Page 63 of Mr. February

“I’m not trying to… Okay, maybe I am a little. This is so awkward. I don’t like to talk about this sort of thing.”

“I know, babe. But it’s me. I won’t judge you, but Iwilljudge him if he did a bad job.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Gloria’s triumphant, “I knew it,” erupted from the phone. Jenny laughed.

“Yes, you did. How did you know?”

“I’m telling you; geek guys are where it’s at. When they can be bothered to show up instead of leaving a girl hanging and ghosting her.”

“Oh, no! I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine. It’s not the first time I’ve been stood up.”

“But this was the guy you really liked, right? The one you connected with?”

“Stop it, young lady. We’re not talking about me right now, remember? Do I need to call Wade instead to find out what happened?”

Jenny gasped in genuine horror. Gloria would do it, too.

“Don’t you dare!”

“Then ask me what you need to ask me. It’s obvious you’re stressed, and I will not let him treat you badly or string you along. I don’t care how great of a team lead he supposedly is or how nice he seems; I will kick his ass.”

“Gloria, Gloria, slow your roll. He didn’t treat me badly. At all.”

“Oh. Oh!”

“Yes, ‘oh.’ We didn’t, you know, go all the way. But we, um, were intimate in other ways.”

“You are so adorable, you know? All nervous and shy talking about this. I’m not making fun!” Gloria added with haste when Jenny objected. “Listen. I’m not mocking you. It’s one of the things I love about you. You read and listen to the raunchiest shit, but you turn bright red at the prospect of saying breast. He did touch your breasts, right?”

“Oh my god, you’re the worst. Why am I friends with you?”

“It’s all part of my charm. In all seriousness, honey, is there anything you did that you didn’t like doing or felt pressured into?”

“No, the opposite, actually.”

“Oh, really? Color me intrigued.”

“This is so embarrassing, but he didn’t want to have sex with me.”

“I don’t believe it for a minute. Nope, I don’t buy it.”

“Okay, fine, that isn’t what he said, but it doesn’t change the fact that hedidpass up the opportunity. He told me I was irresistible, but then he managed to resist me with very little effort. What does that mean?”

“You’d better tell me what he said because I’ve seen the way he looks at you. It’s not the look of a man who’d pass up the opportunity to jump your bones.”

“Well, he did. He said he thought we should wait because he didn’t want me to have any regrets since things were going so fast.”

“That sounds more like it, but I still don’t understand. When did he say this? Before or after he made you come?”

“Both, I think, but it’s kind of a blur. I mean, it was just a little while ago, and I’m still kind of floaty, but it’s also not exactly clear in my mind because I experienced so many new things. It was kind of overwhelming, and we did things I’ve never done before. Oh-h-h. I think I understand.”

“Yep. Endorphins can really mess with your head sometimes. That’s why he wanted to wait, sweetie. He seems really in tune with you.”

“Well, he also overheard some of our conversation that day at work.”

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