Page 77 of A Quick Stop in Paradise

I laughed. “See you later, Allison.”

“Um… I guess I’ll… keep it in mind,” she said quietly, looking down at where she toed the concrete, hands folded at her waist. “What you said. Okay. Whatever. Bye.”

She took off like she was trying to make it into orbit. I kicked back and relaxed, checking my phone for any signal from Ryan, but—I imagine Allison would have only run faster if she’d realized Stella had been hovering close by, drifting over and sitting at the table with me as soon as Allison was gone.

“Hello, there,” I said, setting my phone down, looking at where she was fresh out of a shower, hair still damp, wearing a cute white sundress. Very dreamy, feminine, romantic. Very Allison’s type. “How’s it going?”

“Good,” she said, only partly faking a smile. “How’s it going withyou,huh? You had a good night?”

I arched an eyebrow. “Are you asking me how sex with your sister was?”

She laughed, catching herself off-guard with it. “Don’t make it sound weird. I’m just scoping out the situation. Ryan was gushing about how good you are, so I’m wondering if she’s actually secretly a disappointment.”

“Uh-huh… it’s terrible. Simply awful. So bad I can almost manage to keep it in my pants around her for ten whole minutes at a time.”

She grinned, swatting my shoulder. “You’re just as snarky and annoying as she is. You’re kind of a match made in heaven.”

I hoped this wasn’t Stella trying to set me and Ryan up more seriously together. I didn’t want to think about that at the minute. “I’m glad you’re so happy to hear how often I take your sister’s clothes off.”

“Okay, don’t gotoomuch into the details,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “I just know she’s always had the most boring relationships in the world, and I love seeing her actually enjoy herself with someone. It’s like… maybe I do have a human being for a sister.”

I laughed, relaxing back into the chair. “I promise you she’s definitely enjoying herself. But that’s enough avoiding the elephant in the room. How wasyournight, huh?”

“Psh…” She shrugged, looking away. “Glad to know you’ve already been hearing the details.”

I laughed. “Should I start sharing what Allison told me, let you know where we all stand?”

She sighed. “Let’s not get into where everything stands. I feel stupid for messing things up.”

“Messing things up?” I said incredulously, eyes wide. “With Allison?”

She put her hands up. “I just got really into the attention and took it too far, and now things are awkward and she doesn’t want to hang out.”

I paused. “Are you trying to get her to hang out, or tohang out?”

“It’s…” She picked at her fingernails, a frustrated expression under the soft blush dusting over her cheeks. “I’m not, like, trying to do anything serious. I’m not a lesbian.”

“Oh yeah… Ryan did tell me you had some hangups around the concept of bisexuality.”

She hunched her shoulders, looking away. “Oh, god, I’m getting called up all over the place. I’m sorry! I’m not a lesbian or bisexual or anything, I’m just… you know, I’m just me.”

“You watched a woman—who is very overtly into you—masturbate in your hotel room, and you let her watch you do the same.”

“Jesus, she didn’t hold back on the details,” she muttered.

“Sounds like you’re at leastflexible.Even if it is about enjoying the attention, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it more. Good to admit to yourself that’s what you’re doing, though. So? Is that what you’re doing?”

“I don’t… I don’t know,” she said, voice awkward. “I mean, she’s cute! She’s really pretty and everything. If I were really, like, seriously into girls, then probably, yeah. But—” She shrugged dramatically. “I don’t know, okay? It’s just… it’s weird.”

“What’s weird about it?”

“It was… fun to watch and all, but I’d feel weird touching a whole…” She gestured towards her lap. I raised my eyebrows.

“You have holdups around vaginas.”

“I mean, I don’t look at mine and thinksexy.”

I laughed. “Would it feel better if I said that’s normal?”

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