Page 68 of Business or Pleasure

“This has been really great,” I tell him as his other hand finds the small of my back and I rest my palm on his shoulder. There’s a healthy amount of space between our chests, as though both of us are worried what it might mean if we stood too close. “Meeting your mom. Your friends. I don’t care if it’s recency bias—I think I’m in love with this city.”

Finn gives me a grin. “That might be the nicest thing someone’s ever said about Reno. And I’m half sure all the little old ladies at synagogue are ready to adopt you.”

“My parents might take issue with that, but I wouldn’t mind.”

The older guy croons through a chorus. Another verse.

“Speaking of... how are they? Your parents?”

I lift my eyebrows at him. “My mom’s starting to get upset with my dad for how many birding books he’s ordered, but they’re doing fine.”

“Good. Just checking. And now I’m curious how many birding books is too many.” His palm is warm as we sway back and forth, and when he spins me, my face does little to hide my shock. He lowers his voice, his mouth right against my ear. “I may not have moves in the bedroom,” he says, “but on the dance floor...”

“Your bedroom moves are improving.”

Another spin. “What’s next on the lesson plan?”

I think back to it, even though I had the thing memorized the night I made it. “It’s more of an elective than core curriculum, but I thought we could work on your dirty talk.”

“Mine was pretty abysmal, wasn’t it,” he says with a soft groan. “Out with it. I can take it.”

“It was just...” I fumble for the right words. “It didn’t feel personal. Part of it is what you say, and the other is how you say it. Most of it didn’t feel like you were talking directly to me, if that makes sense? You kept saying, ‘Oooh, there it is. Oooh, there it is.’ And it kind of had the same rhythm as—”

His mouth drops. “That eighties song? ‘Whoomp! (There It Is)’?” When I’m quiet: “Your face says it all.”

“There was also the part where you referred to my vagina as a separate entity,” I say, working to keep my voice down. “And that doesn’t mean someone else wouldn’t enjoy that kind of dirty talk—with the right person, after the right length of time.”

“Then teach me,” he says. “Teach me how to dirty talk.”

I give him an incredulous look. “Here?”

“I can be quiet if you can.” A quirk of his eyebrow. A challenge.

The song ends, but before the guy can leave the stage, the audience begs him to do another.

Neither one of us moves.

Krishanu and Derek appear next to us, jackets and scarves back on.

“We’re gonna head out,” Krishanu says, nudging his boyfriend. “This one has swim team practice early tomorrow.”

“So great to meet you. Truly.” We all exchange hugs, and Finn promises he’ll be back in town as soon as he can. Thanksgiving, he hopes, if he has enough of a break from the circuit.

All of this dulls my libido, but only slightly. I don’t register the song as we start dancing again, Finn steering us farther from the stage to where the bar is less crowded. It might be another Sinatra or it might be Harry Styles—that’s how distracted I am.

“Well,” I start, aware of how he’s holding me a little closer than before, his grip on my lower back a little tighter. “As we’ve established, the most important thing is communication. If your partner isn’t into it, you probably want to change things up. Or maybe she won’t be a fan of it at all, and that’s okay, too. You’d talk about that.”

“Right.”

“A good place to start is building anticipation. Tell her how you’re feeling about her, what you want to do to her.” This is perfectly fine. Clinical, even. Completely safe. “And you can say actual body parts. Get specific. And when in doubt, there are always some choice words that never really fail.”

“Which would be...”

“Hard. Tight. Deep. Wet.” Ironically, my throat goes dry, my face heating up. “And so on. A good ‘fuck’ or ‘fucking’ never hurts, either.”

He nods, silently taking all of this in. “So...” His thumb brushes along my spine as he drops his voice. “I’m so fucking hard for you? Something that basic?”

“Basic, but effective.” And if it really is so basic, I’m not sure why it turns me instantly light-headed, the bar around us blurring while Finn remains in sharp focus.

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