Page 38 of The Other Side of Paradise
“That’s kinda hot.”
Was it?Wasit? I blinked, and Stella laughed.
“Oh, you’re fully having a breakdown. I hope you get to leave with Jessica tonight. Otherwise, I’m assuming she’s going to accompany you only in spirit tonight.”
Jesus, this girl was open about sex. How was I sitting out here with the hottest girl in the world listening to her talk aboutme masturbating? “I’m not going to—” I strained, struggling with it before I mouthed the wordsdo that, “while thinking about Jessica.”
“Oh, someone’s stuffy. What, because it’s a sin?”
“No—it’sbecauseI’m not interested.”
She laughed, and she stood up. “I’m gonna get another drink,” she said. “Do you want something?”
“I’m only nineteen.”
“So? You’ve gotta live a little. They’re not gonna ask me who the second drink is for.”
Ugh. I’d had people sneak me alcohol before, and it wasn’t like I was too straightlaced for it, but… the problem was that I couldn’t guarantee what would come out of my mouth if I was drinking with Stella while talking to her about what I was going to think about while masturbating tonight. “I’m good,” I insisted, and she shrugged.
“All right. But you can steal some of mine, if you want.”
Maybe just alittlebit. Enough to stop me from panicking over Stella’s presence. I guess the universe was trying to insist something, because of everything, she got a strawberry daiquiri, my favorite. She was back just a minute later, sitting down next to me, and she took a sip of the drink, and she handed it to me, and I guess fuck it, because I took it without a word, taking a sip too. They’d given it a stiff pour with the rum. They normally skimped out on the alcohol at this spot out here. My guess is that they wanted to flirt with Stella. I couldn’t blame them.
“Thanks,” I said, handing it back.
“Good, right?”
“My favorite drink, actually.”
“Oh, twinning. Well, I’ve got a lot of favorites, but I love strawberries.” She took it back and drank a long sip before she settled in, and she took a long breath and let it out slowly, andwhen I thought she was going to say something serious, she said, “So, what are you going to be thinking about then?”
“Uh—” I pursed my lips, face suddenly fiery-red. It wasn’t like I even… masturbated, all that often, and I hadn’t exactly been planning on it tonight, but after all ofthis,now I would be. And I knew exactly what I was going to be thinking about. “I-I dunno. What, do you want the report?”
“My family’s all so uptight and straightlaced, they never talk about, you know, sex, dating, any of it. I had friends back on the mainland I was going to have a summer internship with, and, you know—we’d keep it proper in the office, but afterwork drinks and everything? No promises.” She laughed, shaking her head, taking another sip of her drink, and she said, softer now, “But Dad didn’t want me to go off on a stupid little internship. Said I didn’t need to waste my time with that when I could just get a job with him or his brother after school. But I don’t want to just do what he tells me to, so I applied anyway, worked my ass off, got accepted, and then he scheduled this vacation that conflicted with it and told me I wasn’t allowed to say no, so I wound up out here and lost the internship.”
“Oh. Shit. I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right.” She shrugged, sipping her drink again, and she devastated me with one little effortless blow, saying, “I met you, so it’s cool.”
I took a second to remember how to speak. “Jacob let you down, so you’re back to flirting with me.”
She laughed, nudging my side. “Please. You’re always the first prize. Just went to Jacob because I thought I’d never have a chance with you.”
God, even though she was joking, it still made me want to cry listening to her say that. I made myself do a little snort, like I was playing along with the joke. “What, haven’t been feeling the chemistry?”
“Oh, I’ve been feeling it,” she laughed, and she sipped the drink again before she handed it over to me. I took it all too readily this time, drinking longer from it, the alcohol hot in the back of my throat as I handed it back. “Ryan’s the only girl in my family who’s remotely close to me and she’s way too proper to talk about sex.”
I snorted, coughed, cleared my throat, and I said, “Oh, uh, I dunno…”
She raised her eyebrows at me. “What, has she been having girl talk with you too?”
Girl talk. Sure. That was what we could call it. Talking about a girl, anyway. “A little bit… just, you know. I think she’s loosened up a lot with this vacation. BB’s cool. A good influence for her, too, I think. Helping her not be so serious.”
“Huh. Yeah, I can kinda see that,” she said, relaxing. “Like, Brooklyn isn’t trying to be all serious and proper and everything. Couldn’t be less like that. She’s really just out there with who she is… it’s cool.”
“It is.” I laughed. “I’d never have made it at this place if Brooklyn hadn’t befriended me. She’s been my lifeline more than once. Guess it’s what a bartender does, even when they’re not giving you alcohol.”
“She’s never snuck you alcohol, even once?”
