Page 1 of Courtney
1
COURTNEY
The bell above the door of the coffee shop rings out with the departure of the hot nerd who’d been sitting at the table next to us. I can’t help but watch him through the storefront windows as he walks away.
“I can’t believe you knocked a tray of hot coffee into his lap,” Fiona whispers as though the victim of my clumsiness hadn’t just left and could still hear us.
“It wasn’t a full tray,” I try to defend and stuff a mouthful of blueberry scone into my mouth. “It was only two mugs.”
“That were the size of soup bowls.” Michelle laughs into her own giant mug.
“Can we get back to the matter at hand?” I ask most of the members of The Nice Girls’ Naughty Book Club.
Quinn, Fiona, and Michelle are still sitting around our regular table in The Story Brew, where we meet each week for our meetings. Jess was here earlier, but she had to leave when the new guy in her life showed up to whisk her away for what I can only hope for her is phenomenal make-up sex.
“We need to figure out what we want to read for next week,” Quinn says. “Any suggestions?”
The loud rumble and hiss of the industrial coffeemaker from behind the counter drowns out most of the noise in the shop, making it impossible to have a conversation as it runs. I look around, trying to see if any of the other patrons are reading a book that we might want to try out for the book club. I turn and see a worn paperback book sitting on the table that the hot nerd just vacated. I lean back in my chair and grab it. It’s a little damp around the edges from the coffee spilled earlier.
The cover of this book looks exactly like something our book club would read—delightfully naughty. The image on the cover is a close-up shot of a woman with shiny pink lips biting down on a plump juicy raspberry, which is fitting because the title is written in a yellow cursive font and reads,The Juiciest Fruitby Maxine Devore.
Where have I seen this name before?
I know it from somewhere, but I can't seem to think of where I've seen it. I remember it because I thought it seemed like an obvious pen-name then too. I flip over the book to see if there is an image of the author on the back, but there isn't.
I hold up the book to show the rest of the group. “What about this one?”
Michelle is the first to grab it from me and reads the book blurb on the back silently to herself. Her eyes light up, and she smiles at everyone at the table.
“I’m so into reading about a woman’s sexual awakening through oral sex.”
I recoil. “Is that what it’s about?”
“I thought it seemed obvious,” she says, pointing to the cover before handing the book around the table for everyone to get a good look at it.
“I don’t know what I thought it was about. It just looked sexy.”
She smiles. "Oh, I'm sure there is plenty of sex in it, but there are definitely going to be some naughty scenes involving the hero going to town on the heroine."
Quinn flips the pages and opens up at a random spot in the book and begins reading, “The gift of his tongue on me was not something I registered for, but it was definitely something I’d never return.”
“I love shopping and having a guy go down on me,” Michelle says with a chuckle. “I vote yes.”
“When Michael first did—you know,” Fiona points to her lap. “I had no idea it would feel so amazing. I’m in.”
Quinn starts talking about her most recent oral experience with her boyfriend, Evan, but I don’t hear her. My mind wanders back to my ex, Stephen, and how he told me that guys were into giving girls oral. The stories being told at this table alone would disprove that statement.
Am I just some gullible idiot for believing him?
“What about you, Court?” Quinn turns to me.
I look back at all the eyes at the table, watching and waiting for a response from me. A few weeks ago, I might have lied, feeling like I didn't know these women well enough to admit that I've never had a guy give me oral. But in the handful of meetings we’ve had, I know more about them than some of my closest friends. I’d consider everyone in this club my friend.
“I’ve never done that.”
Quinn laughs. “I wouldn’t recommend it. I mean, sand got in places that I—”
“No.” I shake my head. “My ex always told me that guys don’t like giving oral to girls. He made it seem like I was crazy for even suggesting it.”
