Page 62 of Surprisingly Us

“Okay, we’ll skip the ‘this or that’ spicy edition.”

“Great. Thank you.”

“Let’s try something else.”

I glance over to find Rhys staring at me. If I’m not mistaken, his eyes are studying my lips.

“Who was your first kiss?” he asks.

I swallow thickly, feeling the same wave of heat I’d experienced with Rhys in his closet slide over my body. “That’s a random question.”

“Is it?”

“I doubt that’s going to come up in conversation at Jerrod’s dinner party.”

He lifts his brows. “Do you want to be prepared?”

My eyes narrow warily, but he’s got me there. Of course I want to be prepared. And if I apply his same reasoning for the lap straddle, that if we talk about these more intimate details now, then surface level topics will be easy to pull off later in public, then it makes sense.

“I was sixteen and it was a boy from junior dance academy. Jeremy Castle. What about you?”

“Fourteen. A girl from school.” His eyebrows furrow like he’s struggling to recall her name.

“You don’t remember her name?” I ask.

“Let’s say there have been many since. Was he also your first?”

“First what?” I ask, my growing suspicion of what he’s asking starting to make my hands sweat.

“Hook-up. Sex. Fuck.”

My brain short circuits. I bolt upright from my seat on the floor banging my knee on the coffee table as I go. When I reach for my knee, I knock the glass of water off the table and Mo scurries across the room, running for his life.

It’s pandemonium. It’s chaos. And I think I’ve avoided the sex talk, thank god. But just for reassurance, I start collecting my stuff.

“I’m hungry. I think we need to go get some snacks. Where’s the nearest Trader Joe’s?”

“We don’t need to go to the grocery store.” He reaches for his phone. “I can order in dinner. It’ll take two minutes.”

My shoulders deflate. I know I should push through the anxiety and discomfort, but it’s like a really challenging rehearsal, I need a short break to regroup.

“I need to get some other stuff for practice tomorrow. I’m not a good hangry person, you know this.”

He stares at me a moment, then starts to nod slowly.

“Sure. Let’s go.”

Whew. That was a close one.

CHAPTER 17

Rhys

I could have had food delivered, but Lettie insisted we go out because she needed to pick up a few snacks for the rest of the week. Part of me thinks it was a distraction technique she employed to avoid the conversation we were having.

I know I was pushing it with asking those spicy ‘this or that’ questions, especially after I’d felt that connection with her in my closet, but it’s hard to hold back because the more I learn about this grown-up version of Lettie, the more I want to know.

I’m aware that Lettie has anxiety about dating, but until we were discussing those intimate topics, it hadn’t occurred to me that she is inexperienced with all aspects of relationships, including sex. I’ve never been much of a dater. Relationships have been non-existent, yet I’ve had a lot of sex. One doesn’t always equal the other, but in Lettie’s case, I’m wondering if it does.

---