. “Okay. Here’s what you do now. Tonight, ignore him. Don’t give him a chance to get it on. It’ll drive him crazy.”
I sit up a bit straighter. “You think that’ll work?”
“Trust me. Don’t give him the option tonight.”
“I couldn’t even if he wanted to. I’msosore from the last two nights.”
“Girl…” She makes a clicking sound with her tongue. “That means you’ve been fucked properl?—”
“Okay, okay. I get it. So I should ignore him tonight?”
“Yes. Be polite but aloof.”
I nod. “I can’t believe I’m getting relationship advice from someone who just bought an alien dildo last week.”
She laughs. “Don’t knock it till you try it.”
“Fine. Thanks for your advice. I’m a bit rusty, obviously. I mean, before Jake, I think I flirted maybe once with my science teacher.”
“Oh my god. I forgot about that. I had such secondhand embarrassment. He was forty-two years old and you were fifteen, you dirty slut.”
I chuckle. “I should go. I’ll update you tomorrow.”
“When are you home again?”
“Six days.”
“Fine,” she whines. “I suppose I’ll find a way to occupy myself with all of my free time while my bestie hooks up with her hot boss.”
“That’s what your dildo is for, Ar.”
She snorts. “Okay, go change into something hot. Remember: polite but aloof.”
“Polite but aloof.”
We hang up and my phone immediately goes back to the email from Dr. Kincaid. I decide not to respond, instead turning my phone off and walking into the large bathroom.
Thirty minutes later, I’m soaking in the bath reading a smutty romantic suspense novel with a glass of the most expensive champagne they allowed me to charge to the room. I’m buzzed but at least I’m content. The water is extra hot, too, which is helping to relax all the muscle aches.
I had to take another damn dose of ibuprofen.
In all the years of having regular sex, I’d never needed medicine afterward. It’s like a whole new world has opened up before me.
Sinking down deeper so that my neck is below the bubbles, I’m smiling at the part where the hero kills someone for flirting with the heroine when I hear the hotel door open.
I freeze. “Hello?” No one answers, and I set my book down as my heart begins to pound inside my chest. “Dr. Kincaid?”
“It’s me,” he answers from the other side of the bathroom door.
