Page 17 of Sustain

“Find something good?” she asks with a glint in her eye.

“Oh, um...just a book of rather personal questions...” I trail off, hands fidgeting with the binding.

Her eyes sparkle impishly as she holds a hand out for the book. “Let me see. We could trade off and ask each other some.”

“What, really?” I blink, taken aback even as curiosity stirs.

“For fun. To get to know each other better.” A playful smile tugs her lips. “I’ll go first.”

“But these questions...I don’t know...”

“Come on. What else is there to do?”

Heart quickening, I reluctantly pass her the book.

What have I gotten myself into now?

Athrill of anticipation chases my nerves as I settle onto the couch next to her.

“Alright then, first question,” she begins, mischief dancing in her eyes. The awkwardness between us melts, but the room now crackles with a new tension. She flips through the pages, eyes widening as she reads. “Oh wow. These are...interesting.”

“I did tell you they were personal questions,” I say, reaching to take the book back from her, but she pulls it out of my reach with a laugh.

“No, no. This could be fun,” she says with a sly smile. “Okay, no reading ahead of time. I’ll just turn to a page, and where my finger lands is your question, cool?”

My throat goes dry just at the thought of talking about these things with Mackenzie, but she seems interested. At least it will distract from the conversation about kids.

I nod. “Just remember this was your idea.”

“Okay, here we go.” She licks her lips as she flips pages without looking and points to a spot on a random page. Her cheeks redden, and I instantly regret this. “If you could have changed one thing about the first time you had sex, what would it be?”

She shuts the book loudly and rests her chin on her fist, giving me an intense stare. Her lips are twitching like she’s about to break out into raucous laughter.

“Fucking hell,” I sigh, rubbing at the scruff on my jaw. “What I’d change about the first time I had sex...Would have been nice to last longer than thirty seconds, for starters.”

The bark of laughter Mackenzie lets loose echoes in the cabin, and it’s contagious.

“What? It’s true,” I chuckle, embarrassed. “That poor girl. I had no clue what I was doing.”

“Oh no, how old were you?” she asks between giggles.

“God, I was what? Sixteen?” I shake my head. “It was a girl from my neighborhood. Darlene. She was eighteen, and her family was moving away to Inverness. I think it was more out of pity than anything else. Of course, at that age, I didn’t care about the why. I just wanted my card punched, you know?”

She pouts, but it’s good-natured ribbing. “You poor thing.”

“I know. It was very traumatic for all involved.” I think the coy smirk now on my face is going to be permanent if I hold it much longer. I grab the book from Mackenzie’s lap before she can ask me any more about that embarrassment. “Your turn. Let’s see...Hmm.” I have to clear my throat as I glance at the question.This was her idea.“If you were to name a favorite spot on your body where you liked to be touched, what would it be?”

I steal a look her way as she hears the question, and see her expression roll through about ten emotions. Her cheeks heat, and I have to restrain myself from reaching out to see just how warm she is.

“Yikes. Whose idea was this stupid game?” she laughs nervously.

“I believe it was yours,” I say, knowing exactly how smug I look right now.

“Okay, okay, let me think.”

“Oh, do take your time.”

“Stop it.”

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