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"Back at Mango."
"You're obsessed with Mango," I say.
"'Cause it's sexy."
"I do… I was sorta thinking it's a good place for public sex." This time, I manage to fight my blush.
"You just want to get banned so we can't go back," he says.
That would be nice. "There's another place I'd rather try." But it's a little more loaded. Not to mention more challenging on every level. "A movie theater."
He nods. "Right now?"
"We can't do everything right now. I'll chafe."
"I'm already wearing you out." He beams. "All right, Val, I'll go easy on you. One of yours today. One of mine tomorrow."
"I'm not going to Mango today."
"We have no reason to leave the apartment today."
"What about dinner?" I ask.
"Dinner. That's a boyfriend thing."
"Eating dinner?" That's a human thing.
"You're not buying that?"
I shake my head.
"Making dinner together," he says. "We haven't done that in forever."
We used to cook together. At some point, we stopped. I guess we knew it seemed too domestic. Or maybe we objected to the gender roles. Or maybe it was more practical. I was away at school. He was home, then in his own place. We didn't spend afternoons after school together. We didn't need to help out when our parents didn't show up in time for dinner. "We can go out for groceries first."
"We can go out for groceries second."
After the sex. Which is after the lists. So I better get cracking. "I do have another one," I say. "It's kind of a joint item."
He raises a brow.
"A sex shop. For real this time."
"You looking for anything in particular?"
"A vibrator to use with you." I press my palm against his stomach. "And something to wear if I find the nerve for number four."
"We're going to four?"
I nod. "A video. The two of us, together."
"Let's go. Right now."
"No." I look up at him. "After Mango. In case we need outwear."
"Before we're banned?"
"Exactly."
He leans down and presses his lips to mine. "That's three each."
"Three and a half, each."
"Should I go down the rest of my list?" He brings his hand to my hip and scoots me up the bed. "Or should we start at the top?"
We should. We should try out his fantasy, right here, right now. Even though it scares me. And not in an I can't trust him way. More I'm not sure I can pull off this sort of sex appeal way. But I want to try. I really do. I can do this. I will do this. "I want to try it just like you said." I find a teasing tone. "Unless you lost interest."
"I've been going easy on you, vixen. But if you dare me again…"
"Right back at you."
Chapter Thirty-Two
DARE
Val asks for ten minutes to prepare. Even in her attempts to let loose and follow her intuition, she's a planner.
Not that I mind.
Ten minutes means ten minutes of anticipation. And what's better than that?
Despite my attempts to distance myself from my father's bullshit, I ended up falling into the patterns he wanted for me. I hate the way he talked about the thrill of the chase, the power of finding and seducing a woman.
But I felt it too.
There's something fun about a new person, a new place, an unknown. But there's something fake about it too.
Don't get me wrong. Casual sex doesn't have to be constant bullshit. It's possible to meet someone, flirt, have a little mutual fun. But how many people are real the first time they meet someone, even with a few drinks in their system?
Even the second or third tryst?
Sometimes, horniness trumps all. Sometimes, desire tears down the walls between someone and their inhibitions. I filled a few fantasies, and I had fun doing it—maybe the most fun—but I never asked anyone to fill mine.
That was too personal.
Too intimate.
People take time to open up, let their guard down, invite you into their world.
And I took plenty.
Have I ever invited a woman into my world here? Maybe, a long time ago. Maybe, before what happened to Val.
But not since.
And not on this level.
Never on this level.
She's right. Even though I'm the one with more traditional sexual experience, I'm the one out of my depths here.
She's loved someone, been with someone she loves.
I haven't.
Maybe I can't. Maybe my dad was right. Not that men aren't capable, but that I'm not.
Like father, like son.
I push the thought aside as I clean up in the bathroom. Even if I'm not good at this, I'm trying. Maybe that's not enough forever, but for now?
For now, I'm exactly the person Val needs.
And there's no better feeling.
I check the time on my cell. Five minutes.
Might as well torture my friends too.
They went on plenty long without me.
Patrick: How did it go?
Luna Locke: Did you finally confess?
Patrick: It's been an hour.
Patrick: Two hours.
Patrick: The entire night.
Luna Locke: That's a good sign, I think.
