Shelley shuts the door and slowly turns back to the bed, her eyes wide and her eyebrows practically at her hairline.
I let out a deep laugh. “You know what? Good for them.”
She nods and joins me on the bed again, seeming only slightly traumatized by the interaction. She runs her fingers over her leg, in the same spot I was touching her a minute ago.
“Sure. But if Honey is my brother’s grandmother-in-law, does that make her mine, too? Did my new grandma just ask me if she could borrow a condom?”
I laugh again. “Sort of, maybe. But if it makes you feel any better, she wouldn’t have hesitated to ask Danielle and Mike either.”
She giggles. We both know that’s one hundred percent the honest truth, and also, we will never be telling her brotherabout how we were sitting in a cloud of sexual tension in a hotel bed on his wedding night when his brand-new grandma came knocking, looking for prophylactics.
I spot something beside her and quickly change the subject. “Uh-oh, what’s that?”
She follows my gaze over to her pillow, where the bottom half of a stuffed animal is poking out.
Shelley shoves it further into its hiding spot and out of view. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
I stretch over her to lift the pillow, catching a whiff of her light floral perfume, and grab the furry bunny. I turn to her friend in my hand. “Does this handsome guy have a name?” I ask, straightening his polka dot bow tie.
She covers her face with her hands, looking mortified and adorable. “Mr. Fluffers,” she mumbles into her fingers.
This I absolutely will tease her about. “What was that?” I chuckle, pulling lightly at her wrist.
She sighs and uncovers her mouth to own her truth. “This is Mr. Fluffers. He’s sort of an emotional support bunny. I sleep with him at night.”
A warm feeling spreads through my chest as she speaks. “And you weren’t planning to introduce me to the lucky man who gets to share your bed?”
A small smile finds its way to her face as she pulls Mr. Fluffers from my hand and onto her lap. “Nope.”
“Not gonna lie, I’m feeling a little jealous right now.”
“Don’t worry. I find him rather stuffy.” Her smile widens at her terrible joke.
“Oh, did you think I meant I was jealous of him? Nah. I’m jealous that you get to hang out with this suave dude all night.” I wink, trying to grab the bunny back, but she wins our tug-of-war and hugs it closer to her chest.
Shelley laughs lightly while my stomach does a somersault.
“Can you believe this guy?” she whispers into the bunny’s ear, loud enough for me to hear. “But you know what? I still like him.”
I feel my face soften as I look at her, and the moment hangs between us for a beat too long before I say, “Hey, Mr. Fluffers, tell Shelley the feeling’s mutual.”
Chapter 9
Jordan
Shelley squeezes the rabbit closer to herself as she blinks up at me shyly. “I’ve been meaning to tell you, thanks for not making a big deal about the voice memo thing. I’ve been kind of a wreck about it since it happened.”
“Like I said, you don’t have to be embarrassed about that around me. We don’t have to talk about it again. But we can, if you need to.”
“That’s the problem.” She sighs. “I don’t want to have to talk about it. I don’t even like to think about sex at all. It’s not the sex part I don’t like, though. It’s the thinking. When I do, I get all in my head and I can’t stay in the moment. You know,themoment. You get what I’m saying, right?”
I pick up the bottle from the nightstand and take a sip of the cider, wishing I had something stronger if we’re going to have this conversation now. “Yes, I’m aware how innuendos work. And you’re not exactly what I would call a subtle person.” That’s actually one of my favorite things about her.
“Right. Well, then I get anxious about the fact that I’m not staying in the moment, and I get upset with myself for ruining everything before it ever really gets started.”
I nod. “I think a lot of people feel that way. That’s kind of how it works for me, too, when I’m with someone. But it takes me a long time to get to that point with a person.”
Her eyes flick up to mine, and I realize this is the first time I’ve mentioned my own hangups to her. Or to anyone.
