Page 38 of The Good Girl's Guide to Being Bad

Reaching beneath his book, he slid a notecard across the table.

“Take a look at that, and let’s get to work.”

I took the notecard, flipped it over and noticed that it was filled with bad words written in Colton’s handwriting. “What do you expect me to do with this? It’s full of profanity.”

“I know,” he said. “Just think of it as a vocabulary lesson. I’m about to teach you the art of talking dirty.”

With wide eyes, I looked at the card again. “You actually want me to say this stuff? Right now, out loud?”

“Yes,” Colton said as he sprawled his legs out, placed his elbows on his knees and looked straight at me. “It’s time to put a few dents in that good girl image, Sadie. We’ll start with the basics. There are only 10 words on there, and most of them are four-letters or less. No big deal.”

I couldn’t tell if he was joking. He probably wasn’t. There was a definite taunt in his voice, but he looked like he expected me to do it. And yes, they were mostly four-letter words…but I’d never said any of them.

“I’m telling you to do it as your coach,” he said, perhaps sensing my hesitation. “Come on, let’s mark this one off the list. If you need it, I give you permission to say anything on that list.”

“I don’t need anyone’s permission but my own,” I growled.

“Well, what the hell are you waiting on, Christmas?”

I rolled my eyes. “Not all of us have been cursing since we were in elementary school, okay? Some of us have to work up to it.”

“Ah, the good old days of naps and recess,” he sighed. “But seriously, it’s just the two of us. I’m sure you’ve wanted to say all those words—probably to me—at some point.”

True, I thought. And yet I couldn’t get my mouth to work.

“Okay, I’ll go first,” Colton said then gestured to the card. “What’s the first word?”

“It starts with a ‘d’ and beavers make them,” I answered, feeling all kinds of stupid.

Colton nodded, drumming his fingers on his forearms. “Ah, okay. I must’ve been trying to start you out easy. Damn, that was a damn good idea. Don’t you think so, Sadie?”

I bit my lip and nodded.

“Damn right, it was,” he said. “Now, you say it.”

I did, but it came out whisper-soft.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear a damn thing.”

Rolling my eyes, I said it louder. “Damn.”

Colton whooped and then leaned forward to see the card.

“Okay,” he said, “next word. Ass. It’s one of my favorites.”

“Of course, it is,” I muttered.

Colton suddenly groaned, eyes squeezing tight as he gripped his hip with a frown. It looked like he was in a lot of pain.

“Are you okay?” I asked in concern. Maybe he was having a cramp or something. “Colton, you don’t look so good.”

“No, I’m not okay,” he said, opening one eye to peer back at me. “My ass hurts from sitting in this damn uncomfortable chair.”

A surprised laugh escaped me as he sat back up with a grin.

“You think that’s funny, huh?”

“A little,” I said.

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