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“Wait a second.” Gloria put down her latte. “You’re telling me he was ginormous, but he was actually good in bed? In my experience, the guys with the biggest dicks are also the ones who have no idea how to use it. They think being big is all they need to do.”
“Yeah, he was good,” Amber said. “And when it didn’t fit the first time—”
“It didn’t fit?”
“Just a little louder.” Amber looked around the coffee shop. “I’m not sure everyone heard you.”
Gloria laughed. “Sorry. I’m imagining—”
“Please don’t imagine.”
“Alright, alright.”
“Anyway, when it didn’t fit, he wasn’t frustrated, just gave me an orgasm before trying again.” Amber tried not to get lost in her memories of Sunday. Had that orgasm been particularly good because she’d had nothing but self-induced orgasms in almost a year?
“So you’re going to keep seeing him?” Gloria asked.
“Yeah.”
“And you’re not falling in love with him?”
“Definitely not. This is the ideal set-up. Just what I need.” Amber paused. “How long should I wait before I text him again?”
Gloria gave her a look, then sipped her latte.
“Seriously, it’s nothing more than sex.” Though Amber couldn’t help recalling how close to him she’d felt when he slid the dildo inside her.
Physically close, that was all.
They’d fucked, nothing more.
Well, they’d snuggled for ten minutes, too, but it didn’t mean anything. He’d left right after that.
“I’ve been sex-deprived for so long,” Amber said. “I need to make up for lost time.”
“I’d wait another couple days.”
* * *
After she got out of the shower the next evening, Amber walked into her bedroom and picked up the crochet parrot and peacock sitting on her night table.
Sebastian had said she was talented, and she’d brushed him off. Besides, what did he know about this stuff? But secretly, she’d been rather pleased.
Cross-stitching and crocheting were things she did to keep her hands busy, often while watching baking shows. Things she did just for herself that other people almost never saw.
In fact, with her last boyfriend, she’d always dumped her crochet animals into her dresser before he came over, afraid he’d laugh at her.
But it hadn’t occurred to her to do that with Sebastian—maybe because she was so out-of-practice with this sex business—and he’d actually liked them.
She had nothing on Gloria’s or Roxanne’s talents, but it was nice that he’d been kind.
Her gaze traveled down to the knob of the top drawer of her night table, and she couldn’t help the little moan that escaped her lips.
He’d been kind and filthy and enthusiastic, in his own serious way.
Amber couldn’t wait any longer. She sent him a text.
* * *
Friday evening, Amber was doing a little cleaning as she waited for Sebastian.
When her parents called, she answered the phone with a sigh, hoping this would be quick, but that was probably too much to ask.
“Hi, Amber,” Mom said. “You’re coming over for dinner on Sunday, right?”
“I’ll be there, don’t worry.”
“What are you doing tonight?”
Well, obviously Amber wasn’t going to tell the truth about that. “Oh, not much. Just staying home and tidying up. Watching TV.”
“Staying home on a Friday? That doesn’t sound like you.”
It wasn’t super unusual for Amber to be home on Friday night, even if her family assumed otherwise.
She sneezed as she dusted the small table in the corner of the living room.
“Are you sick?” Mom asked.
“Uh, yeah.” Amber hoped that would put an end to any questions about her Friday night plans.
But saying she was sick only led to other questions, of course.
“What are your symptoms?” Mom demanded. “Do you need to talk to your father? He’s the pharmacist, after all. Actually, I have some chicken soup in the freezer. Why don’t I bring it over right now—”
“Mom, that’s really not necessary.”
It was unlikely her mother heard, however, as there was some banging on the other end of the phone, and a moment later, she heard a different voice.
Ugh, it was one of those days when she had to talk to every member of her family. Her paternal grandparents were at her parents’ place all the time.
“You are sick?” Ah Ma asked. “Did you go to bed with your hair wet?”
“No, Ah Ma.”
“Hmm, you don’t sound sick to me.”
Now that Amber had said she was sick, she couldn’t admit she was lying. She let out a weak cough and made her voice a little fainter. “It’s not too bad. I’m sure I’ll be fine by Sunday.”
Dammit, Sebastian would be here any moment. She needed to get off the phone.
“Hi, Amber.” That was her dad. “Sorry you’re feeling under the weather.”
“Thanks.” She managed a fake sniffle.
“Make sure you get lots of rest.”
“I know.”
“And don’t listen to anything your grandmother says about wet hair. It’s bullshit.”
Amber wasn’t surprised to hear yelling in the background.
Her mom came back on a minute later. “Are you sure you don’t want me to bring soup?”
“Positive. I can order soup here if I need some.”
“But it’s not the same as your mother’s chicken noodle soup.”
“Of course not, but it’s an hour drive. It’s not necessary, and I’m really not that sick.”
“You sound pretty sick to me.”
What? Her grandmother had said just the opposite two minutes ago. Maybe Amber was playing it up a bit too much now.
She glanced at the clock. “I need to get going. I have, uh, something on the stove.”
“Of course. I’ll call you in an hour to see how you’re doing.”
“Mom!”
“Just kidding. Go to bed early and have a good night’s sleep. Talk to you tomorrow. Oh, wait. Your grandfather wants to talk to you.”
“I—”
“Hi, Amber,” Ah Yeh said. “I hope you feel better soon. I just sent you an email with some books about Shakespeare that I thought might interest you.”
