She sighs loudly. “You’re hurting my feelings, Doll.”
I let my head fall back, shutting my eyes. I do need to talk about it. I need to spill it to her before I burst.
“I—”
“Oh my gosh, is that what I think it is?” She sticks her hand under my hair and tucks it behind my ear. Her eyes are twin saucers. “He gave you ahickey?”
I grab my neck, covering it. My chest flushes a deep crimson.
She whistles low, pursing her lips. “I can’t believe he did that and then brought you here, with all ofthem. He must have a set of iron balls.” She grabs my hand, lifting back the paper towel. She starts cleaning the deep cut, waiting for me to explain.
I take a breath before letting it all spill out. “I—we haven’t gone all the way … yet. He started talking to me on that dating app, Soulties. I actually don’t know when he figured out it was me. But anyway, nothing happened until, like, two days ago. I figured out it was him, and our messages had been really intimate for the past few weeks. So then, we just kind of took the intimacy offline, and some things happened in person. I told him I want to gain experience. So, he’s helping me with that.” Iinhale, feeling both better about telling her, but also anxious to hear her response. I watch her face closely.
She raises a brow. “Gain experience? You’ve been in love with him since you were, like, eleven.”
Rosie has been my sister at heart long before she married my brother. She knows me better than anyone, and she’s definitely heard me go on and on about how obsessed I am with Sam Seymour more times than either of us can recall.
I nod. “I know that, but I’m working on it. I’m getting over it—slowly. I’m getting him out of my system. I’m using him! For sex.”
I don’t even believe it when I say it, but she can tell by my face that I can’t handle any pushback right now. She nods.
“Okay, so where is he at with it? Is he just being a Good Samaritan and taking one for the team by teaching you about sex?”
I shrug. “I mean, he’s taught me about oral and fingering so far. So, I guess so, yeah.”
She scrunches her eyes together as she looks down at the wrapping job she did on my finger. “What do you mean he ‘taught’ you about oral and fingering?”
“He gave me oral, and he fingered me? What am I leaving out?”
She places the unused bandage on the counter and crosses her arms. “Did you give him anything in return, or did he finish?”
I shake my head. “Is that … bad?”
She shrugs, twisting her red hair around her finger. “No. I mean, it’s unusual, but I think it’s a good sign. Maybe you should see how long he can go without, you know, receiving any.”
“You mean, don’t do anything to him? I wanted to today, and he said no, that we didn’t have time. He thought it would be suspicious if we showed up too late.”
“It would have been. So, let him wait. You’ve waited for him to get his head out of his ass since you were eleven. He can wait a little bit.”
“I’m dying to touch him, to feel him let go for me,” I whisper, almost afraid to say it out loud.
She nods, smiling. “I know that. But you need to make him chase, just for a wee bit. Even if this is just for fun and experience.”
I groan. We start walking back out to join the group, just as Jo, Dallas’s friend, is walking down the hallway. She smiles shyly.
“Hey, Rosie. We’re looking for the cheese grater. Do you have one?”
Jo has big doe eyes and long chestnut hair. She’s a tomboy, and she never wears any makeup, but she’s naturally pretty without it. I’ve never seen her wear anything other than baggy shirts and jeans.
“Sure, I’ll help you find it. I think the twins were making ‘play’ soup with it last time I saw it.”
We walk back out behind her, just in time to see Holden walking inside with a pan piled high with steaming burgers, hot dogs, and jalapeño poppers. He’s followed closely by Duke.
“Hey, I need a haircut,” Duke says, swiping a jalapeño popper off the tray.
I fold my arms over my chest. “Good for you.”
“Please, can you cut my hair this week, my sweet sister?”
