Page 61 of Spinning Out Of Control

“It’s…it’s going really well. I like him so much. It’s crazy, I can’t remember the last time I felt so…giddy about someone,” I say, not even trying to hide my goofy grin and I drag my fork through the puddle of syrup on my plate.

“That’s great, Keeks! We’re so happy for you,” Rach says, reaching across the table to squeeze my hand.

“We are, but…” Dottie says.

“But what, Dottie Girl?” I ask, nudging her shoulder. Dottie is the most skeptical of our group. She has a hard time accepting when things are good and loves to have an escape route ready.

She sighs, like she doesn’t want to say what she’s about to say.

“What about Spin Sync? I know we were kind of teasing and pushing you, but you were so upset aboutthe whole situation for so long. Is it something you can just get over?”

I bite my lip, trying to decide how to respond. As much as I hate to admit it, Dottie has a point.

“I’m working on getting over it. I believe Ren when he says he didn’t know my job or my intentions when he made the deal. I know his heart, and I know he wouldn’t lie to me or use me. The entire situation pisses me off, but it’s Jonathan’s betrayal that gets me. I still get to work at Spin Sync. Ren treats me like an equal in life and at work. He’s been trying to do the right thing by me since the beginning. As for the rest of it, it’s stuff I’ll learn to get over eventually.”

And I will. Or at least, I’ll try. Even though I’m a stubborn bitch who has never gotten over anything in her life, I have a gut feeling that a future with Ren might just be worth swallowing my pride.

23

WARREN

“Princess Daisy, you bitch-ass, cock-sucking two-faced brunette whore!” Kira screams, bouncing in my lap. I squeeze my hold around her middle tighter as she shakes her pink controller at the screen, where her avatar dramatically hangs its head after coming in eighth place in the race around Rainbow Road.

“Keeks, that’s not a very girl-power thing to call another woman,” Stephen taunts from his spot in the large recliner across the room. Kira flips him the bird and Stephen “catches” it in the air, as if he’s catching a kiss blown to him.

“Feminism doesn’t exist in Mario Kart, Stephen. If Princess Daisy is going to throw red shells at me like a cock-sucking whore, I’m going to call her a cock-sucking whore.”

“I thought you were Princess Daisy,” I say, still trying to figure out all the new characters in thisuniverse. The last time I played anything Mario-related, there were only a handful of pixelated stars of the show.

“I’m Cat Peach, Ren. Keep up!” Kira huffs, falling back into me and crossing her arms over her chest.

It’s a Friday night and we’re at Amir and Rachel’s house for what I’ve been told is an adult sleepover. I was always under the impression that an adult sleepover was a cutesy euphemism for two people spending the night in bed getting it on, but apparently I was wrong. According to Kira, it’s when she and her girlfriends get together and spend the night at one of their homes drinking, playing games, and having fun together like teenagers.

Sometimes, like tonight, the men are invited, and each couple shacks up in their own room at the end of the night. When it’s just the girls, Kira says they often share a bed. I think it must be nice to have the kind of intimacy some women share so openly in their friendships, sharing beds and hugs and secrets. Not that I necessarily want to share a bed with anyone but Kira, but the idea still stands.

“See, this is why we can typically only cozy game with Kira. She’s too competitive. Last time we played Mario Kart she threw her controller at my head. As if it’s my fault that I fucking rule this game and she can never crack the top five,” James says.

“James, I will literally cut off your balls and feed them to you if you don’t shut up.”

I snort and press a cheek to my feisty woman’s cheek.

“What is cozy gaming?” I ask.

“It’s like non-competitive games with low stakes. The kind where you just sort of bop around, planting gardens and making friends,” Rachel answers.

“Oh, that sounds way more my speed. You should show me some of these cozy games, darling.” I haven’t even bothered to play Mario Kart since the first-round tonight. I could barely figure out how to accelerate my cart and I was quickly booted to last place.

“Oh, that’s so sweet!” Georgie claps. “I just read a book recently where the hero plays a game that the heroine loves because they’re long distance and he can send her flowers every day in the game. It was so sweet. They also have sex while he wears a Santa suit, which unlocked a whole new world of kinky possibilities for me.” She wiggles on her husband’s lap, and he waggles his eyebrows.

I don’t know that a Santa kink would ever do it for me, but I will say that since mine and Kira’s dinner in New York, I’ve developed a deep appreciation for romance novels. They’re good for the soul and the sex life.

“Speaking of kinky possibilities, Kira–what’s the verdict on the cock piercings? Yay or nay?” Amir says, and my eyes go wide as saucers. I know they all know about my–as Kira calls it–bejeweled dick,but I didn’t think we’d be discussing the appendagetonight. I should have known, though. If there’s one thing I’ve learned since becoming a Pussy Posse significant other, it’s that there are absolutely no boundaries.

“Am, Jesus Christ. Is nothing private and sacred?” Kira laughs.

“What? I’m curious. And you lost your ‘private and sacred’ privileges the day you bent my pointer finger back until I caved and showed you the inside of the playroom.”

I furrow my brow, looking around the room we’re in. A screen takes up one wall, a projector displaying the game. It’s filled with recliners, a sectional, oversized bean bags and gaming chairs. Movie posters line the walls, there’s a snack bar made to look like a concession stand and in the closet lives every gaming console and game made in the last forty years.

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