“Honey, ain’t nobody got time for the why things happen with us lot. You just gotta go with the cray. How are you and Mo-Mo doing? I haven’t seen you guys in a while.” Finn’s cheeks turned as red as his hair.
“We’re good thanks. Molly was talking about setting up another interview with some of the team soon, maybe you’ll see her there.”
Finn nodded, waved his wallet, and made his way toward the door. “From the sound of it, you might wanna lock this behind me this time.”
Linc did just that and turned to Cleo, who’d tucked her legs so she sat cross-legged on top of his bed. “Mo-Mo?”
“Molly Morrison – Mo-Mo.” Cleo’s explanation did little to answer why O’Brien had a pet name for his best friend’s little sister.
“So she calls you Cho-Cho and you call her Mo-Mo?”
Cleo shook her head. “I call her Molly, or Mol. Finn calls us Cho-Cho and Mo-Mo though. Will gets called Mo, I guess he thought it was funny to call her Mo-Mo. He did try calling her Mini Mo once though, that didnotgo well.”
“What happened?” He pulled his laptop out of his backpack and booted it up.
“She threw a puck at him and busted his nose.”
“No shit!”
Cleo nodded and reached for the theater pack of hot tamales on the bedside table. “We gonna watch something?”
“Yeah, no DVDs from under the bed though. We’ll stick with Netflix and chilling.”
“I have my period.” Her hand paused on the way to her mouth, a piece of candy pinched between finger and thumb.
He climbed onto the bed next to her, placing the laptop on his outstretched legs. “Okay. I meant Netflix and actually chilling, not fucking. But now I have questions. Does that mean you’re uncomfortable doing stuff on your period? Or you think it’s a deterrent to me wanting to do stuff on your period?”
“Uh…” She tensed.
He turned to find her looking everywhere but right at him. He gave her thigh a squeeze. “Hey, if you’re uncomfortable talking about it, we don’t have to. I guess having two sisters has kind of forced me to be at ease with talking about ‘girl things.’” He used his fingers to make quotation marks.
“I think I might be in shock. I’m not used to guys being… considerate of these kinds of things. Most guys I know recoil in horror at the word ‘period’ so it’s just… unexpected.”
Linc chuckled. “You’re hanging out with the wrong guys. Or maybe my friendship circle is weird. Either way, I have no issue with your monthly bodily functions.”
“I don’t think you can do ‘monthly bodily’ to the English language, Mr. Darcy.”
“Wow. This really does make you uncomfortable.” He put his laptop on the mattress and slipped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her to his chest.
“I know you know I’m not going to make you do anything you’re not comfortable with. But think about it, okay? It really doesn’t bother me, and from the category of ‘things I wish I didn’t know’ for three hundred… my big sister says sex on your period can help with cramps.”
Cleo pulled her head back, her eyes wide. “What kind of weird-ass conversations do you have with your sisters?”
He laughed. “I overheard her talking with her friends one night before she moved out. I can tell you, I learned a lot about how to be a man by eavesdropping on a group of women ranting about how not to be a man.”
Cleo smiled at last. “Sounds smart.”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “And some of the guys are… I dunno, educators.”
Her eyebrows shot up her forehead once again.
“No.” He held a hand up. “We don’t kiss and tell, I don’t mean that kind of education. One of the guys is a Dom, y’know, BDSM?” He reached over and plucked a hot tamale from her fingers and popped it into his mouth, an explosion of spicy cinnamon hitting his tongue as he chewed.
“I always thought Doms were just into hurting people. Man, were my eyes opened when I started talking to him about it. As it turns out, true Doms,real, what they call ‘old guard’ Doms, are pretty into education. He’s like our very own Dear Abby… or Dr. Ruth… for all things sex. Like a sex ed teacher, but not the weird, creepy, abstinence only teaching type. He knows shit, and he’s only too happy to help out.”
“This is a very strange conversation.” She swallowed and took another piece of candy into her mouth.
“Isn’t it though? Anyway, my point is, if it’s something you’re curious about, I’m here for it.”