“Okay, thank you, Ah Yeh. I’ll look at them tomorrow.” She let out a weird-sounding fake cough. “See you on Sunday.”
And finally, she was off the phone.
Thank God.
* * *
Sebastian arrived a few minutes later, and this time, there were no awkward hellos. This time, Amber threw herself at him the instant he walked through the door, and he responded by growling and kissing her back...then lifting her up and carrying her straight to the bedroom, where, after lots of foreplay and lube, he slid into her from behind without any problems and fucked her hard until they both cried out.
It was unfair, really, that he got to be Mr. Perfect Son and be so good at sex.
Afterward, she snuggled up to him again, relishing the luxury of having a man in her bed. Sebastian was about five-ten, and solid. Not solid muscle, no, but she loved his strength.
“The other day,” she said, “I was masturbating, and I thought of you the whole time.”
His eyes darkened. “Did you use your toys?”
She nodded.
“Good girl.” He paused. “Do you like when I say that? If not, I won’t do it again.”
“I like it.” It reminded her of the fact that she was younger than him, that he’d known her when she was just a girl—and that seemed delightfully wrong.
But it’s not wrong now, she told herself.
“I considered sexting you,” she said.
“Yeah?” The corner of his mouth quirked up. His smiles were often lopsided, and for some reason, she liked that.
“But I didn’t know if you’d be into it.”
“I’d be into it.” His voice was rough.
“Ooh, you know what would be fun? We could have a code word that either of us can use when we want to sext. Then the other person can reply yes or no, if it’s not a good time.”
“Bubble tea,” he suggested.
“No, that’s confusing because you might actually want bubble tea one day. Unless you hate it.”
“Of course not. I miss it, actually. It’s one of the things I miss about being in the Vancouver area, where I could get any Asian food or drink I wanted.”
“But you came back.”
“I came back.”
His arm was around her, and he was absently—or perhaps not-so-absently—running his hand over her side.
“You didn’t want to live in Ashton Corners, though?” she asked.
That was his hometown, fifteen minutes from Mosquito Bay.
“Ha,” he said. “Have you met my parents?”
“You think they’d be surprising you with visits every day?”
“Absolutely.”
She could imagine it, yeah.
“You wanted to be close but not too close,” she said.
“Exactly.”
“That’s what I wanted, too. Close enough that I can easily visit, but far enough that I won’t run into them at the pharmacy when I’m reaching for a box of condoms. Far enough that they won’t barge in with chicken soup the instant they learn I’m sick.” She paused. “My mom called right before you came. She was surprised I wasn’t going out tonight, and since I didn’t want tell her about my plans with you, I said I wasn’t feeling well. And then Dad, Ah Ma, and Ah Yeh all insisted on talking to me.”
Sebastian laughed. “My parents bought the house next door.”
“Your parents what?”
“The house next door was for sale, so they bought it last year. They did a bit of work on it and heavily implied that they wanted me to move there when I was done my residency and work at a practice in one of the neighboring towns.”
“By ‘heavily implied,’ you mean they talked about it constantly during every phone conversation.”
“That’s exactly what I mean.”
What a horrifying thought. Amber was speechless.
Living next door to her parents? She didn’t know how Zach lived in Mosquito Bay—and he, at least, was a ten-minute walk away from their childhood home. Much as they liked to interfere, she couldn’t imagine her parents buying the house next door and expecting her or her siblings to live there.
But Sebastian’s parents? Yeah, she could see it.
Apparently he wasn’t enough of a pushover to go along with their wishes. Good.
“Are they still hoping you’ll change your mind?” she asked.
“Yes, but they don’t talk about it much anymore. I think they know they’ll have to sell the house. They did some work on it, and they should be able to make a little money, even though the real estate market in Ashton Corners isn’t exactly hot.”
Amber started laughing. “I still can’t believe it. I mean, I can, but it’s just so ridiculous. They bought the house next door!”
“Sure, sure,” he muttered. “Laugh at my misery.”
She slid her hand up his chest. “We still need to come up with a code word or phrase. How about ‘house next door’?”
“Amber...”
“Fine, fine.”
“Sonata.” Sebastian had chosen a music word, of course.
“Okay,” she said. “When one of us texts ‘sonata’ to the other person, that person can reply ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ no questions asked.”
They were quiet for a moment, and Amber simply let herself luxuriate in his presence. She loved sex, but she’d always loved the after-sex cuddle and conversation, too, and she was glad she could have that with him.
Eventually, she began stroking her hand over his leg. First his shin, but then she moved higher...and inward.
“Thank God you caught me reaching for a box of condoms,” she murmured as she grasped his cock.
He growled and pulled her on top of him, so she was sitting on his face, and circled his tongue over her entrance.
And then they had lots more fun.
That Sunday, after recovering from her pretend illness, Amber went to dinner at her parents’ house and imagined, with fresh horror, living next to her family. Her horror magnified when Ah Ma tried to get everyone to tell her what sixty-nine was.
Yep, no way in hell would her family ever learn about her and Sebastian.
Besides, if her family found out, his family would know, too...and they wouldn’t approve of her. They’d thought she was too wild ever since she’d given their daughter a “dirty” book in high school. And telling them that she and Sebastian weren’t actually together wouldn’t make things better.
Yes, sleeping with him was worth it, but they needed to be careful.