Page 17 of Not Before Game Night
I smiled to myself. Nice with a mingle of wild.
Mom might just have given me an idea.
Chapter 5
Vanessa
* * *
The Diva’s Guide to Great Sex, by Madam Phoebe
Isthis what it’d come to?
A sex book.
I’d found it in my bag at lunchtime. Wrapped around it was a little pink bow and a tag that read:
Read it. You will thank me. Love, Mia.
As none of my sisters had ever bought me anything like this before, I kind of couldn’t chalk it up to one of their antics. Also, as I knew Mia was actually being genuine, I thought I’d give it a try.
Give it a try as in I went home early, slept for two hours, then picked it up just now to take the plunge and read it.
My guide to sex.
God. I couldn’t believe I was twenty-six and still a virgin.
There was nothing wrong with it for most people, especially if you were religious or even waiting to lose it with that special someone on your wedding night.
I was none of the above. I used to have all these ideas of how I would lose it.
Most of which started with Cole. Then, after him, I definitely thought it would happen in college, and it nearly did, except I averted it. Twice.
It was then that I realized I might have a problem. I’d worried that my guy would take one look at me the way Cole did and criticize me or make some comment that would make me feel like I wasn’t good enough. I knew nothing was further from the truth, but once it got stuck in my mind, it was difficult to remove it.
I cringed when I flicked over the page and saw a whole chapter devoted to giving the perfect blowjob.
Shit.I hadn’t even done that. Most people I knew had at least done that, never mind the other stuff.
Me though, no. I’d done nothing at all.
My phone pinged next to me on the sofa. I picked it up and saw a message from a guy I was talking to online from Perfectly Matched.
His name was Connor. He seemed nice enough, but there was something missing for me that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. It could have been his jokes. They were just lame, but he kept making reference to them like he’d planned them and wanted to keep them going for as long as he could.
I set the phone down, not bothering to answer. Maybe I would later.
The plan for tonight was to plan for this project. The articles and magazine. I was still buzzing with excitement about the whole idea.
I used to dream about writing for a magazine. I just wasn’t sure which I’d write for, or what route I’d go down. I was one of those people who hadn’t exactly fit into a category. I loved writing about everything. That was why I liked working at the marketing agency. The work was varied and different from one month to the next. I could be working on literature packs for events which I created myself from scratch, or doing articles online for the website. Or doing more practical hands on tasks like booking venues for events. It was fun. This though was even more exciting because it would flesh out my creativity in abundance.
The plan for tonight was also to not be at work late, just in case I ran into Cole. That was why I’d left work early. A lot earlier than I would have on a regular day.
Most days saw me there until late, sometimes well past eight. I mostly went over the websites and checked out various things across the enterprise. Some evenings, I’d meet up with Gage and his sister Amelia, and we’d all have dinner.
Other times, I spent it with my sisters. That was how my life usually worked. I flipped back to the beginning of the book. Maybe it was best to start there and work my way through it, no matter how much I cringed. At least I’d know a thing or two if and when the day came when I decided to give my cherry away.
There were three sections. Each labelled by the different types of guys Madam Phoebe set out. Mia swore by her, and she’d been her guide for a lifetime, so maybe I could learn something.
