Page 53 of Getting the Grinder
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“How many bones are in the average human body?” Dex can’t even keep a straight face as he repeats the trivia question the host just asked. “I mean ... I’ve had many bones in mine, but I like to think my body is above average.”
I give him a quick air high five from the other side of the table.
“Lainey, you’re up,” Suki says, her pen poised above our answer sheet.
“Two hundred and six,” Lainey says.
My heart races as I glance at the faces of my closest friends. I’m a sharer, and I can’t hold it in any longer.
“Speaking of, um, bones ... Leo and I are a thing now.”
Suki gasps and covers her mouth with her hands. Harry just gapes at me. Lainey smiles. And Dex laughs.
“I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!” Suki is stomping her feet and practically dancing in her chair.
“Okay, focus, people,” Dex says. “What’s the bone in the forearm that is on the thumb side?”
Lainey draws her brows together, looking thoughtful as she studies her own arm. “Radius. Tell us more, Mara.”
I try to think of the words, which is usually my thing, but it’s hard. I can feel everything that’s happened between me and Leo, but it feels impossible to describe it.
“I didn’t even realize it was happening,” I say. “I knew things were changing between us, but ...”
“I genuinely thought you two couldn’t stand each other,” Harry says.
“That was real.”
“I don’t think so,” Suki says.
I roll my eyes and laugh. “Well, you’d know better than me.”
“I always saw fire between the two of you. Not just a spark, but like a full-on bonfire. Leo doesn’t get upset over anyone or anything but you.”
That’s true. He’s always been very vocal about not wanting to be around me. And I’ve been the same way. Looking back, part of me meant it and part of me didn’t. It was mostly my embarrassment over him seeing me naked that made me so defensive.
“Is that a good thing, though?” I ask.
Dex scoffs. “I don’t even have to ask if the sex was good. I’m super jealous. You two could probably fuck a headboard all the way through the wall.”
A few seconds of silence pass, all of them giving me an expectant look.
“What?”
Dex widens his eyes, looking impatient. “Are you new here? We’re waiting to hear about the sex.”
My cheeks get warm. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“That’s okay,” Lainey says.
The other three, who have known me a lot longer, are all giving me looks of either shock or confusion.
“You made us listen to a full recounting of the guy who got diarrhea in the middle of sex with you and tried to finish,” Harry says. “I can’t unknow that.”
Lainey cringes. “Really?”
“I made him leave and take my ruined bedsheets with him.”
