Glancing up the stairs, I decided I’d better go, too, before Forge came down.I wasn’t sure I could face him right now.Noa was right.I was flustered.I wanted to go back to my room and close the door, but I might pass him on the way.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to shake that off, then followed the others.We were adults.He hadn’t been embarrassed.No big deal.It was fine.I was fine.
Well … maybe not fine exactly.I’d never look at a naked man the same again.I feared no one would ever meet that expectation.Except the penis size.That was a no.A tampon any bigger than the regular size made me uncomfortable.I was positive my vagina wasn’t built for a penis Forge’s size.I wondered where he found females that had a vagina big enough.
“Good morning,” Winslet said as I entered the kitchen.
“Good morning,” I replied, glancing around to see Oz seated at the table beside her, Ransom making a plate of food at the stove, and Noa at the espresso machine.
“Got another letter for you from Calvin,” Oz said, nodding his head to an envelope on the table.
I’d written him back two days ago and given it to Winslet.I wanted to take his letter and go back to my room to read it, but then again, there was the passing-Forge thing.
“Thanks,” I told him and went over to get it.
I knew they read the letters.They had to print them out for me.Forge had handed me the last one, and it hadn’t even been folded or in an envelope for privacy.Not that Calvin would say anything that I didn’t want them to read.
“Forge showed her his junk.She’s a little rattled,” Ransom informed the rest of the kitchen.
Oz’s brows shot up.“What?”His tone took a cold edge.
“I walked out of my room and—”
“Jesus, she’s not a kid.She’s seen a naked man,” Forge’s voice cut Ransom off, and I jumped, startled by the sound of it.
Needing to do something other than stand here and continue to look awkward, I put the letter in my back pocket and walked over to the espresso machine.Noa was trying not to grin at me over her coffee cup.She hadn’t been the one shocked by a pierced penis in a hallway first thing in the morning.But then she wrote sex scenes it probably wouldn’t have phased her.
“What the fuck did you do?”Oz demanded.
I winced, and Noa broke into a grin.
“Sorry,” she whispered.“It’s funny though.”
“I sleep naked,” Forge told him, as if that explained it.
“And?”
“I had just gotten out of bed.I forgot I didn’t have on boxers when I opened the door.”
Silence.
Until Noa spit her coffee back into her cup and burst out laughing.
“I’m sorry!”she said.“But this just keeps getting funnier.”
I just wanted everyone to stop talking about it.Turning back around, I smiled at Oz, which was hard because he could be intimidating.Especially when he was scowling.“It wasn’t a big deal.Really.I’ve seen naked men before.It was shocking,” I admitted, then shrugged.“But it’s fine.”
“Fine?”Forge asked, sounding offended.“Pickles, nothing about my naked body is just fine.It’s a work of fucking art.”
My gaze swung to his, and Noa laughed again.
“Jesus,” Oz muttered.
“Why are we talking about Forge’s naked body?”Kash asked, walking into the kitchen.“And awork of artis a bit of a reach there, brother.”
Eh, I don’t know about that, Kash.But I wasn’t about to say anything.
“I can strip down right now if I need to prove my point,” Forge told him.
