“I bet you’ve had a lot of lovers over the years, huh?” I knew I was asking for trouble, but I couldn’t help but go there.
“Yes,” you confirmed.
I waited, but you didn’t offer any more than that.
“All men or women too?”
“Mostly men but some women. And sometimes I made love to a man in a woman’s body.”
That blew my mind. It wasn’t something I’d even considered.
“So, you can inhabit women’s bodies too?”
“Of course,” you said like it was obvious.
I shook my head. “That’s wild. How many, would you say?”
“Lovers?” you asked with amusement.
“Yeah, ballpark?” You chuckled at that, which felt slightly condescending. I thought about all of those bodies naked with yours, and I got a little hot about it. “You must have been pretty reckless back in the day. Is that how you lost your body, Henri? Syphilis?”
“Orlando,” you said, trying to placate me. Or maybe it was to warn me. “I have made love to many humans, but there were very few I treasured.”
I supposed you were trying to make me feel better.
“I want us to be monogamous,” I said stubbornly, still burning with jealousy.
“I’m relieved,” you said in response.
“You wanted that too?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you say so to begin with?”
“I didn’t want to influence your desires.”
Annoyingly, it made sense. Kind of. I chewed on my thumb and looked back over our list while trying not to think about your freaktastic past or the fact that I was just one of your many human lovers. I knew it wasn’t like that, but still.
“What if he says no?” I asked.
“Then we’ll find someone else.”
“Do you know someone else?”
“No, I do not.”
Neither did I, so there was a lot riding on this mystery man.
“Okay, so now what?” I asked.
“Now you call him.”
“Like, on the phone?”
“Is there another way?” you teased. I groaned and you continued, “He’s a human being like you. You need to introduce yourself. You can’t just show up on his doorstep. It would be considered rude. And presumptuous.”
“Fine, what’s his name?”
