Page 50 of Conception
I could point out that this whole thing was her idea, which would be unfair because I was ready to jump in headfirst with barely a nudge from her.
“I missed you, too. If it makes you feel any better, I came back here for you. I never imagined I’d meet someone.”
“Girl, I don’t care what brought you back or keeps you here, as long as you promise never to stay away for so long again.”
“Promise.”
I chug the rest of my beer and get up to grab us both a couple more, along with waters. Heaviness fills the air around us, but I know just the thing to bring us back down.
“And the truth is, the only thing you have to worry about is my falling in lust, maybe. Definitely not love. Because, girl, let me tell you. That man is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”
Okay, so he may be only the second man I’ve ever been with, but everything we’ve done has been beyond anything I could’ve even imagined.
Sunny glances back out towards the water, to where Knox now has his brother in some kind of a headlock while Joe and Sam egg him on. “That sounds promising. Even after being around him so much this past week, I can’t get a good read on him other than he’s totally into you. I can’t tell if he’s attentive as hell in the bedroom—you know, the kind that makes sure you get off before he does. Or if he’s some sort of a brute, ramming his cock into you until you’re screaming to high heaven.”
This time, the heat on my face isn’t from the sun. I bite the inside of my cheek, wondering how open I want to be. Some things you want to keep close, only for you. But other things, like how deliciously incredible Knox is? You should shout it from the rooftops. And since I’ve all but seen Sunny and Joe shag, I may as well repay the favor. Except something tells me Sunny will be much more appreciative of my deets than I was of hers. “He’sallof that.”
Sunny gives me an expression that screamswell, I’m waitingand gestures with her hand for me to continue.
I prop myself up on my elbows. “Just like you, I’d wondered what he’d be like, too. He was everything I imagined, yet so much more than I ever expected. I didn’t know sex could be that…incredible. If that makes any sense.”
“That different from Robert?”
I snort. “Worlds—no, galaxies apart.”
“Look, I don’t want to get all up in your chili or anything, Meems, and I know it was my idea, but do you think you’ll be able to do this? Go all summer and then just walk away?”
“Of course,” I tell her, waving her off. “The whole point of my being here this summer is for me to realize it’s okay to move on. Be happy. Have fun. To keep living, even though they aren’t.”
It’s like, as I’m saying the words, I can hear Grams in my head. It isn’t until now that I realize how right she was in sending me here. How right she was that it was time I stopped burying my head in the sand.
The last thing I want is more pity about my parents. I want to be able to talk about them without tearing up or breaking down. I’m so damn close, yet I feel the emotion burning in the back of my throat.
I continue before she can respond. “I’m lucky to have friends like you, Joe, and Sam here, and I wish I’d remembered that these past few summers. I’m also lucky I found someone who wants to be with me, no questions asked, and just have a bit of fun for the time being. It’s like you said, minus all the drugs part. Being with Knox is like getting back on that horse.” I lean towards her, holding my hands apart to detail what I mean. “And let me tell you, girl. That is one horse I definitely like to ride.”
Sunny dissolves into a fit of giggles. “Oh my lord. Youwouldfind the hottest guy visiting for the summer who also has an enormous penis. No wonder you were walking funny this morning.”
My eyes gleam. “No, Sunny, that was from the way he used his tongue this morning.”
Her lips form a hilarious round shape and she scoots closer to me. In her best Frenchy voice, she sings, “Tell me more, tell me more—was it love at first lick?”
“Let’s just say, he definitely got me damp and not in the way Sandy meant,” I tell her with a wink.
She sings more of “Summer Lovin’” fromGrease, shimmying her shoulders. We belt out the rest of the song, and when Sam chimes in with the last line, sounding more like a drowning cat than John Travolta, we fall back onto our towels howling in laughter and clutching our stomachs.
When I finally catch my breath, I glance over to Sunny. “Apparently you loved that movie as much as I did?” I ask, not surprised in the least.
“I may have gone to the drive-in ten or so times to see it.”
“And how many times did you actually watch?”
“All ten.”
I laugh. “Poor Joe!”
“Are you kidding? I wasalwaysramped up and ready to go afterwards!”
“I’m a little jealous. I never got to experience it in the drive-in. But I may have gone to the theater in Knoxville every day for a week—and twice in one day with Grams. I’ve practically worn the soundtrack out.”
