“No, nothing like that,” she says softly. “Just something stupid I saw online. It’s no big deal.”
“It’s a big deal if it made you upset.”
“I took this stupid quiz,” she says finally, shaking her head. “And it said I would be a cat lady forever!”
We all look at her, then at each other. When no one says anything, I let out a little sigh and bite the bullet. “Okay,” I say slowly. “And that’s a bad thing?”
“No! Of course not! I love cats. But they meant it in a mean way. They meant I’d be alone forever.”
“Again I ask, that’s a bad thing? Being alone isn’t the worst thing. Plus, you’re never truly alone, Ellie, you’ll always have us.”
Her eyes water again. “You’re right. That’s why I love you guys so much.”
“We love you too,” Brock says with a grin. “And you’re such a catch, Ellie. Anyone would be lucky to have you.”
“But at the same time, don’t youdaresettle,” Avery says. “Anyone who wants a piece of you needs to worship the ground you walk on.”
“I mean, you don’t have to date to get a little slice of someone,” I say with a chuckle.
Ellie looks over at me, her eyes suddenly filled with intrigue and mischief. Damn. I should have seen this coming.
I don’t really talk about my history that much, happy to let the past stay in the past. These might be my closest friends but even they don’t know what I was like before my magic manifested.
“What do you mean by that?” Ellie asks, her voice soft and innocent even though I know the question is anything but.
“It means you can fuck whoever you want,” I say in a deadpan tone.
All three of my best friends start to cackle, demanding to know what I know about fucking. They’re so childish. They act like they’re prudes even though I know they’ve all fucked plenty. Hell, Avery and Brock both have children! Can’t have those without a little adult tango!
I roll my eyes. “Okay, okay. I’ll tell you this little tidbit about myself but no follow up questions!”
They all look at each other before nodding. “Okay, go on,” Avery says, sipping his drink.
“I used to be a bit of a slut.”
Everyone at the bar goes quiet and I realize that’s the exact moment, Shane, the bartender, decided to come over and check on us. I blink at him. He blinks at me.
“Well, alright then,” he says before walking away.
Ellie, Avery, and Brock start to laugh their asses off and I can’t help but join in. By the time they settle down, all four of us have tears in our eyes.
“Jesus, Viktor,” Brock says, reaching over and slapping my shoulder. “You didn’t have to traumatize Shane like that!”
“I was trying to share a little part of myself!”
“Sounds like you’ve shared yourself more than a little bit,” Ellie says with a giggle that sets us all off again.
“If I would have known you were going to tease me I wouldn’t have told you guys!”
Avery shakes his head. “We’re not teasing you. We love you and adore you and support you being slutty. You should try it again sometime. You’ve been here a year and I’ve noticed you never get your slut on.”
“Yeah! Slut it up!”
“Good lord,” I say, shaking my head. “The next person to say the world slut owes me a drink.”
“Slut,” Brock says with a wink, calling Shane over so he can buy our next round. The rest of the night goes like that. By the time I get outside and start my walk back to my house, I’m warm all over and happy that I got to spend so much time with my friends. They’re always exactly what I need to recharge my battery.
I run my fingers through the hair at the back of my head, smiling to myself. Remembering all the shit I used to get into before my magic manifested makes me chuckle. If someone showed even a little interest in me, I was happy to hop into bed with them. I was interested in a fun time, not a long time. Gender wasn’t an issue for me and neither was learning their name. I was just interested in pleasure.
