Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91363 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91363 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“That’s not good enough. I need to know who, and you have to tell me something embarrassing about it that would make you want to slit your wrists if anyone found out.”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’ll tell him.”
“If I don’t know him, how can I tell him? And I’m a good friend who can keep a secret.”
“You won’t tell Ben?”
I shook my head, feeling mostly sure that I wouldn’t tell Ben. I usually told him everything. My messed-up reasoning made sense of it because he was a boy and therefore exempt from secrecy rules because he rarely interacted with my girlfriends.
Olivia’s leery gaze studied me through her thick glasses. “Since he’s a lot taller than me, I’ve imagined sixty-nine with him.”
“Sixty-nine what?” I parked a hand on my hip.
She laughed. “Like … you know. Sixty-nine.”
“Is it a movie?”
“Gabby! I’m talking about the sex position.”
I nodded slowly then shook my head. “No. I uh, don’t know what you mean.”
Olivia gaped at me. Total crickets.
“I’m a preacher’s daughter from a small town,” I said because it was the number one reason I wasn’t prepared for real life outside of Devil’s Head.
“Well,” she pressed her lips together for a beat, “that explains why your fantasy involves Roberta Flack and spooning.”
“What’s sixty-nine?” I ignored her jab at my limited sex knowledge.
“It’s basically oral sex at the same time, like six and nine are the same shape just inverted. You do him and he does you simultaneously.” Olivia waggled her eyebrows.
A little bile worked its way up my throat. “That’s …”
“Hot?”
I shook my head. “Weird.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well,” I tried to envision it, “his thingy points up, so that’s probably fine, but if he does that to you, then his nose is awfully close to your uh,” I wrinkled my nose, “butt.”
“Don’t knock it ’til you try it. Listen, if you look at sex from the standpoint of body parts and an exchange of bodily fluids, it’s totally repulsive and disgusting. But it’s also so amazing. Don’t ask me how both things can be true at the same time, they just are. You’ll see.”
“Stop. This conversation is going in the wrong direction. Now that I know more about this ‘sixty-nine’ thing than I wanted to, who is this tall guy?” I loved that we were bonding over cute guys.
“Ben.” Olivia trapped her lower lip between her teeth.
“Who’s Ben?”
“Your Ben.”
“My Ben. What do you mean by that? You have a crush on my best friend?”
“Yeah. Is that okay, or is that weird?”
“He’s a music major.”
Olivia laughed. “That only makes him hotter. He runs, swims, and lifts weights several times a week. Ben has a schweet bod and hella good hair. And he’s a big-time gentleman. When our resident assistant asked him to help her carry a box to her car the other day, he said, ‘Yes, ma’am.’ Why does that make me want to jump him? What eighteen-year-old says ma’am?”
The “ma’am” thing again. Did Olivia grow up around a bunch of ill-mannered people? Why was that a sought-after trait?
“Well, I don’t know if he likes you. And even if he does, I don’t want him to hurt your feelings because that would make things uncomfortable between us. I’m not saying that I’d take his side if things didn’t work out, but he’s been my friend for so long, and—”
“Gabby, take a chill pill. I don’t want to marry him. I just think he’s tall, dark and hot. He looks thirty with those thick whiskers and strong jaw. Maybe we could have some fun together. Ya know?”
Yes. I knew what Olivia meant, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. She caught me off guard.
“Yeah. Sure. If you’re not worried about getting hurt, then whatever.” I pulled on my black Chuck Taylors and slid my keys and student ID into my purse.
“It would be major cool of you to put in a good word for me,” she suggested.
I glanced at my watch. Matt was meeting me out front in less than five minutes. “If you’re only wanting to use my friend for weird-positioned sex, what kind of good word could I possibly put in for you? That you’re flexible?”
Olivia snorted. “Duh. You’re such a nerd. You know what I mean.”
After opening the door, I smiled as if I knew, but I didn’t, nor did I enjoy imagining Ben having upside-down oral sex with her. “Later,” I said, shutting the door.
As soon as I exited the dormitory, I spotted Matt in the grass, watching his feet as he walked in a slow circle, hands tucked in his jeans pockets. His once wavy, dark blond hair was shorter, not a full buzz, but close, and those blue eyes still made me weak in the knees. Matt seemed taller, and his shoulders were definitely broader, he had thicker defined muscles and a mustache, not like Ben’s thick, unkempt whiskers. I giggled at the thought.