“What’s this?” I ask.
“My list.”
“For?”
“The names of these bitches who were mean to my girl.”
I throw my head back and laugh. “Oh my god, they can say what they want about me, I don’t care. I just don’t want themfilling their kids’ heads with their shitty opinions and having Aurora cop the hate.” She’s finally making friends, and she’s happy here. I don’t want anything to ruin that.
“I don’t like it. Don’t be coming for the single mums.” Claire shakes her head. “You give me those names, babe. Lex and I will go down there. You know what? I bet we could convince Liv to come too.”
“You’re sweet, thank you, but that isn’t necessary. Westley already helped a lot with the camp. We proved ourselves as a well-adjusted family of three. Besides, I cleared it up with the star of the housewives of Heart City that Aurora didn’t know her birth dad, so hopefully it’s not a thing anymore.”
“It shouldn’t have been one to begin with. Every family looks different.” She shrugs. “I grew up without a dad. Lex grew up without a mum. There’s no right or wrong version. As long as kids have a safe, loving, and happy home, that’s all that really matters. Most single parents are just trying to do their best.”
I wrap my arm around Claire’s back, pulling her into my side. “Weknow that.” I rub my hand up and down her arm. “Anyway, I don’t want to give it any more time. I set the record straight, and I’m sure it’ll all be fine now.”
Claire turns on the spot, pulling out of my hug and leaning onto the desk as she raises an eyebrow. “Did the orgasms help with your newfound optimism?”
“Oh my god! Shhh!” I laugh, turning my head to the front door of the salon. It’s still ten minutes before Parlour Tricks opens, but we have the doors open already.
“What? Don’t try to convince me you faked your way through the weekend withoutsomethinghappening. I can smell sex a mile away.”
“That’s kinda weird and creepy.”
She bites into her cannoli, wiping away the crumbs before she continues. “It’s not that hard to pick when people clearly haven’t had any for a while, then they suddenly do.” She looks atme, inviting me to deny it. “When we first met, your heart was closed, girlfriend. But now? Now your legs have been opened.” She spreads her arms and wiggles her fingers, giving me jazz hands.
“Okay,” I say, pushing her hand back down while she stuffs the last of her treat in her mouth. “You’re right, are you happy?”
“When I’m right? Of course.” She flicks her blonde hair over her shoulder.
I shake my head, smiling as I pick up my iced mocha.
“So…” Claire hoists herself onto the desk, crossing one leg over the other. “The orgasms were…?”
My face fills with heat as my thoughts drift back to everything that happened over the weekend. Orgasms aside, as amazing as they were, it was new for me to let myself have fun with someone like that. Talking, dancing, laughing. West has some special hold over my heart. He makes me feel brave, has me daring to try new things, be another version of myself that may have always been there. I just shoved her deep down because I thought being too loud and open with people would have been like shooting a flare in the sky and announcing to my parents: here we are.
“Multiple.”
“Multiple?” She slaps both palms to her lips as her eyes glow with excitement. “Tell me more.”
“You want a play-by-play? Don’t you know Westley a little too much to know details?”
“You don’t have to tell me how point D went to point P, A, or M. Just tell me how you felt. Women should be proud of their sexuality. Men are.”
“First of all… P, A, and M? Don’t you mean B, C, D?”
“Pussy, arse, and mouth.” Claire tilts her head to the side as I choke on a stunned gasp. “I guess we could call them booty, cunt, and…” She shakes her head. “No, I’m sorry, pussy, arse, and mouth it is.”
“Okay.” I laugh. “Well, back to your second point, I’m not embarrassed to have sex. You know where I work when I’m not here.”
“I’d actually love to take a pole dancing class! It looks so fun and sexy.” Claire takes a sip of her coffee. “Do they do lessons there?”
When I had my interview with Claire, and we were discussing hours, I was nervous to be unavailable over some of the busier days. The interview was going so well, and I thought I would ruin it all by explaining where I needed to be on other days, especially as I still needed some flexibility around Aurora, but Claire was nothing but supportive. She was more than happy to work around what I needed. She had plans to keep growing and building her team anyway. She also felt my years of performing on a stage gave me even more experience in beauty. Claire was the first part of Heart City that put me at ease. Usually, whenever Aurora and I started over, it would take us a while to settle in. I would still feel like a visitor by the time we inevitably moved on.
“No, my friend Presley taught me.”
“Oh my god! You should give me private lessons. Ohh, we could invite Lex too and make a girls’ night out of it.”
