Ruffling his hair one last time, Beth said, “Help me down, Romeo. I have a bag of bagels wedged under my head.”
Beth almost groaned as Nick slowly slid out of her, causing a delicious friction every inch of the way. One look into his face and she knew it was intentional. “You’re a bad boy, Nick, you really are.” When she finally had her feet on the floor, she deliberately stretched her body like a cat, working out all of the kinks that sex on the hard counter had caused. She noticed on the last stretch that she had Nick’s full attention visually and physically.
As he reached for her, she sidestepped his arms and started to gather her clothes. When she looked up at him, he had a puzzled expression on his handsome face. No doubt, he was used to women hanging all over him postcoital. She patted one of his firm butt cheeks on the way out the kitchen door and smiled to herself at the stunned expression on his face.
* * *
The sound of Suzy gagging beside her brought Beth back to the present. Suzy took a huge gulp of wine and groaned. “My god, Beth, I told you I didn’t need all of the details. How am I supposed to look Quick-Zipper in the eyes again knowing what he did to you on my counter?”
Beth laughed as she said, “I believe the better question here, sis, is how will you look him in the eyes knowing what I did to him on your counter? Every time we have sex, he seems to expect something more. Why can’t he just accept that I want to have sex with him without being his girlfriend?”
“Well, I don’t know; maybe because you are pregnant with his child?” Suzy snapped.
Beth waved her off. “No, that’s not it. He doesn’t know about that yet. It’s not a game changer anyway. I still don’t plan to get involved with him. Nick is a player and that might make him really, really, really great in bed, but it doesn’t make him a good father figure. He can be involved, but I will be the parent to my child.”
Suzy looked at her as if stunned. “Just who in the hell are you, Beth? You know I’m far from a prude, but I have to say I hardly recognize you. It’s not that I’m putting down your choices, because I’m the last person who should throw stones, but you just seem so different from the person I always thought you to be. It’s blowing my damn mind into a million pieces. I’m horrified and strangely proud of you all at the same time. Nick really didn’t take advantage of you, did he?”
With a smile of supreme satisfaction, Beth said, “Nope, he had very little say in the matter. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t sleep around. You know I haven’t slept with many guys. And Nick is the first man I have had sex with in years.” Then, almost embarrassed to admit it, she continued, “I wanted him though, sis, and for once I didn’t let the fat me talk me out of it. I know we are nothing alike and it’s not going to go anywhere. I won’t let him break my heart, but I’m enjoying the ride.”
“Shit on a stick, Beth! Helllloooo! This just went from sowing some delayed wild oats to a serious, life-altering complication. You do realize that your life has changed forever, don’t you?” Suzy asked more gently.
Smiling, Beth said, “Yeah, I do and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve always wanted to have a family and finally I get what I want. It might not be the fairy-tale version, but it’s closer than I ever imagined.”
“Can I ask you something else? Why are you talking about Nick as if you already know he won’t be sticking around? Are you sure he doesn’t know?”
“Nope, he is totally clueless.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Suzy groaned, “but you should give the guy a chance to do the right thing. I know he has probably given more rides than Greyhound, but deep down he seems like a good guy.”
After all of these years, Suzy never failed to surprise her with some of the things that came out of her mouth. Comparing Nick to the Greyhound bus line? She idly wondered how Suzy would react to knowing that even though she hadn’t slept with many men, she had been on a bit of a dating marathon the last few months. Somehow, she didn’t think Suzy was ready to deal with any more information tonight. Her bottle of wine was long since empty and her sister still looked shell-shocked.
But after another moment of deep thought, Suzy said, “So this has been going on for a while. How in the world have you managed to keep it hidden?”
Beth laughed. “It’s been rather easy. No one suspects the fat girl of screwing the hot guy’s brains out. I could have been doing him in the office when you walked in and your mind would have come up with some other way to justify it. I’m just not hot-guy material.”