"In my last game of the season I got hit with a puck and my teef got knocked out. These are my, well, denturesth for lack of a better word. It’sh called a fwipper."
"Fwipper?"
I flatten my tongue and can feel my neck straining why I attempt to make an L sound without my front teeth.
Teef.
"Ah, flipper." Rhys nods woodenly while his eyes stay trained on my hands as I use my toothbrush to brush the device. "I’m equal parts curious and grossed out."
I shrug. "That’s fair."
"Can you, like, nevermind."
Rhys turns quickly and I watch him rush to start brushing his own teeth. "What?"
He just shakes his head.
I continue with my oral hygiene routine and try to catch his eye contact in the mirror but he’s avoiding me with an expert level of precision.
I don’t know if admitting this is my first sleep over with someone I’m fucking is going to get him back or send him running.
I spit and look at my teeth from the glass of water I dropped them in. Should I put them back in? My dentist said not to but we didn’t talk about the scenario where I’ve freaked out the man I’m sleeping with.
"I can put them back in if it makesh you more comfortabwe." I offer as Rhys starts to leave the bathroom.
But he turns to me and the look in his eyes is darker, lustier than before. "It’s fine."
"Rhysh?" I wince hearing the lisp in his name and slide the flipper back in quickly. He’s staring at my mouth and I know I’ve knocked myself down a few pegs on the irresistibly sexy scale but such is the life of a hockey player. And, since I’m downgrading myself, I might as well go for broke.
I inhale and stick my hands on my hips. "I’ve never slept with someone before." He reels back. "Sorry, I’m sorry. I am sharing way too much right now. I just, I don’t know what will happen next."
"What do you mean?"
"About what?"
"That you’ve never slept with someone before. What about all the one-night-stands you’ve told me about?"
"First of all, I haven’t shared any details, I don’t fuck and tell. But, I also don’t go to sleep with them afterwards.
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"So."
"This is different."
"Well," he glances over his shoulder toward the bedroom. "We, just, get in."
"Seems doable."
We share a nervous laugh and before I turn off the light I slide my teeth back into the glass of water. My eyes adjust to the darker room and I walk around to the far side of the bed. Rhys and I face each other with the mattress between us.
"Can you, like, umm," Rhys lifts a shoulder. "Do stuff without your teeth in?"
Now it’s my turn to be surprised. "I don’t know. I never ashked my dentist but that feelsh like a big mishtake on my part."
"Oh, that’s fine, we don’t have to."
