Page 62 of Finding You
Nora’s fork clattered to the floor.
Cece patted Maggie’s hand. “Don’t go there.”
Nora slowly looked up at Maggie, her face a mask of anger. “I despise Lucas Kim. And this is a place of trust, so I am not going to snap at you. But please, please do not imply that I have some kind of sexual attraction to that vile man.”
Maggie was not intimidated by Nora’s theatrics. “Nora, you don’t hate him. You hate the feelings he inspires in your panties,” she said drolly, taking a bite of omelette. Maggie was a stone-cold badass, and I prayed she would want to be my friend.
Emily and Cece exchanged looks.
Nora glared at Maggie, and I thought she would throw a punch. A tense moment passed and then Nora’s face softened. “Oh Mags, you know me, I tend to have too many feelings. But I truly don’t want to date anyone right now, and that includes Lucas Kim.” I had no idea what had passed between them, but it was more complicated than I could comprehend. Nora’s kindness toward Maggie was confusing, but then again I was new at female friendships.
Maggie smiled at Nora. “Hey, I get it. I don’t know what’s going to happen with Josh and me, but I promise you this. I will never, ever date again. Men are terrible.” I didn’t know Maggie well, but I could see that she was hurting. I knew she had two kids and was a nurse practitioner in town. I didn’t know what had happened with her husband, but I sensed she wasn’t the type to overshare.
“A-woman,” Nora replied, raising her coffee mug.
I tended to agree with them, but at the moment I was too sex drunk on Declan Quinn to even appreciate a good feminist rant. I liked him and I liked being with him, and it all felt so natural, so easy. We complemented each other and had fun together, and he seemed to respect me and my career.
I certainly understood where Nora was coming from. Guys could really derail your life. Case in point was Max Shapiro. Nora definitely wasn’t the type to put her needs aside for a guy, and I respected that. I guess I always put myself in the same category. It would be nice to have someone in my life, but I wasn’t willing to compromise my goals for that.
And wasn’t that what most women did? Compromise and bend and eventually break. My mom never compromised. And she focused on her goals with single-minded obsession. And she had been alone the entire time. And it’s not like we had some amazing mother-daughter relationship. Her goals came at the expense of everything else. So maybe I was wrong. Maybe compromise didn’t break you—what if it actually made you stronger?
“Emily, what’s new with you?” I asked, hoping to turn the conversation to her adorable kids and away from my sex life.
“The usual. Kids are insane. Derek is amazing, as always, but I’m super annoyed with him because every time he gets home from a trip, he keeps trying to make shower sex happen.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me!” Nora exclaimed.
“I am so annoyed with him. We’ve been together for almost fifteen years. And during that time, I did not magically grow a foot in height. It is not logistically possible without a massive bathroom renovation or accidentally breaking his dick.”
“I never understood shower sex,” Maggie mused. “Seems like a waste of water.”
“Yes,” Emily agreed. “And honestly, sometimes the shower is the only place I get to be alone. My kids don’t even let me pee in peace. Taking a shower after they’ve gone to bed and shaving my legs, or deep conditioning my hair, it’s a luxury to me. I don’t want a needy penis all up in my business when I’m having my alone time.”
We all laughed. Emily was zany and loud, but smart and oh, so funny. I knew how much she loved Derek and her kids, but I could also see how the demands of three kids plus a husband who travels wore on her sometimes.
“Hm…” Cece mused. “I mostly just go down on Liam in the shower. It’s faster and safer.”
“Good call. Do you have any ideas how many times I’ve almost torn a ligament trying to contort myself in the shower for him?” I could only imagine. Emily was notoriously klutzy as a child and was known for being super accident-prone. My Aunt Connie joked the Havenport Hospital should have a wing named after her because she spent so much time there getting stitches and casts for her various injuries.
“The last thing I need is to have to explain to the ER doctor how I dislocated my shoulder.”
Maggie chuckled. “As your health care provider, let me assure you that is not a conversation I want to have with you in a clinical setting.”
Emily patted her hand. “Thanks, Maggie.”
Nora took a sip of coffee. “Oh, Mags, have you treated any sex injuries?”
Maggie’s eyes flashed, and I could tell she wanted to spill. “I can’t tell you details.”
“Yeah, yeah. Patient confidentiality. I know that. But give us something.”
We all leaned forward.
Maggie played with the end of her ponytail. “STIs. So many STIs and so many antibiotic scripts written. Trust me, some of the people would be the ones you least expect.”
We all laughed.
“But I’ve had a few minor sex injuries. Nothing super crazy.” She thought for a minute. “Ooh. But when Josh was a resident doing his GI rotation, he did remove some weird objects from colons.”
