Page 20 of Duke's Daring Bookworm
I messaged him all the time. I even smiled when I did. That shouldn’t have to change just because we were going to have sex. Why did they have to make this so… embarrassing?
“Lily! Frankie!” my dad practically shouted as he walked into the room, saving me further embarrassment at the hands of my supposed family and friends.
“Mr. Jameson! Lovely wine you have.” Frankie raised her glass to him before taking another large drink of it.
“Slow down. You drove,” I said as I eyed the almost empty glass.
“Looks like you’re going to have to put that useless license to work and be the one to drive.” She raised her glass to me before downing the rest.
“I’ll walk.”
This was a regular conversation between us. Frankie happily drove me everywhere, but she didn’t understand why I wouldn’t drive myself. How am I supposed to explain that it’s overwhelming?
Finding the right pressure and just the right degree to turn the wheel and predicting what all the other drivers were doing and when the light might change to red and if that kid is going to run out in front of me or keep playing nicely in the yard and—it was just too much.
She rolled her eyes but agreed to limit herself to just two glasses, anyway.
“So how was it?” Frankie asked while my parents playfully bickered over nonsense in the kitchen while they set the table.
“How was what?”
“Did you kiss him?” She moved over to sit near me on the couch so we wouldn’t have to talk loudly, as if we were seventeen again. Not that we ever gossiped then. More like she told me everything, and I tried to keep up.
“Yes.” I blushed, thinking of it.
“And…”
“Obviously, it went well enough to have sex.” I whispered the last word. It was one thing to talk to my mom about it, but my dad was within hearing range.
She rolled her eyes at me and slouched back on the couch.
“This is one of those things where you tell me everything. How it felt, was he good, did he use tongue? We would have gone over this when we were teens, but well…”
“Yeah, yeah. Ok, fine.” I turned toward her and pulled my feet under me, trying to remember how they did this in the movies. “It was good. I sat on his lap. He put his hand on my hip and his other hand in my hair. He used histongue.”
She stared for a minute. “We will work on delivery. You left out how it felt.”
“Right.” I closed my eyes and thought back to the kiss, trying to remember the feel of his lips on mine. I knew she meant emotional feelings and not touch feelings, but I wasn’t good at that. I needed a minute to gather my thoughts. “I felt all woozy and happy, like, like I never wanted it to stop.”
“Ok, that’s good. You know if he ends up being, well, Duke. I’ve got your back,” she said so confidently, like she knew she could take on a bunch of Marines and come out the other side just fine.
“What does that mean? ‘Being Duke.’”
“You know.” She sighed. “Maybe you don’t. He’s a billionaire playboy. He’s used to getting his way and can have literally anything he wants.”
I thought about the Duke she described and tried to line him up with the Duke I knew. She wasn’t wrong, but she wasn’t right, either. He was so much more than most people saw.
“He’s also been there for me more than anyone else. He works hard and cares about people. He’s kind. He’s rich, sure, but why is that a bad thing?” I stopped myself from continuing with the thoughts swirling around my head and played with the tassels on the throw pillow I had pulled into my lap.
“I just don’t want to see you hurt.” She reached over and touched my arm, but I pulled back from her.
“Why does everyone think he’s going to hurt me? He’s never done anything to hurt me.” I tried to keep my voice low, but I didn’t like everyone speaking badly about him. Did they forget I care about him as my friend?
“Well, that’s not true.” She gave me a look that I couldn’t read, but I knew what she was talking about.
“Bah, we were teenagers, and he apologized.” I waved away her concern. That was so long ago that it didn’t matter now. He’d never done anything like it since, and I forgave him for it a long time ago.
“I had to drive you home that night.”
