“Yes.”
“From just?—”
“YES.”
“With your clothes on?”
“Every single item of clothing, Kara. Fully dressed.”
She falls backward onto her bed and I can only see her ceiling fan for a second before she comes back. “You know when you used to read pieces of your mom’s romance novels out loud to me and the guy would just like, lose control, and we thought that was fake? Like we thought that was something authors made up because no actual human man has ever?—”
“Well it’s not fake. It happened. He made a sound and I felt him—” I wave my hand even though she can’t see the gesture properly. “You know. Through the jeans. Through MY jeans.”
“Is that normal? Like medically? Should we google it?”
“We are NOT googling it.”
“I’m googling it.” She’s already looking at something off-screen. “Okay so apparently it’s more common than people think, especially with like, friction and?—”
“Kara. Please stop researching my date’s orgasm.”
“I’m doing this for science.” She’s scrolling. “Okay it says it can be a sign of heightened sensitivity or arousal and—Mackie. He LIKES you. Like, his body literally could not handle being near you. That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard.”
“It’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to either of us. He couldn’t look at me for like thirty seconds.”
“That’s because he’s a boy and they’re all weird about it. Was he freaking out?”
“A little. He kept saying he usually has more control. And then I asked if he was a virgin and he almost died.”
She throws her head back and laughs. “I can’t BELIEVE you asked him that! It’s so rude.” She’s gasping. “Is he?”
“No. He said he’s just never hadthathappen with anyone before.” I pull my knees up and rest my chin on them. The shower’s fogging up the mirror and my hair is starting to curl in the steam. “Kara, he’s so—he’s not like anyone. He counted the windmill. Like actually crouching down and trying to figure out the timing of the blade. And then I cheated and he didn’t get mad, he got competitive.”
“I love him.”
“You haven’t met him.”
“I love him based on the available evidence.” She props herself up on her elbow. “So what happens now? Are you seeing him again?”
“He leaves for a road trip tomorrow. They’ll be gone for four days.”
“Ugh. Do you think he’s going to text you while he’s gone?”
“Kara, he’s texted me three times since I got in the car to drive home. I haven’t even been away from him for an hour.”
“Well, yeah. You gave the man the greatest parking lot experience of his life.”
“I’m hanging up.”
“Wait, wait, wait—one more question.”
“What?”
“Him. Through the jeans. Could you tell if he was like—” She holds her hands apart at varying distances. “Big, bigger, biggest?”
“GOODBYE KARA.”
“THIS IS IMPORTANT INFORMATION, MACKINNON.”
