Page 59 of Touch Me

“Oh, I’ve told them all about our night together.”

He puffs up a little, trying to fill out his suit. “You did?”

She twirls her hair around a finger and smiles. “Mmmhmm.”

“About how I made you scream?” His buddies all fist-bump behind him like seventh-graders and congratulate their friend on a job well done before he throws a wink at Ashley. “Whaddya say, baby? Want me to come over for round two?”

“Abort, abort,” Alex whispers.

Jen’s looking at the ceiling and twirling her hair. Alex’s eyes glaze over like he’s stuck in a flashback, and I wonder how many times Ashley has publicly ripped some poor schmuck to shreds in front of his friends. This is muscle memory in front of my very eyes.

Ashley tips her head down to look up at him through her lashes and his knees buckle slightly under her smoldering gaze.

Damn she’s good.

“Round two, huh?” she purrs, squinting a little, and her tongue darts out to wet her bottom lip.

I look up at the soon-to-be dead man to see him staring at her lips, his grip tightening on his bottle of... what is that? Hard Cider?

Seriously?

He nods toward the door. “Let’s get outta here.”

Ashley straightens in her seat and leans toward the end of the booth. “Let me get this straight. You want me to let youbackin my apartment, take my clothes off, suck your dick until you almost cry, only to be rewarded with blinding agony while you work my clit like a five dollar scratch-off.ThenI have to grab the lube because you couldn’t even get your dick in my dry-ass pussy, only to have you pump for a solid forty-five seconds before you cry out like a little girl and roll off me?” She points her finger as close to his face as she can get from her seat. “Let’s get one thing clear. I fucked you. If I had come evencloseto having any semblance of an orgasm, I might let you strut around in front of your friends. But, don’t forget, I made you come in less than a minute.I fucked you.Then I waited for you to leave and finished the job myself. Sono, I don’t want round two.”

All his friends explode behind him. Laughing and slapping each other’s backs like this is the show of the century. Alex’s head thumps the table and Jen mouths anOh shit. Blaine glares at Ashley and turns to fight and weave a path through his friends. Tossing a stack of cash on the bar, he storms straight out the front door.

Ashley throws up a middle finger at Blaine’s retreating back, and as the crowd around our booth disperses, we giggle, draining the last of our drinks.

I wipe tears from the corner of my eyes. “Holy shit, I can't believe you said all that.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have if he’d just dropped the macho man act. Waltzing up here like he blew my panties off or something. He was there, and he knows what happened. He gets categorized in the IKEA folder.” She grabs her phone and taps the screen a few times before she turns it around and shows me an actual folder labeled IKEA.

“Why IKEA?” I ask.

“Because it always sounds like a good idea at the time, but when it's over, your fingers hurt, and you hate yourself a little bit.”

“Because you have to get yourself off after they leave,” Jen explains, seeing my confused expression.

“Ah, understood.” I nod. “So, how many guys are in the IKEA folder?”

“Enough,” Ashley sighs. “I have a few dependable guys I can call. I also have a few FIE only. The rest go into the folder.”

“FIE?” I ask.

“Fuckable in an emergency. Not the best, but with some work, they can be effective.” Ashley explains.

“Don’t you have anyone that’s boyfriend material? Someone you miss when you aren’t with them?” I ask.

“God, no,” Ashley says.

“Ashley only fosters men. She doesn’t adopt,” Jen chimes in.

“That’s right. I get them ready for their forever homes.”

“Well, how can you get them ready if you don’t give the bad ones a second chance?” I ask. “You’re just leaving the bad ones, well,bad.”

“Well... I—”

---