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O’Neal gave a small half-laugh, her tense posture easing up a little.
Len looked to him. “Auden, thoughts on countertop sex?”
O’Neal turned to look at him, eyebrows lifted.
Auden’s back teeth were grinding together, but he tried to regain his composure. If he didn’t calm the hell down, O’Neal was going to realize there was more to this reaction than big-brother intervention. He breathed out slowly and lowered his arms at his sides.
“Haven’t tried it. Will reserve judgment.”
“Fantastic,” Lennox said, looking all too pleased. “O’Neal, any initial thoughts?”
She cleared her throat. “Uh, I think I’d be afraid the guy would drop me onto the floor.”
Len laughed. “Valid concern. Pro tip—no stand-up sex unless your partner has solid upper body strength.”
O’Neal’s neck was fully red, and she put a hand over her face. “I can’t believe this is the conversation we’re having.”
Lennox reached out and patted her arm. “Exposure therapy, Sweets. Shame is a learned response. It can be unlearned. I mean, look at how far Auden’s come since he showed up here all wet behind the ears.”
O’Neal turned his way, questions in her eyes. “How far have you come?”
Auden grunted and sat back down, lifting the remote. “Let’s just watch the damn movie.”
* * *
O’Neal was tryingher level best to be cool.Be. Cool.Watching the very R-rated movie was an exercise in both breath and body control. There was no way—no way—she was going to give Auden the satisfaction of letting him see that she was shocked by the movie. Yes, she’d read some mildly sexy books that she’d snuck onto her e-reader in high school, and she knew the basics of sex. But never had she seen two people, like, trying to rip each other’s clothes off. The franticness of the sex on-screen, the roughness, it was…intimidating but also making her really, really warm.
What had she beenthinkingwhen she’d agreed to this?
She was terrified Auden or Lennox were going to look over at her and be able to tell just how much her body was responding to the movie. She had no shot at controlling her internal reactions. Even the scary parts had her heart racing and did nothing to tame the pulsing between her legs. Her heartbeat had apparently relocated there, and her breasts had turned into a million nerve endings, every brush of her bra against them sending a shiver through her.
There was also an acute awareness that she was sitting there between two really gorgeous guys. She’d had a crush on Auden for a long time so that felt familiar, but to her horror, she also found herself sneaking glances at Lennox. He was just so…out there. The casual way he’d talked about things that had been so taboo in her world, that complete lack of shame or filter…the effect was heady. She felt like if she got him alone, she could ask him literally anything and he would answer. He wouldn’t try to soften it or sweeten it for her. The journalistic part of her brain was hungry for that kind of resource.
She startled at a violent part of the movie, and she caught Auden glancing her way, obviously gauging her reaction. She grabbed a throw pillow and hugged it to her chest, hoping it would block any evidence that she was still turned on even though this was definitely not a sexy part of the movie.
A few minutes later, the movie ended and the credits started to roll.
Auden grabbed the remote and turned off the TV but didn’t turn on the lights. They were left in the silver glow of the moon shining through the main window. He peered over at her. “So? What’d you think?”
She rolled the piping of the throw pillow between her fingers. “I think that was some Old-Testament-level consequences for adultery.”
“Told you,” Lennox said. “A morality tale.”
“But…” She frowned.
“But what?” Auden asked, angling his body to face her so that one leg was on the couch, one on the floor, expression openly curious.
She picked at the piping a little more, trying to put together her thoughts. “The one who paid the real price was the woman. He got off easy in comparison, andhewas the one who was married.”
Auden nodded. “Yep. The guy gets a do-over, but the woman gets painted as crazy, a bitch, and deserving of the ultimate punishment. Movies reflect society’s views, especially when they’re morality tales.” He jerked a thumb toward the TV. “This movie originally had a different ending, one where Alex dies by suicide and Dan ends up in jail, accused of murdering her. But it was the Reagan era, and test audiences didn’t like it. They preferred the psychotic bitch angle.”
“Ugh, really?” she asked. “How do you know all this?”
Lennox leaned forward to join the conversation. “Told you. This one’s a total film geek.”
O’Neal smiled at Auden. “I love that you get nerdy about something. You always seemed so cool and popular.”
She winced. She needed to stop babbling. Next, she was going to tell him he was really neat-o.
