Page 62 of Mr. February

She nodded again, too embarrassed to speak now.

“That’s all that matters, then. If some past idiots couldn’t figure out how release your inner sex goddess, that’s their own fault. Whatever might have been said in the past has nothing to do with you and me now. I have no doubt that when we do come together, it’ll be epic.”

Somehow, his kind words didn’t make her feel any better. Her shoulders sagged just a little, but Wade still noticed.

“Hey, now. I didn’t say that to put any more pressure on you. We’re explosive together.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “But I understand. You won’t believe it until we get there, and that’s okay. Would you feel better if we waited to tell people we know that we’re together until after we’ve made love?”

“I don’t know. No. Well, maybe. It’s not that I doubt you—”

“No, I understand. They made you doubt yourself. Those shitheads from your past decimated your confidence. I’m guessing at least one of them told you all sorts of bullshit about you being boring or bad in bed. Am I right?”

Tears burned at her eyelids, but she blinked them away. Her throat burned too much to say anything, so she nodded her agreement, ashamed.

“Well, that’s bullshit. You’re willing, giving, and fun. Responsive and exciting. That’s all you need to bring to the party. It’s up to your partner to help you relax and have a good time. If that didn’t happen, that was on them, not you. You’ll see. We’ll keep it to ourselves for now, but soon, you’ll see the sexual goddess I see.”

He kissed her again on the forehead before he stood.

“I’ll see you in the morning, gorgeous. Sleep well.”

JENNY

“You’re shitting me?” Gloria shrieked. “I knew it!”

Jenny grinned and rolled her eyes even though Gloria couldn’t see her over the phone.

“Tell me everything,” her friend demanded.

“Uh, no. That’s not going to happen. I didn’t kiss and tell the whole time I dated Chad, and I’m not going to do it when it’s someone you knew before I did.”

Gloria huffed with frustration.

“Then why did you call me if not tell me about the kissing? You can’t just say that you and Wade are no longer pretending to date, but you didn’t stage a breakup and expect me to be satisfied with that.” Gloria gasped. “Wait, was there more than kissing?”

She could practically see Gloria’s giddiness. Jenny almost wished she could have waited to have this conversation when they were back home so she could talk with her bestie face-to-face. There was no way she’d survive that long with the conflicting emotions tearing her apart, though.

“I need your help, Gloria. This is serious.”

“I’m here for you, babe. What do you need? Condoms? I put some in your laptop bag. Didn’t I tell you?”

“I had no idea. Thank you, I think. That wasn’t what I needed help with.”

“Too bad.”

Gloria sounded genuinely disappointed for her, and Jenny felt a wave of affection for her friend. Their differences outweighed their similarities, but Gloria always wanted the best for her. The feeling was mutual.

“Okay, maybe there was more than kissing.”

Jenny held the phone away from her ear to lower the volume on Gloria’s excited shrieking. She imagined her friend doing a ridiculous celebratory dance. No one else supported her and had her back the way Gloria did.

“Okay, okay, I’m calm now. Sorry, but I fucking knew it!” Gloria whooped.

“You were right.”

“Oh my god, those are some of my favorite words. I mean, you’re a woman, so it’s not quite as satisfying for you say them, but still. I’ll take what I can get.”

“Does that mean your date didn’t go as well as you hoped?”

“Ugh, don’t get me started on that. I mean it. Quit trying to change the subject. We can talk about my latest disastrous Internet date when you get back, but you will not distract me from this conversation. Out with it.”

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