Page 89 of Anything To Be With You

"Mason was upstairs with a girl." I tell her.

Erin’s mouth drops. "Fuck. Off. He was not!"

I nod my head. "Yep, sure was. And we had a nice long conversation before I dropped him off at Mom's about having parties. He didn't get away with it the first time, I don't know why he thought he could get away with it a second time." My phone dings on the bed, cutting off our conversation. Erin snatches it up, opening the message.

"Sweet lord." Her face turns three shades of red before handing it over to me.

It’s a picture message from Gabe.

"Holy shit!" I scream as I get an eyeful of Luke in boxer briefs. A message comes right after.

Gabe: I told him to go commando, but he said no. You like?

I start laughing. "Fucking Gabe." I take a selfie of myself still wrapped in a towel.

Me: Very. Does he?

The reply is instant.

Gabe: Suck me sideways, I should’ve asked you out first.

Me: You did but I turned you down.

Gabe: Ugh, don’t remind me. It bruised my ego.

I giggle and drop the phone in my lap.

"That is soooo not fitting inside you without a shit ton of foreplay. Or a bottle of lube." Erin says as she takes my phone and goes back into the messages. "Jake’s a big boy but damn! It’s as big as my arm. You better pray he’s a show-er and not a grow-er."

I grab the phone back and toss it on the bed. "What? Why?"

Erin raises a brow. "Did you not just hear what I said? His dick is the length and width of my fucking arm."

"It is not."

"It is too. And if that thing gets any bigger, he’s going to rip you in two."

"It’s not going to get that far," I say defeated.

"Don’t tell me you’re still ashamed of the scars." Erin reprimands.

I shrug. "A little. What if when he sees me fully naked, he gets grossed out? I mean, he seen a few of them the other night but he didn’t see all of them." I hang my head and wring my hands.

Erin cracks me on the head with the brush. "Don’t talk like that. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He doesn’t care about the scars. Hell, I don't even think he notices them."

"Maybe."

Erin groans at my lack of confidence. "Have you thought about talking to someone about what happened?"

"I did talk to someone," I remind her.

She continues working on my hair. "That was sixteen years ago, babe. It’s obvious that it still bothers you. We see past the scars, but you don’t." She yells over the noise of the blow dryer.

I sniffle. "I can’t. They’re all I see when I look in the mirror. They are all anyone sees when they look at me."

Erin shuts off the dryer and wraps her arms around me. "Repeat after me. I am beautiful. I am wanted. I love myself."

I wipe my eyes. "I…"

---