Page 77 of Follow Your Bliss

Heather eyed me for a minute then smiled, a devilish light twinkling into her eyes. “Okay. But you have to tell useverything. Is it good?”

“Fuck yes,” I murmured. Our heads came together as we laughed. All the months we’d been apart melted away as Heather and I went through our usual comparing sex-notes talk, and Abby, the school librarian she was, pretended like she was too polite for such conversation but listened attentively and laughed all the same. I’d missed my Dream House Girls.

Heather eyed Jason up and down from across the room and held her hands out in a decent measurement. “Does he have a big dick, or does he just know how to use what he’s got?”

I grabbed her hands, pulled them wider.

Abby grabbed our hands and pulled them down laughing. “I can’t take you two anywhere!”

“So much both,” I whispered to them. “He loves giving oral, and he’s—” The vibrator buzzed against my clit and in my vagina, and I grabbed Heather’s arm reflexively. “Motherfucker,” I murmured.

“You okay?” Abby asked.

Heat shot to my face. I leaned in toward her ear. “I gave him a remote.”

Abby’s pale cheeks blushed, and she gasped with a big smile like one of her students might do after overhearing a dirty word.

Heather cackled, no blush to her even tan. “Yes, ma’am! You get what you can from that sexy man.”

The vibrations stopped, and even though Jason was hardcore edging me, I managed to regain my composure. “Look him up on Instagram.”

Heather’s phone was instantly out as Abby looked on. “What’s his handle?”

“Deck Daddy.”

Abby giggled and Heather guffawed, attracting the attention of three older women nearby who frowned at us and walked away with their noses in the air.

Heather stuck her tongue out at their backs and tapped at her phone before going perfectly still. “Holy fucking shit.”

“Oh my,” Abby said appreciatively.

Heather turned the phone toward me. “This is who you’re sleeping with?”

In the photo, a bare-chested Jason was lifting a cabinet against the wall to nail it, his shorts slipping down around his hips. I nodded solemnly, excited to have someone to talk to about Jason. I didn’t tell Mom because she’d get weird about me living with him, and I couldn’t tell Lily because swearing her to secrecy was a worldwide broadcast.

“Goddamn,” Heather murmured. “Look at that delicious man.”

“So how did this happen?” Abby asked.

“I remember your epic crush on him in middle school,” Heather said, “but were y’all together before you rented his apartment?”

“No.” I launched into a breathless summary of digging up his yard through this morning, when, after answeringten minutesto his question about how long it would take me to finish the zipper I was working on, he kissed me within an inch of my life and said,I’ll be in the loft. When you’re finished, come sit on my face.

It only took me five.

Why hadn’t I connected with my amazing friends earlier? Even though I omitted the part about him telling me he loved me, they completely understood where I was at with Jason. Heather never made me feel like a horny little freak for loving sex because she loved it just as much. And even though Abby was a little shy about sex talk, she was always so supportive.

“So I’m trying not to jinx it,” I finished, “but he’s a strong Level Two.”

Abby’s eyebrows lifted. “Really? Do you think he might progress to a Level Three?”

“I’m not stupid,” I insisted, although I felt like I was holding a knife with Jason’s blood on it. “I’m just enjoying being with him.”

“Heather! Rose!” Becca appeared from nowhere, launching herself first into Heather’s arms, then mine, then shaking Abby’s hand as they were introduced. Becca and Heather fawned over each other. I glanced at Abby, who smiled but said nothing. Did she feel like me, back in high school and standing on the outskirts of the cheerleaders? At least now I wasn’t not-pulling-off black lipstick and combat boots.NowI was wearing a feminine, slinky dress of my own design. So…progress?

Becca turned to me. “I’m so jealous of your dresses, oh my God.”

“Isn’t she so freaking sexy?” Heather slid her hand down my side and playfully slapped my butt.

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