Page 39 of Easton

Oh boy, now I wish I’d never said that I have one.

But I can’t back out now.

“Uhhh,” I begin, sitting up straight and crossing my arms. “It kind of fits in with yours in a way.”

He leans forward as well. “It does?”

“Yeah.” I nod. “It definitely does.”

“So, spill it, girl.”

Oh hell.

“All right.” I scrunch up my face and say in a rush of words, “I wish you had been my first.”

“First?” He looks confused. But then he gets it. “Ohhh… Wow, really?”

“Yeah, really.”

He winces. “Was it that bad?”

I nod. “It sucked.”

“Damn, I’m sorry. But to be honest, I wasn’t that good back then. I can’t say it would have been much better.”

I laugh. “I’m sure it would have.” But then I realize something about what he just said, and my eyes widen. “Wait a gosh-darn minute. You were doing it back then when we were seventeen? With who? Not that Lori so-and-so chick?”

Why do I feel a spike of jealousy?

And why am I relieved when, chuckling, he says, “No, not back then. And I never would have done it with Lori whatever, anyway. She was so not my type.”

“Well, that’s good to hear,” I say. “You do know she had a huge crush on you, though, right?”

He shakes his head. “No, I never knew that. Still, it wouldn’t have changed anything. In fact, I didn’t have sex until my first month of college. And about me not being that good from the start, I was just saying it took me a few times to get…you know…skilled.”

My face warms, and, aww, he’s blushing too.

“We are so weird,” I say to lighten the mood.

He laughs. “Yeah, but that’s why we make such good friends.”

See, he views you as just his friend.

Stop with the dreamy thoughts.

Standing, he holds out his hand. “Ready to go to bed?”

With you, yes, my mind says.

My body agrees.

Good thing my mouth is in control, as I take his hand and reply, “Yeah, I’m exhausted.”

“Same,” he says as he helps me up.

He lets go of my hand, and we head upstairs, where we go our separate ways at the top.

A part of me would like to turn around and follow him into his bedroom.

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