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“I want to stop in Gurnee before we go to Chicago.”
“Gurnee? Where’s that?”
“According to the lady I met in the restroom at the Corn Palace, it’s about an hour north of Chicago,” I explained. “We’re going to go right past it, so I’ve decided that it’s the site of our next adventure.”
“What’s our next adventure?” she asked.
“The amusement park.”
Jenny
“Amusement park?” I repeated like a dim-witted parrot.
“Yes, Six Flags Great America. My whole life I’ve been dying to go to an amusement park and ride some rides and play those games where you win a stuffed animal. Ooh, and have a funnel cake!”
“You’ve never been to an amusement park?” I asked.
“Nope.”
“How about a carnival? Festival? State Fair?”
I wasn’t sure why I was even asking. I already knew what the answer was. Her parents didn’t even go to public restaurants. No way were they taking her to some random carnival.
“Nope. I’ve never been on a ride of any kind, even a Ferris wheel.”
“Okay, I’m with you. It’s a travesty that you haven’t had the carnival ride experience. We’re going to need to stop at Great America for sure.”
Blair made a little squealing sound. “Thank you, thank you!”
I started to remind her that we could stop anywhere she wanted since she was the boss, but I didn’t want to say that. Not after we’d slept in the same bed. Not after she’d seen me naked, no matter how accidentally. And not after that kiss.
Blair had called it the best first kiss of her life. I knew without asking that her experience was probably pretty limited with her crazy ass parents monitoring her all the time. But still, I wanted to know for sure.
“Um, can I ask you something personal?”
“Sure,” she answered.
“Are you a… I mean, have you had sex? With a person?”
She huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, a few times.”
She was quiet for a couple of minutes before she spoke again.
“My first time was with a boy. The housekeeper’s son who was visiting from college. I told myself I didn’t like it because it was my first time and he wasn’t that good.”
I waited, sensing there was more.
“But then I developed a huge crush on my high school best friend. When she explained that she was a lesbian, things started making sense for me. We started, uh, experimenting. My parents didn’t mind her sleeping over, which made it easier, not that they knew what was happening of course. But then she went away to college and that ended that.”
“And since then?” I asked. “Have you dated a lot of other people?”
I didn’t want to analyze why that question felt so important.
“I met someone in my office building, and I invited her over to my house for dinner one night when my parents were out at the supper club for their anniversary. We had fun, but unfortunately she got freaked out the next morning when she met my parents who’d heard from the security team that I had a guest.”
“I can’t imagine why,” I murmured. I hadn’t met her parents of course, but I knew enough to understand that they were nuts.
“That’s it,” she finished with an artificial brightness that I sensed was hiding embarrassment. “The sum total of my experience.”
