Page 40 of Savage in the Sheets
Elliot smiles. “Well, I hope it all works out for you.”
He gets up to leave, but I find myself not wanting to be alone, and I blurt out, “We’re having sex on Saturday!”
Elliot blinks, his head tilting in shock.
“I’m sorry! I just feel like I’m going to explode,” I confess.
Elliot reclaims his seat. “Do you want to have sex with him?”
“Yes…desperately. But he’s my best friend. We’ve had eight years of a near-perfect friendship, and somehow, this happened.” I dig in my draw and throw a banana on my desk.
“Have you developed feelings for him that weren’t there before?”
“You have no idea how much that question has haunted me the last few days.”
Elliot picks up the banana, eyeing it inquisitively. “How did this all start? The banana thing?”
“Apparently, I’m well known for being bad in bed. He was helping me with that.”
Elliot snorts.
My eyes light in mortified fury. “What? Did you hear something?”
“No, it’s just that with most of my friends, what matters more than skill is the woman’s desire to actually be there, having sex. Sure, a great blowjob is…great, but a woman wanting to be with you is king and any lack of skill can easily be overcome.”
“If that’s true, then why can’t I find a guy that actually wants to date me?”
“Do you want my honest opinion?”
“Shoot.”
“It’s probably because of Wes.”
“Wes? You think he’s sabotaging me or something?”
“No, but you guys are good friends, and that can intimidate a man.”
“I know better than to talk about him on dates.”
“But your FaceBook, Twitter, Chatter, and Instagram accounts all have pictures of him with you. I’m not ashamed to say that he’s probably a ten to most women, and I hate to make this awkward, but you are…smokin’ hot. Any guy you’re with would assume you two have hooked up.”
I point to myself. “Me? Smokin’ hot? I know I look good, but hot?”
“You don’t know? It wouldn’t surprise me if men found you unapproachable, and you just assumed that meant you were undesirable. If you want my advice, aim high. Regular men are going to be intimidated by how perfect you are.”
And then, it strikes me: I asked the wrong man for advice. It was never about being bad in bed. As Elliot said, that’s easy to overcome. It’s about men being intimidated by me, and now I’m tangled up in emotions for my best friend that I don’t understand, who very clearly does not feel the same way toward me.
I burst into tears.
“Oh, gosh—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” Elliot flounders to free a tissue from its box.
“It’s okay!” I choke out. “It’s just-it’s just—I’ve ruined everything.”
“Somehow, I doubt that. You think through everything and aren’t known for making errors.”
“But I’ve never had to take into consideration my heart before,” I sob.
“Just so we’re on the same page, you’re sure you never knew you had feelings for him?”
