Page 17 of Whispers at Seaside
“Are we, now?” Serena turned to Mira, who was making pancakes, and lowered her voice. “I came as soon as I got your SOS text. I’m so excited about Professor Hotness coming over. I broughteverything.”
Mira wondered whateverythingcould possibly be. She hadn’t been out of the dating scene for that long, had she? Were there accoutrements she wasn’t aware of?
“I’m a nervous wreck.”
“Don’t be. I’ll get you up to dating speed in no time. Feed the little scientist so we can get started.”
Mira set a plate of pancakes and a glass of juice on the table. “Ready to eat, Hag?”
“Uh-huh.” He carried the book to the table and opened it beside his plate. “Is it almost ten? I need Matt. I can’t understand some of these words.”
I need him, too.
She’d secretly worried that after they’d both gotten some rest, and some distance, they’d realize what happened was a mistake and write it off to the allure of the evening. But then he’d called a little after eleven o’clock last night—I won’t keep you up, sunshine, but I wanted to hear your voice.He’d asked about Hagen, and they’d made plans for Matt to come over and build the robot with him. It was a simple two-minute phone call, and it put all her worries to rest.
Until this morning, when she realizedhe was coming over.
“We’ll be in Mommy’s bedroom if you need us, squirt.” Serena grabbed the bag from the counter.
With a mouthful of pancakes and his eyes on his book, Hagen nodded.
“I knew you were holding out for Matt all these months,” Serena whispered on the way to the bedroom. “You could have fessed up. I’m your best friend. It’s not like I didn’t notice how googly-eyed you got every time you talked about him.”
“I did not.”
“You did! And really, how many guys asked you out before him? You’ve turned down at least, what? A dozen guys? Then Matt spends one night with you and your vibrator has a new nickname.”
“Ohmygosh. Shut up!”
Serena laughed. “It’s true. You’ve been hooked on him since last summer. So…it’s only natural that you’re ready to move to the head of the class and bang the professor.”
Mira groaned. “Stop, please. Yes, I like him. Alot. He’s my kind of guy. He’s smart and funny and—”
“Hot as Hades?”
“Yeah,” she said with a sigh. “There is that.”
Serena dumped the bag in the middle of Mira’s bed, and Mira began looking through the items. Makeup, perfume, clothing, Nair…
“Nair? That stuff smells worse than death.”
“Trust me, you do not need razor stubble down there, and waxing hurts like a mother… You want to be bare as Nair.”
“What? I need to get rid ofallmy hair? Like a prepubescent child? What could possibly be sexy about that?” She’d shaved pretty closely down there already, leaving just a small tuft of curls. Did she really have to go bare?
Serena rolled her eyes. “Do you like pubes inyourmouth?”
“Ew! Serena!” She was used to hearing about Serena’s random escapades, but it had been so long since she’d had her own to talk about, it brought this to an excruciatingly embarrassing level.
“What? Didwhat’s his namehave hair down there?” She picked up a box of condoms and tossed it to Mira.
Mira dropped the Nair and caught the condoms, then frantically shoved the box under her pillow. “You’re so raunchy. I don’t remember what he haddown there. I tried very hard to forget everything about him.”
“I know, but really, Mira. Do you think a guy wants to wade through a forest to get to the promised land?”
Mira sank down to the bed.
Serena sat beside her, took her hand, and said, “Sweetheart, sometimes when a man and a woman spend a lot of time together, they get these tingly feelings.”
