Page 19 of Right Number, Wrong Man
I groan, sitting up. “Great, then I won’t even see it coming! One day you’ll find me slumped at the kitchen table with my head split open like a rotten pumpkin left over from Halloween.”
She grimaces. “Too vivid!”
“The point is that Colthatesme. The spiders he let loose in my locker in high school got the message across. It’s a mutual hate.”
“There’s a fine line between hate and…other things. Besides, those law enforcement and military guys are all freaks in bed. Remember that cop I dated?” she asks.
“How could I forget? You wouldn’t shut up about his handcuffs here, his handcuffs there.”
“That was the best sex of my life, apart from Steve.” Andrea smirks. “I bet if you asked nicely, Colt would put on one of those masks you like so much.” She points at the bedazzled, pink Wraithface mask on the bookshelf in the corner.
My face goes up in flames. It’s the same mask I wore when I lost my virginity.
“Colt wouldn’t be into that. He’s too proper. I bet he only does missionary at 9 p.m. with the lights out,” I object.
“He’s got that old Southern charm and the manners of a military man, but that doesn’t mean he’s boring in bed. Hey, friends help friends get laid! I’m your bestie so that’smyjob, and I’m just pointing out an opportunity.”
At the bottom of the video call, I watch my cheeks turn from pink to dark red.
Images of a half-naked Colt flash through my mind and a lick of heat echoes in my core. I last saw him topless one summer when we were teens. He was already tall and pretty muscular then, but now that he’s a fully grown man?—
No, I won’t think about how Colt looks naked!
I’m visualizing hating him. Him and all his muscles.
“Speaking of the best sex of one’s life…” I shake my head. “That Halloween night was mine. How depressing to peak sexually right after high school. Only been downhill since then.”
“You deserve better, and you willhavebetter!” Andrea says firmly. “On the upside, every other woman I know says their first time sucked. Mine did, too. At least you got lucky with Mike then.”
I blow out a breath. “Mike was a different man for one night. Like Cinderella, but instead of her dress turning into rags and her carriage into a pumpkin, the dominant, masked man who took my virginity turned into a kink-shaming cheater.”
Thinking back on it, the sex was great, but the whole situation was fucked up. I was too naive.
My heart broke when Mike left me at the guest house, but he came over the next afternoon to apologize. He said he suddenly felt sick from drinking too much and didn’t want to throw up in front of me. At the time, it seemed like a good reason and when he asked me to be his girlfriend, I forgave him.
I shouldn’t have.
Andrea claps, ripping me from my thoughts. “That’s another reason to get back on the dating scene! You’re thirty, in your prime, and single!”
I scoff, putting my mug on the coffee table. “Not sure if I want a relationship again this soon.”
“Then don’t have one. Nobody said you should get married. Just have some fun and explore yourself… maybe with a hot sniper named Colt. If he’s leaving soon, you can have some no-strings-attached hookups.”
Hysterical giggles spill from my mouth. Soon, I can’tstoplaughing, gasping for air with tears running down my cheeks.
Honestly, I’m not surewhyI’m laughing.
Maybe because I’m thinking about Colt half-naked again. Colt running those strong, rough hands all over my body. Colt wearing a Wraithface mask while he pins me down with a knife to my throat and?—
Am I having an aneurism? Imustbe having a mysterious medical emergency to explain these thoughts.
“Imagine what a tall guy like him hides in his pants…” Andrea whispers suggestively.
I howl like I should be locked up and wearing grippy socks. “Stop it! Right now!” I choke out between laughs.
“Why don’t you bring him to the wedding party next month?”
I wipe a hand over my eyes, finally catching my breath. “Shut up! I can get a proper date that isn’t my dead husband’s brother. I’ll prove it to you. Let’s bet! If I show up dateless, I’ll buy you a crate of your favorite wine.”
