“Good morning,” I say cheerily as I take my seat at our table at Frankie’s, where my three best friends are waiting for me. I’m a little late, but that’s because Damien wouldn’t let me out of bed this morning without giving me another orgasm, even though he gave me three the night before.
“You sound well rested,” Noelle says.
“No, she sounds well fucked,” Penelope interjects as I turn to face her.
“What?”
She eyes me up and down. “Oh, girl, it’s written all over your body. You’re relaxed, your skin is glowing, and there was an extra little pep in your step as you walked into this place. I take it Damien has been keeping you with your ass and legs in the air for the past few days, huh?”
I slump back in my chair as I stare at her. “How the hell do you do that?”
She just shrugs. “It’s a gift. Plus, we haven’t heard from you since Wednesday, and I know you were supposed to see him Thursday, so I’m guessing you’ve been busy fucking all weekend.” Then she leans closer with a gleam in her eyes. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
I reach for my mimosa that someone already poured for me, taking a sip and then admitting what I already knew I was going to tell them today anyway. “Damien and I had sex.”
Penelope laughs before sitting back in her chair. “Took you long enough.”
“Charlotte!” Noelle exclaims, but not in a chastising way, more like she’s in excited shock.
“What? It’s just sex. Orgasms and food—that’s what we agreed to,” I claim as I take another sip of my drink, trying to convince myself that that’s all this is too—which I now know, after our date Friday night, is a bald-faced lie.
“Well, by the look on your face, I assume Damien is a worthwhile sexual partner?” Amelia asks before taking a sip of her coffee.
Licking my lips, I debate how much I should reveal. But then I remember these girls are my best friends and deserve to know that there are men out there who do know what the hell they’re doing in bed—and I just happened to find one of them. “He’s incredible.”
Penelope snickers. “All of that hate had to translate to insane sexual chemistry.”
“Ah!” Noelle squeals before clinking her glass in mine. “I’m so freaking happy for you!”
“Really?”
She nods. “Yes, because the last guy that I was with kept playing with my belly button, trying to get me to come. I swear, he thought it was my clit.”
I nearly choke on my drink. “Are you serious?”
“I wish I wasn’t, but yes, I am. However, it sounds like Damien won’t be disappointing you for the time being, so I’m telling myself to be happy for you in the hopes that one day I’ll find a man who will fuck me, feed me, and tell me I’m pretty too.”
I sigh. “He does all of those things, which should make me feel more at ease than I do right now.”
“Uh oh,” Penelope chimes in from beside me. “Sounds like someone is catching feelings.”
“Ugh.” I shake my head, closing my eyes as I rub my forehead. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. I mean, I hated this guy, you guys. There was a black hole in my soul reserved for devious thoughts regarding him and him only.”
“You used the past tense of hate,” Amelia points out. “So it sounds like you don’t hate him so much anymore?”
“He took me to a carousel Friday night,” I state, even though they don’t know the significance of his gesture. But it’s all I’ve been able to think about.
“What?” Noelle asks. “A carousel?”
“Yeah. There was one back home that I used to go to at night all the time to get out of my house and away from my mother’s incessant nagging. It was my favorite place to be. The old security guard would let me in at night as long as I brought him a Snickers bar.” The girls chuckle. “I would sit on the bench and write in my journal, and one night, Damien saw me there.”
“When was this?” Amelia asks.
“One month before we graduated. And naturally, he said something to piss me off, we exchanged some words, and then I told him to promise never to think of me again.”
“So why did he bring you to this one the other night?” Noelle questions.
“I don’t know. He apologized for how he treated me back then and told me that he broke that promise—that he did wonder about me. Honestly, you guys, the entire night left me in a daydream of what a life would be like with him, the man he is now. I…”
“You’re falling for him,” Noelle finishes.
Swallowing down the lump in my throat, I nod my head. “I am. And it’s terrifying.”
Amelia speaks up next. “Charlotte, I hate to break this to you, but you have intimacy issues, honey.”
“What?”
She reaches across the table and places her hand on mine. “Part of the reason you’ve never had a relationship last very long is because you don’t let men in all the way. You don’t allow yourself to be vulnerable. And I think it has a lot to do with your relationship with your mom. Hell, it took a while for you to do that with us.” I stare at her perplexed as she continues. “But now, Damien is breaking through the walls you’ve erected that tell you your vulnerability isn’t worth it. And for once, I’m urging you to listen to what your gut is telling you.”
“My gut?”
“Yes, your womanly intuition, that voice in your head that is telling you what your heart can’t put into words.”
“I like him,” I say. “That’s what it’s saying. He makes me feel comfortable in my own skin, secure in who I am. It’s like…”
“He doesn’t make you question who you are or if you’re enough,” Noelle finishes for me.
“Yes,” I whisper, feeling the sting of tears in my eyes.
“Then enjoy the ride, Charlotte. Believe that this is real, and just see where your heart takes you,” Amelia finishes with a smile.
“And in the meantime, enjoy some stellar sex,” Penelope adds as I roll my eyes but feel my cheeks blush as well.
“I’m telling you, I don’t think I’ve ever come this hard in my life, you guys.”
“Hear, hear!” Penelope exclaims as we all laugh and clink our glasses together. “I just hope I don’t end up sharing a wall with you in Hawaii. Otherwise I might have to find a handsome stranger to fuck to drown the two of you out. No way am I going on vacation just to listen to someone else have sex. That sounds like pure torture to me.”
“I’m making no promises of how quiet I can be.” Smiling around the rim of my glass, I take a sip and then place my order with Frankie once he comes around to check on us. “But I don’t think I’ve ever been on a vacation with someone to have sex with, so I’m going to take full advantage.”