“Oh yeah,” Jamie said, and I nudged him at the joke that rested beneath his comment. “So what do you like to read?”
“I read a lot of things. A lot of genres. Right now I’m really into romance.”
“Romance?!” Jamie exclaimed with a laugh. “Oh man. Does Ethan know?”
“I don’t know, I’m sure he’s seen me with my books a time or two. Why does that matter?”
He shrugged. “I’m just saying, I would want to know if I wasn’t pleasing my girl enough and she needed a steamy sex book to get her rocks off.”
“Oh my God, Jamie!” I halted our walk then, just as two girls with books pressed to their chest rushed past us. “It’s not even like that. At all.”
“Sure,” he said with an amused smirk.Bastard.
“It’s not. I read romance because it’s fun to fall in love. And with romance books, I get to do it over and over. I get to be different types of lovers, I get to feel the heartbreak of love and the successes. Love is the most powerful and real emotion we feel, and I think it’s sort of magical that we can experience some of the greatest loves of all time through books.”
“Except they’re not real.”
I huffed. “You’re impossible.”
We started walking again and Jamie apologized. “I’m just kidding. I’m sure they’re great.” He paused, but curiosity got the best of him. “So Ethan is satisfying you between the sheets then, huh?”
“We are not talking about this.”
“Oh come on,” he pleaded. “I told you all the dirt when I was dating Jenna. You owe me.”
That was true. He had told me more than I wanted to know about his and Jenna’s… adventures.
“Yeah, that wasn’t exactly saint-like, either.”
“True,” he conceded. “But lines always have been pretty blurry with us, haven’t they.”
It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. And it was the truth.
I sighed. Itwasjust Jamie. I mean, this was the guy I’d shared the story about my name with — the most personal story of my life. He’d called me his best friend. And in a way, he’d always kind of felt like mine.
“Fine. But no teasing.”
“I swear.”
I rolled my eyes, because I definitely didn’t believe him, but let out a long breath anyway. “I don’t really know what to say.”
“Tell me how Ethan is in the sack,” Jamie said simply.
I balked at his forwardness, shaking my head.
“I don’t know.” I was flustered, stalling. “He’s fine.”
“Fine?This is sex we’re talking about, B. Not china.”
“You said no teasing!”
“I lied.”
“Clearly.”
“Seriously,” he said, pulling us to a stop again. We were right in the center of the snake path, the trees shielding us from the outside world — even if just for a moment. “Come on. Sex isn’t a taboo thing. It should be talked about. It’s about finding what works for you, what brings you pleasure.”
God, just hearing that word roll off his lips sent a rush of heat from my face all the way to my toes.
