“Yep.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “One word answers, really?”
“I don’t want to jinx it,” she whispered, dragging me into the back room to start laying out our spread of snacks and desserts. “I really, really like her.”
“Addie, that’s great. I’m happy for you. She and Milo are tight, from the sounds of it. Maybe when you’re ready, we can all have dinner or something.”
She flashed a blindingly bright smile. “I’d love that.”
A knock sounded at the back door, sending my cousin hurrying to let Monique in with her suitcases of goodies. We chatted while she set up a separate table for her stuff, giggling like middle schoolers as Addie and I flipped through one of her catalogs, then I finally mustered the courage to admit something I hadn’t said out loud before.
“I think I have a praise kink.”
Monique smiled at me and said, “Nothing wrong with that, girl.”
“I’m not even remotely surprised by it, either,” Addie added gently.
“You’re not? What does that mean?”
“Babe, did your parents ever approve of a single thing you did? Validate your strengths, tell you that you were doing a good job?”
I frowned at her. “No.”
“Milo is into you in a way that extends well beyond a hookup, Eden. He values you—your heart and soul as much as your body, if not more. It makes perfect sense to me that him offering up a verbal confirmation of just how much he appreciates you would be insanely sexy.”
Monique nodded along with every word. “Absolutely. And if you light up when he offers praise, he’ll see that and make sure he keeps giving that to you. Do you feel like he’s noticed?”
“Yes,” I said slowly. “Even before we started really dating. I think he understood it before I did.”
“I liked him for you before, babe, but I like him even better now,” Addie said, grinning at me. Then she bounced her eyebrows. “And I think you should pick out a little something tonight to show him your appreciation. Something extra special.”
I blew out a long breath and nodded. “I think you’re absolutely right. Let’s do this.”
We joined Monique at the table to arrange party favors like flavored condoms, penis-shaped candles, and travel-sized bottles of Bombastic Lube.
I flinched when I read the label, and Addie wrapped her arm around my shoulders.
“It’s okay, babe,” she murmured. “We can swap those for something else if you want, right, Monique?”
“Absolutely. I should’ve thought of that, Eden, I’m so sorry.”
Steeling my spine, I shook my head and pasted on a smile. “No, it’s fine. These are adorable and I think people will love them. Besides, it’s not every day that name will be so on point, you know?”
Addie snorted and though Monique looked skeptical for a few beats while we all stared at each other, we ended up bursting into peals of laughter that washed away some of the bomb threat trauma.
The party ended up with a group of seven guests, plus me, Addie, and Monique. A few of them were women I’d met that night at The Mermaid, a few were unfamiliar, but everyone was chatty and enthusiastic enough to make it feel like a circle of friends before the night was over.
Nothing said bonding moment like comparing dildo models, from colorful silicone tentacles to a plaid behemoth called The Big McIntire, and debating the advantages of vibration versus suction.
Catching Addie and Olivia making eyes at each other throughout the night was a special treat, and the snack trays were almost completely depleted by the time we wrapped up. During a quiet moment as we filled out order forms, the woman next to me leaned over just as I set my pen down.
“Thank you for setting this up,” she said quietly.
I smiled at her and dropped my eyes to the sticky name tag on her shirt. “Thanks for coming, Simone.”
“You know,” she mused, “I’m a photographer. I mostly do weddings, family photo shoots, that kind of thing, but I’vebeen thinking about venturing outside of my comfort zone and offering sessions for boudoir photos.”
“Oh?” My eyes shot wide as I imagined gifting Milo with a sexy photo of myself wearing some of my favorites from the shop.
