“Oh, it’s nothing really,” Maycie said as she stabbed her pumpkin again.
“Okay, you totally have to spill,” Reese insisted, her technique a lot gentler as she carved her pumpkin.
“Fine! I went on a date with the most insufferable man last night, and then when I didn’t invite him in, he actually had the gall to ask me to pay him back for my half of the meal.”
Ella and Reese stopped what they were doing and stared at their friend. “You’re joking, right?”
“Nope. When I asked him what he was talking about, he went on to explain that he’d paid for dinner because he was planning on getting in my pants, and since that wasn’t going to happen he may as well at least recover some of the money on the expensive wine he’d purchased in the expectation of doing just that.”
After a moment of total silence, Ella couldn’t help it, a laugh escaped her. She tried to suppress it, but quickly gave up as more followed. “Oh my gosh, that is priceless,” she said between fits of laughter.
“I’m not telling either of you anything ever again if you don’t shut up right now!” Maycie insisted, but then her lips twitched and soon she was joining them in laughter.
“I don’t know what’s worse, dating or being single. Because it feels like years since I’ve had a decent date, or a decent kiss for that matter,” Reese said.
Ella was quiet for too long and both girls’ heads turned. “Oh, you had better spill,” Maycie insisted, her stabs against the pumpkin far less vicious now that she’d gotten her annoyance off her chest.
“I have nothing to spill,” Ella said, squirming in her seat.
“You know what, I was so busy at work this week I didn’t even notice the text messages weren’t coming in like normal. What’ve you been up to?” Reese said, all attention now on Ella.
“We’re supposed to be carving here, not fishing,” Ella pointed out.
“Oh, whatever. We do a project and fish for info at least once a week,” Maycie pointed out, putting down her knife and crossing her arms.
“Carve and gossip?” Ella was just buying herself some more time. It wasn’t working well.
“Listen, chicky, I’ve had a crap week, and I need you to fill me in. I’m not above using torture.”
Maycie always had been the bluntest of them all. The three had been best friends for so long that Ella honestly couldn’t remember a time in her life she hadn’t been with the two girls sitting at her table. Why she wanted to keep anything secret from them, she didn’t know.
“Oh, it has to do with sexy wall guy!” Reese said, practically bouncing in her seat.
“Spider-Man? Oooh, I do hope so,” Maycie said, leaning forward.
“What are you two talking about?” Now Ella was lost.
“Oh, we nicknamed your protector Spider-Man. Seemed appropriate considering he was scaling your house like a superhero the first time we met him,” Reese said.
“Ugh, I hate spiders. They’re creepy little creatures.”
“Everyone hates spiders,” Maycie agreed. “Now quit trying to change the subject. What’s going on?”
“Well . . .” She paused, just ’cause she knew it’d irritate them. It served them right for being such snoops. When a slimy pumpkin seed came flying at her face, she decided she’d stalled long enough.
“All right. We’ve gone on a few dates, and each one has been perfect. First was the setup from you and my cousin, though that wasn’t really a date,” she said with a glare before continuing. “Don’t think I didn’t chew Bryson out for that, and don’t think he didn’t throw you under the bus.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Maycie said.
“Ha! You certainly do,” Ella told her before she continued. “Axel took me to a nice restaurant where we danced, and boy can he move. And then we spent a day in the park and with the colors changing on the trees it was romantic and fun and . . .” Ella closed her eyes and took herself back over the past week.
She was getting way too attached to a man she’d only known a couple of weeks and she wasn’t sure that she wanted to put the brakes on. “We went ice-skating and then to a hockey game. That was boring actually, but the hot make out session made up for the freezing, noisy rink,” she said, her stomach stirring at the memory.
“Okay, get to the good stuff. Have you had sex?”
“Maycie!” Reese said in a horrified gasp. “Just kidding,” she continued, laughing. “Of course we want to know.”
“Well, um, yeah,” Ella said, her cheeks flushing. She and her girlfriends could be flirts, but they certainly weren’t easy. Heck, she’d only been with two men before Axel—the disaster she’d dated in college, and of course her loser ex-boss, who had not been an inspiring lover.
“Was it amazing? It had to be amazing. That man’s arms, oh my . . .” Reese leaned back and fanned herself.
“When I had sex with Trent in college, I expected it to be awkward. Neither of us knew what we were doing. But then with Felix, I wondered what the fuss was all about. I mean, he certainly didn’t know the right buttons to push, and I didn’t know to ask for those buttons to be pushed. But with Axel, it was just . . . I don’t know how to describe it, but it was like he knew exactly where to touch me and when and how much time to spend in each area . . .” Ella trailed off as her body heated all over again.
“So was it just once, or has it been multiple times?” Reese asked.