“You, too, Harry. But… don’t think I didn’t notice that you side-stepped me asking what your story is. Besides, you’re the one who said she should know the basics. I think that means more than just a first name, right?” She winks at the mention of us exchanging names, which tells me that I was right. We’re playing a game. That’s perfectly fine since I’ve had enough reality today.
I sigh heavily. “Well. Turns out, Sally,” I wink back and she laughs a little, stabbing her fork into a boneless wing and dipping it into some ranch dressing, “that our story isn’t all that different. Proposed to my girlfriend tonight. She told me no. Her reason was that she never wants to get married or have children and since she’s so generous and caring, she’s letting me go so I can find “the one”.” I use finger quotes to emphasize the term the one and she rolls her eyes.
“She’s as sweet as my ex, it sounds.”
“Yup. Couple of assholes,” I tell her, holding up my pint of beer and we clink glasses.
“Definitely assholes.”
Her laughter is a light tinkling sound that eases some of the grief that was settling in. Funny how grief can be so fickle. Maybe my sister’s right, I should be glad that Stacia ended it. If I was really that heartbroken, wouldn’t I be at home crying right now instead of talking — and drinking — with this pretty new friend? And wouldn’t it take me longer to think of someone else as pretty?
We take a drink, toasting one another over our asshole ex unification, and I relax just a little.
“I’m sorry your ex was an asshole,” I tell her.
She nods. “Yeah, me, too. Can I be honest about something, though?”
“If you can’t be honest with a total stranger, who can you be honest with?” I ask and take another drink.
“He never gave me an orgasm.”
And then I spew beer right in her face.
Then it clicks why she called herself Sally, because of the orgasm thing in the movie. Damn. For being halfway to drunk, I’m sure thinking spot on.
Chapter Two
Ashley
“Sorry! Shit.” Harry hands me a stack of napkins as he coughs, hitting his chest with his fist.
I grin at his discomfort. I wasn’t lying about what I said, but I also knew the shock value would be there and wanted to see what his reaction would be. Turned out even better than I expected.
After he recovers, wiping his chin and eyes, resituating himself in the chair, he clears his throat and then looks at me.
“Come again?”
“Funny choice of words there, Harry.” I smirk. “You really want me to say it again?”
“Uh, no. Once was enough. How long were you together again?”
“Three years.”
“Three.” He looks around the room as if not wanting to make eye contact with me and asks, his eyes focused on somewhere off in the distance. “Not once?”
“Nope. Not once. At least by him.”
Looking at his profile, I see his eyebrows furrow and his white teeth drag over his bottom lip. It’s a simple move but has a seductive tone to it. Which means I really do not need to be drinking anymore liquor tonight if I think teeth dragging on his lip is seductive.
I take a long swig of my cocktail and wish I had another waiting in the helm.
“Three?” he asks again.
“Three. Long. Years.”
“Huh.”
“I know.”
“So is he… does he like women?”
“What do you mean? Of course he likes women. He was with me for three years.”
He turns his head to look at me, his dark eyes taking me in. When I sat down at the bar earlier, I noticed him immediately. I mean, of course I did. He’s incredibly attractive. Sexy, even. Probably the sexiest man I’ve ever talked to and if I didn’t have a little bit of liquor in my system right now, I’d probably be too nervous to carry on a conversation with him, much less tell him to eat with me or stop staring.
I want to run my fingers through his hair because it looks so soft and silky. I flip my own, because now that I started thinking about his hair, I can’t stop. It’s a gorgeous shade of brown that looks like it’s been kissed by the sun for some highlights. And, it deserves repeating, it looks silky and smooth and oh my gosh, I’m running my fingers through my own hair right now and I know I’m staring at him and practically drooling! But who could blame me? The longer I stare, the more I notice about him. He has a perfect amount of facial hair that covers his face. Not just scruff but not a bushy beard either. Even his eyebrows are sexy. They look groomed but not overly so. And just now, he raised one in that way that people can do that makes me jealous. He’s probably challenging me because he knows that I’m staring at him, taking in every little inch of his handsome face. Whatever. Let him challenge. I’m a very busy woman at the moment. That very straight nose isn’t going to stare at himself.
His teeth are incredibly white, too. It’s something that I notice because of my job as a dental hygienist. That’s what I’m going to tell myself, anyway. It couldn’t possibly be because this man is sexy as hell. And now I’m staring at his mouth and he knows it, if his bright smile is any indication.
I watch as his lips move and I listen closely, wondering if he’s going to drop the fact that I just told a perfect stranger that my ex-boyfriend never gave me orgasms.
And what he says next proves that he doesn’t give a shit if it’s polite or not, he’s got questions. “I know he was with you for three years, but how could he have not known how to bring you to orgasm? How did you survive without orgasms? You surely gave them to yourself in that amount of time, right? That’s what you were suggesting, yeah? I mean, I know it’s not the same thing as a guy — or a girl — knowing what to do for you but still. That’s messed up.”
He just asked that. Right now. He didn’t blink or flinch or wince or act uncomfortable in any way. Just straight up asked me how a man could be with me for three years without knowing my body enough to bring me to orgasm. And then he added in asking if I masturbated while I was with him. Now it’s my turn to be embarrassed.
“Well… I’m not entirely sure. Maybe he didn’t know that I never got there? I’m a very good actress.”
Harry shakes his head. “Nuh uh.” Then he turns fully to face me, sliding his plate out of the way and leaning his elbows in in its place. “Listen to me very closely, Sally. What you’re saying? Not possible. A man is any man at all, he knows his woman’s body and doesn’t need a road map to get her there. Moreover, he definitely doesn’t let it end without it happening at least once. But even more than what a man would do in a normal circumstance, a woman like you? As drop dead gorgeous as you are? There’s no way he wouldn’t want to take his time and do everything in his power to get you there.”
Whoa. A whoosh goes through my entire body at his words. But more than that, the gruffness in his voice and the heated look in his eyes when he said them.
Woo boy, it’s suddenly extremely hot in here.
My chest rises and falls as I take in a deep breath.