Closing the door behind her with asnick,Rosie stalks over to me, grabbing a hold of my hands and peering down at them.
“Ring still intact, then?” she asks, something unreadable tinging her tone.
I glance down at my own ten fingers which are in desperate need of a manicure or, at the very least, a quick tidy up and a lick of clear polish. I make a mental note to give them a file tonight as part of my nightly routine.
“Yes. Why wouldn’t it be?” I gently pull my hands from hers, leaning over and pretending to busy myself with tidying up the inside of my gym bag.
Ismy celibacy ring still intact?
I let Hudson go down on me, the first man since I slipped the gold jewellery onto my flesh, so does that mean…
I bite down on my lower lip in confusion because the truth is, I have no fucking clue what it means.
That’s not a good thing, seeing asI’mthe maker of said rules. How is anybody else supposed to know if I’ve broken my celibacy, when I don’t even know myself…
Thankfully, my long, dark hair casts a sheet over my face so she can’t see my expression, but Rosie knows me too well to know I’d ever willing be cleaning out my gym bag. Thatthing is a never-ending cave of wonders; filled to the brim with empty protein bar wrappers, multiple deodorant cans, handfuls of blister gel pads and plasters for both me and the girls in my class to use in case of emergency and a myriad of paper receipts, some of which are so old the ink is no longer legible.
A hand grips my shoulder. “What happened after you ended our call last night, Gee?”
Rosie’s tone is much softer than I’m used to. She’s asking me a genuine question as my best friend, rather than just playfully digging for the dirty details.
Zipping up my bag, I take a deep breath and lift my head to face her.
“After you gave Hudson my phone number, he—he rang me. He said he was worried about me, because I’d just upped and left the pub and he had no clue where I’d gone, or if I was safe or… He wanted to come and see me, so I-I gave him the address to my apartment.”
“And then?”
I twine my hands together, squeezing tightly to feel the cold metal of my ring bite into the warm flesh of my palm.
“We… talked. He told me he wanted me.”
I taste Hudson’s declaration on my tongue as the words escape my lips. They taste like spun sugar; the sugar high concoction flittering through my blood stream, making my body feel weightless.
“Giselle…” She all but sighs dreamily. She can’t help it; Rosie is nothing if not a true romantic at heart.
I nod slowly, twisting my lips to the side. “But then we started arguing and you know how much I hate confrontation, Ro. He was going on and on about how things between us didn’t have to be ‘complicated’.” I bunny ear my fingers around the dreaded word. “And the truth just sort of slipped out.”
Rosie’s lips part in surprise. “About the celibacy—”
“No, well, kinda? Sorta? I don’t know. I told him sex wasn’t as easy for me as it was for him.”
“And how did he take that?”
“I don’t think it phased him, Ro. That’s the terrifying part. He didn’t walk away or look at me strange. Nothing. Instead, he fucking apologised and the next thing I know he’s in my bed.”
Rosie grabs my elbows, her fingertips creating divots in my flesh, as she makes a choked sound. “Did anything happen?”
I stay still, rubbing my lips together silently.
“Giselle! Spill. Now!”
“We kissed.”
“Oh my god!” Rosie yelps. “You kissed him! Was it good?! Who am I kidding, of fucking course a man who looks like Hudson Millen knows how to lip lock.”
I feel my cheeks burn with a flush.
“Did anything else happen between the two of you?!”
