Page 47 of Grumpy

“Shut it,” Kelly snapped without malice. “I’m not asking what sex is, I’m asking about sex with Grumpy. Is it possible?”

“Well, his dick didn’t get blown off, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Kelly scowled for real that time. “I already knew that, thank you very much.”

“Did you now?” Tessa practically trilled.

“I’m being serious,” Kelly stressed. “And I’m not sure how long until he wakes up, so…”

“You’re right, I’m sorry. I’ll behave. You have good Dr. Tessa now. Not the naughty one my Papa Bear expects to see when I get home.” Tessa cleared her throat. “Honestly, he’s perfectly capable of having sex. He’s six months out, and doing very well. None of his grafts have rejected, and he’s on a good pain management schedule.”

That was good news, and a relief to hear. At least she knew she wasn’t perving over him when he wasn’t able to have sex. “Anything specific I should know about or—I don’t know—like a dos and don’ts list?”

“Well, I can tell you that he shouldn’t be on top. The sustained pressure on his forearms and upper arms would be bad for the graft tissue there. It’s why he’s also not allowed to lift anything more than five pounds. You should avoid direct friction, especially on the worst of his graft sites. His chest, back, arms, and legs.”

Kelly blinked. “I’m not seeing a lot of options here.” She’d never been too adventurous with positions. Then again, many of her past boyfriends preferred missionary.

“Based on what I know of his grafts—and don’t ever tell my husband I just tried to imagine the best positions for Grumpy to have sex in—I think side by side or you on top are going to be best. Take it slow,” she emphasized. “Listen to one another. He might need to stop and reposition. I would also recommend turning on the air conditioning or at least turning off the heat in the room. Getting hot and sweaty is fine, but overheating is not.”

Kelly knew they would be in a different hotel that night, but assumed the layout would be the same or similar. “No acrobatics, got it,” she joked into the phone.

Tessa laughed. “Not for him, but you do you.”

Kelly snorted, almost choking on her coffee. “Yeah, certainly not for me. I’d break my hip if I tried.”

“I think this will be very good for both of you,” Tessa said kindly. “Beyond overdue in my opinion.”

“Mine, too,” Kelly agreed. “Then again, kind of seemed like a sign from the universe when our first date literally exploded on us.”

“Yeah…” Kelly could hear the wince in Tessa’s voice. “Not to mention him having the mother from Hell.”

Kelly made a noise of agreement. “I didn’t want to hurt him more,” she confided. “I don’t want to hurt him now.”

“I get that. Bear and I had four months apart where I thought he’d ditched me after a one-night stand, when really he’d just left the motel to get us breakfast.”

Kelly’s eyebrows raised. “Really? I don’t think I knew that.”

“Yeah, but it ended the way it was supposed to. I got my man in the end, and now you’ve got yours. Trust yourself, Kelly. And trust him. These men fall fast and hard, and their loyalty is absolute unless you break it.”

While Kelly could have taken those words as a threat, she didn’t. She took them as a promise, a vow. Something to lean on when times were tough. “Thank you, Tessa. I appreciate you talking to me about this at all.”

“You’re very lucky that he made you his ol’ lady before you left, or I wouldn’t be able to have any of this conversation with you.”

Kelly frowned. “What does that mean?”

“There’s different levels to club dynamics. The members have their secrets, ‘club business’ they call it. You’ll have to get used to the fact that there’s just some things that they can’t tell you. Not won’t—can’t. And find whatever peace you need to make with yourself about that, because that’s the downside of wearing that cut. But the good side—the best side, in my opinion—is that that cut supersedes law and order. That’s why it’s so permanent, why the guys don’t just hand out cuts to anyone they’re sleeping with. As a doctor, I couldn’t tell you anything about Grumpy’s condition or his medications because HIPAA prevents it. But as an ol’ lady, as the club’s doctor, I can tell you anything you want to know about him, because he put that cut on you.”

Kelly wasn’t sure how to take some of that, but she understood the seriousness of Grumpy claiming her a little more. “I think I like that, being his exception to the rule.”

Tessa laughed lightly. “Yeah, definitely one of the perks. And I’m about to pull through the gate. Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

“No,” Kelly said honestly. She sat up more and checked towards the bedroom, but she still didn’t hear anything. “I appreciate you talking to me at all about this.”

“Hey, us ol’ ladies have to stick together. For a while, it was just Harper, Jenna, and I. We were badly outnumbered by the amount of dicks in the room.”

Kelly laughed. “I can imagine.”

“And hey, if you’re starting to worry about sex causing him pain, think about this—the endorphins released during sex can actually help with chronic pain.”