I leave them to it and slink into the kitchen to finish my coffee and stare at my phone until Robin answers.
Beanie rumbles down the stairs, and I hear him running into the living room.
“Hello, Beanie!”
Mum’s voice carries far, her fawning over him, telling himhow cute and lovely he is. It’s impossible not to love that happy little fur ball.
I throw back the last sip of coffee. My phone vibrates again, making my heart skip a beat.
I can’t stop thinking about you. That shape of yours. That laugh. You’re right. You’ve spun me off my axis
Come with me to the Mesmeric Mystique at The Orion tonight
The Orion again? Shit, he must think I’m a member. Did I let him think that? I guess there’s no reason I shouldn’t be. Most guests at the events I model at don’t know we’re working there.
What the fuck do I tell him?
“What have you got there?” Dad’s voice sounds. There’s a faint buzzing noise.
Just as I round the corner, my parents stoop over Beanie; I’m guessing they’re trying to see what he’s playing with on the floor.
I move closer. The hair on my neck stands up. I recognise that buzzing noise, but why?
“What is this?” Mum prods.
Beanie jolts, flinging the thing he was playing with up in the air and it lands with a thud.
Fuuuuuck.
Mum gasps.
The bright pink colour and long shape is instantly recognisable. It’s my damned vibrator!
Oh God, did I leave it out in the bedroom?
Beanie runs off into the kitchen with a huff, as if he’s just remembered he left the stove on.
He doesn’t know what he’s left behind on thefloor, but my parents bloody well do. Against my will, my eyes meet Mum’s. She’s doing the wide-eyed, bulging stare.
It’s the glare that says I’m not good enough. The one that makes me shrink. It’s how she always looked at me when I wore dresses that were too short, or when I was twelve and asked about sex. My friend’s parents’ hidden porn DVDs taught me what it was. She never dared to.
Now, the fact that I am a woman with needs and a thriving libido (particularly after meeting Robin) is right there on the carpet, and I hate that she makes me feel ashamed about it.
“Oh, bugger,” Dad mutters and turns back to his puzzle. He’s an expert at pretending nothing is happening around him. Classic. Xander mimics him, although he’s got the same red cheeks I get when I’m embarrassed.
I can feel them now. So hot it’s prickling my skin.
“Rose-ma-ry,” Mum forces the word out through clenched teeth. “Please. Remove. The …thing.” She strains as if the dildo on the floor is causing her physical pain.
With a mix of incredible embarrassment and annoyance at my mum’s dramatic reaction, I pick up the source of our collective shame.
I stomp upstairs like the teen she treats me as, and Beanie zooms up from behind me, almost trampling me down as we both reach the landing.
“Thanks, you little devil,” I mutter to the fur monster, but feel bad instantly. He doesn’t know.
I sit down on the bed and throw the dildo into the bedroom drawer.
Fuck.
