Page 86 of Morally Gray Daddies

She moved to the side of one of the chaise lounges scattered along the length of the pool. “It’s a crime for me to look this hot and there not be a single guy around to admire it.”

I pulled up short by one of the other chairs. “Are you… are you for real?”

“Well, it’s the same for you,” she answered, flicking her hand in my direction.

“Okay, first of all,” I countered, moving to a chaise close to where she was now setting down her things, “I don’t think we need to have guys gawking at us to make this not a waste, and second… I’m not hot.”

Sonja rolled her eyes. “Ohmigawd, are you for real?”

“Yes, I’m for real! I’m not hot!”

“Oh, really?” Sonja replied, dropping onto the cushion of the chaise nearest her. “So, David fucked you for six months because you’re totally fugly. Lyle goddamn near proposed to you after a year because you’re absolutely hideous. And those fuckboys…”

“Now hold on,” I countered, throwing my towel onto a chair. “What’s that joke? Dudes will have sex with a sock!”

Sonja flopped back with a groan. “I give up with you.”

“You’re just heated ’cause you know I’m right.”

“And you’re in denial ’cause you know I’m right,” she fired back.

For the next several minutes we arranged our towels, adjusted the chaise backs, and generally got ourselves settled in to spend some time sunbathing at her father’s pool. It was beautiful out—clear, sunny sky, temp in the low eighties, a slight breeze coming up from the ocean less than five miles away. We both put on lotion, but Sonja did it cursorily while I made sure every square inch of exposed skin was covered. I’d be burned lobster-red in less than twenty minutes if I didn’t, and I had no desire for that.

“So,” Sonja began once we were both lying back in our chairs, “I’ve never really asked you this, but… I know the kind of guys you’ve dated and hooked up with, but what is it you really find attractive in a man? What is it you’re really looking for?”

I raised my head, looking over at her. “What do you mean?”

“Well, let’s be honest,” she replied, slipping on her sunglasses, “you haven’t exactly had the best of luck with relationships.”

“David and Lyle were both cute, and I liked them!”

“And both relationships ended up crashing and burning.”

I leaned back, staring up into the azure sky above me. “I left David because he didn’t want to be in a serious relationship. He just wanted to have fun, which to him was mostly sex on demand, on his terms, and when he wanted to get off. Not only that, but nine times out of ten he never reciprocated.”

“Okay, that was a dick move, admittedly. And Lyle?”

“Lyle…” I blew out a deep sigh. “You ever been with a guy who’s perfect? Like, all your friends look at him and say, ‘oh my god, you’re so lucky to have a guy like that!’”

“Not really, because my standards are like super high, but… go on.”

I bit back my immediate retort and continued. “Anyways, outward-facing Lyle checked off every box a person could ask for, but…”

“What?”

“One morning I woke up in bed with him and looked over and thought to myself ‘this isn’t the man I’m going to sleep with every night for the rest of my life.’ I have no idea where the thought came from, but from that morning on it was a downhill, self-fulfilling prophecy.”

“Whoa. Was the sex that bad?”

“No!” I answered with a groan. “That wasn’t it at all! He just… He just wasn’t… right.”

“Okay.” Sonja nodded slowly. “I won’t even ask about the fuckboys…”

I chuckled. “You like sex, I like sex. The fuckboys were sex. Regrettable sex for the most part, unfortunately, but they scratched that itch.”

“I can’t argue with that, but…” She glanced over. “You still haven’t answered my question.”

“What am I looking for?”

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