Page 55 of Shifting Winds
The thought of anyone else other than Evie warming my bed made fury heat my blood. “I don’t want a shifter,” I gritted out.
“Maybe not, but are you sure Evie wants you?”
I squashed the urge to punch Garrett, but his words left me uncomfortable, itching to shed my skin.
His question was right on the money. Evie might want me, but did she want me enough to fight for what we could one day have?
Chapter
Eighteen
Tess came in the next morning, looking no worse for the wear.
Ash was still nowhere to be found. I had an email from him telling me he planned to be off until Monday, and he’d call if he needed more time.
“Morning, Tess,” Moira called, sipping from a cup of fragrant tea. “Nice to have you back.”
Tess waved and set her purse down behind the register. “Thanks. I can close today if you want to take off early.” She grimaced. “I could use the extra hours since I’ve been off.”
“Are you doing okay?” I asked.
Tess nodded. “A breakup is weird, isn’t it? It’s a small death. An ending of something even if both parties are still alive.”
Unsurprised she’d compared a breakup to death, I was nonetheless impressed at her logic. “Did you know they call an orgasmla petite mort?”
The banshee blinked. “No. How interesting. Why do they call it that?”
Moira snorted, and I wondered if I’d made the wrong move with that fun fact. Apparently, she and Ash had not taken the final step in their physical relationship. “It means the little deathand refers to the feeling that overtakes your body during an orgasm.”
“You die?” Tess frowned. “That doesn’t seem fun.”
Moira hid her grin behind her mug and widened her eyes dramatically at me.
“You don’t physically die, but the feeling is…indescribable.” I shook my head. “Perhaps it was a poor way to explain. Many things in our lives are akin to death. There are many endings, but there are even more beginnings we experience. That’s what makes life worth living.”
A thoughtful expression crossed her face. “Maybe I should find someone to help me orgasm.”
A bark of laughter from Moira’s corner.
I winced and waved my hands. “No. Tess. No. That’s not what I’m saying. Sex is important, especially your first time.”
Moira rose and stretched her lean frame. “Tess.”
The banshee turned.
Moira popped her head into her hands and leaned on the register desk. “Listen. Evie is right. Sex is important, but it’s not the end all be all. Your first time should be special, but you don’t have to do anything the traditional way. You don’t need a boyfriend. You don’t even need a first date. Hell, you could put an ad in the paper and?—”
I gasped. “Moira! Don’t you dare tell her to take a Craigslist ad out for her virginity.”
Moira rolled her eyes. “I’m simply saying she could do it.”
“You should definitely not do that,” I urged Tess, who watched us like she was at a tennis match.
“I could auction it,” Tess said thoughtfully.
Moira cackled.
I scrubbed a hand over my face.
