Page 93 of Tangled Up

“I was thinking. Remember the night at the museum?”

“Yes. I remember.” She guided me by the shoulders, turning me away from her so she could soap up my back. “Is that all you were thinking?”

I dropped my head as she kneaded away the tight knots in my neck. “That feels great.”

A few minutes passed before Gemma finished her all-over body massage. She was working on my hair when I circled back around, drops of shampoo falling from my forehead, and I rubbed at my eye when it stung.

“You know, Jason, we’re in this nice warm shower, naked, soaping each other up, and somehow you look like you’re not enjoying it at all. I think I might be offended.”

“I was remembering how I wasn’t wearing a condom.” I closed my eyes to rinse my hair and face, dousing my body with handfuls of water. “I was thinking you should go on the pill. We wouldn’t have to use condoms anymore.”

She didn’t answer me for a long time, and I wiped at my face, squinting through the bubbles still there. “What?”

“How can you ask me that?” She left the shower in a huff. “It’s like you don’t know me at all.” She grabbed a towel, and I hurried to shut off the water, hot on her heels. I held out my hands, dripping wet, while she ignored me, dressing quickly.

“I’m sorry,” I said, halting her steps.

“For what?”

“I don’t know.”

She rolled her eyes. “You can’t apologize for something you don’t know you did.”

“So tell me what I did, and I’ll apologize for that.”

“You’re such a caveman. I’m not taking a birth control pill.” She marched down the hall to the laundry closet, leaving me still clad in my towel.

I traipsed right after her as she threw clothes into the washing machine. I shut the door, keeping her from escaping me again. “If I ask you another question, are you going to yell at me?” When she cocked her head at me to continue, I asked, “Why don’t you like the pill?”

“Seriously? You want me to put hormones in my body?”

“You already have hormones,” I told her, like I was some kind of idiot biologist mansplaining her own body to her, but at this point I had no other argument.

“Thank you for letting me know. And, yes, my hormones are working just fine. I’m not going to alter them. If nature wanted me to have different levels of them, I would. I’m not going on the pill.” She gestured to my crotch. “But feel free to get a vasectomy if you want to go bareback so badly.”

This time, I folded my arms. “Don’t be so dramatic. It was only a suggestion.”

“Suggestion overruled.” She turned back to the laundry and jammed the start button on the washer. I snapped my towel on her butt, and she let out a squeal, holding on to her backside.

“Forgot one,” I taunted, holding it out to her, completely naked.

She couldn’t hide her smile.

“Get over here,” I said, wrapping the cotton towel around her like a robe, immobilizing her arms. I tossed her over my shoulder to haul her back to bed.

“Wait, wait, wait.”

I set her feet on the floor and pushed her onto the mattress with one finger. “What?”

“I don’t have class next week because of the holiday, and Laney’s going to be in Chicago for some kind of conference. Her boyfriend is tagging along, and we thought we could all meet up for drinks.”

“Yeah, I’d love to meet these best friends of yours.” Then I opened the towel, unwinding her like a top.

* * *

The following week, Gemma and I planned to meet Laney and Bobby for drinks in Rockford, about midway between Galena and Chicago.

“Remind me again which one Laney is.”

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