Page 65 of June

“A new ring?”

“Yes, go crazy,” Enid replied with a laugh. “Mom deserves it.”

“Yes, she does,” he agreed. “Okay. I’ll try to track down those chocolates. Leave it to your mother to find her favorite chocolates in Switzerland.”

Enid laughed and left her dad to his research. Then, she made her way upstairs to her room but heard her brother playing video games in his, so she knocked, planning to tell him that she was home and to keep it down.

“Hey, can you maybe turn down the volume or–”

“Shit. Enid!” he yelped and slammed the laptop that he had had open on his bed, facing the door, closed instantly. “You didn’t see that.”

“Jesus, EJ,” she said, covering her eyes with her hand. “I thought you were playing video games. Why is your porn volume on max?”

“It’s not porn,” he replied while she still kept her eyes closed because her brother had been in his boxers. “It’s… a friend.”

“A friend?”

“We were on FaceTime.”

“That was a naked girl, EJ!”

“She’s the girl I told you about last night.”

“Are you covered up?” Enid asked.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

Enid opened her eyes and saw that EJ was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of sweats now.

“Why was there a naked girl on your screen?”

EJ went to press the button on his phone, which had, apparently, been playing music this whole time, and said, “I called her and told her the things you suggested. She’s out of town for the next two weeks at some camp thing. She works there. Anyway, it worked. What you told me to say, it worked, and she didn’t want to wait until she got back.”

“Oh, my God. You were having video sex with her?!”

“Not yet.” He looked exasperated. “And now, I need to call her and tell her that you interrupted us, so it’ll have to wait.”

“EJ!”

“What? I’m eighteen. She’s eighteen. We can do whatever we want.”

“You just saw her naked on your screen. You’ve never even kissed this girl.”

“I will.”

Enid shook her head and asked, “Do you just want to have sex with her, or do you really like her?”

He shrugged and said, “Both.”

“Then, this isn’t it, little brother.” Enid pointed at the closed laptop. “I told you to tell her how you felt, not to do whatever it was you were about to do. If you really like her, call her back and tell her that you think you should wait until you can be together for real.”

“But she was naked, Enid. She wanted to.”

“Good for her. Girl power and all that. But if you really like her, EJ, it should be special when you two do that for the first time, not on some screen.”

He sighed and said, “I need to call her.”

“Good luck. Also, lock the fucking door next time.”

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