Page 59 of Inflame

Claire: Oh no. Want me to call and we can talk about it?

Ethan: About to step into the shower.

Claire: Love you.

Claire: Have a safe trip.

Claire: Excited to see you.

Enjoy your shower. The conversation ends, as usual, with me sending him multiple texts and him not responding to them. Ethan and I have rarely been apart distance wise. He does travel a lot for work but other than that we are usually in the same city. Maybe we are just awkward texters. Maybe since he is arriving in less than twelve hours there is no reason to get into details about our days or anything of value. We can just talk face-to-face.

I don’t even know what a rough week of work looks like for him. Does that mean he lost money? Maybe he is stressed over trends in the stock market? Didn’t pick up any new clients?

Who knows.

I flop down onto the bed and text Angie.

Claire: Come to my room when you’re done doing the sex.

Angie: Cummmmming right over.

Claire: Bahhahahha cheeseball

It doesn’t take long for Angie to sneak into my room with her clothes draped over her shoulder and her makeup bag in hand.

“Hey you,” she says, tossing her stuff on the upholstered chair and bouncing down onto my bed.

“Nice glow.”

“It’s sweat. Never going to get tired of that man and his capabilities.”

I giggle over Angie’s openness when it comes to sex. Half a year ago, I felt like she could barely utter the word without turning tomato red. Everyone deserves to be comfortable in their own skin.

“So I have a surprise for you.”

“Claire, I’ve experienced your surprises before and they usually end—”

“With lasting memories,” I fill in the blanks. “Obvi.”

“With needing to be rescued.”

“Nope. None of that.” I swoosh my hands like wipers in front of my face.

Angie rubs her forehead. “None of what?”

“None of that negativity. There’s no room in our schedule for that tonight. We are going to have the most epic night ever, and I’m pretty sure the Meltin’ Men lineup tonight will hit up all of your unfulfilled fantasies.”

She rolls onto her stomach and props her hands under her chin. “And how do you know this? Because I feel pretty fulfilled right now,” she answers dreamily.

“I have seen the type of smut books you like to read. Basically porn for your mind, if you ask me,” I say with a shrug. “So think of this show,” I say dramatically, “correction—experience—as porn for your eyes.” My eyes narrow at Angie who is busting a gut on my bed. “Why are you laughing?”

“So it is basically porn.”

“No. I always keep it classy. This is 3D porn.”

“Claire…”

“It is going to be so fun. And my surprise is going to make you go crazy.”

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