“Sebastian’s laughing.” I could hear the tremor in my own voice.
“Oh, honey,” said Alice, giving my arm a squeeze.
“You’re doing okay, Venzi,” said Nicole, formerly Sebastian’s harshest critic. “I think you’re both doing okay.”
Atash left soon after, hurrying out of the door, smiling shyly.
“What was all that about?” I said, thrilled to see that Sebastian was grinning broadly.
“Atash wanted to know if I needed some hashish,” he said casually.
Jenna and Alice looked slightly shocked, and Nicole frowned.
“Excuse me?” I said, sharply. “I hope you said ‘no’.”
Sebastian shrugged. “He said it’s good for pain.”
I noticed Sebastian hadn’t answered me directly, and he so wasn’t getting away with an excuse like that – but it was a conversation to have in private.
“And what else?” I said, eyeing him curiously. “What aren’t you telling me, Hunter?”
Sebastian’s grin became wider.
“He was wondering why I was making the tea when I’ve got four wives to do it.”
My mouth dropped open, and Nicole snorted with laughter.
“Well, I hope you put him straight! Sebastian?”
He grinned wickedly.
God, I’d missed that smile.
“I’ll put him straight, Caro. Eventually.”
Jenna started to laugh and then Nicole joined in. Soon we were all laughing our asses off. Damn, it felt good.
“You and I will have words later, Hunter,” I said, in a threatening voice.
“Looking forward to it, baby,” he said, still grinning at me.
After Atash’s visit, we moved outside to sit in my yard, enjoying the nice weather. I’d dug out an old sundress to wear, and had the pleasure of watching Sebastian’s eyes drift up and down my legs. I hitched my skirt slightly higher and raised an eyebrow at him, as his eyes followed my movement and he ran the tip of his tongue over his lips.
“Oh, just stop it, you two,” Nicole groaned. “I haven’t been laid in months and you’re wafting all this sexual tension around. It’s so unfair.”
Alice laughed at her. “Lee got lucky – and it isn’t like she hasn’t put in more than her fair share of waiting over the years,” she pointed out. “Besides, I’ve decided to give up on men: I’m going down the B.O.B. route.”
I could see Sebastian was puzzled.
“Battery-operated boyfriend,” I whispered in his ear.
He smirked at me and sat back to listen. I could see he was intrigued, watching me with my friends, seeing a different side to me.
Alice nodded.
“No offence, Sebastian, but men just take up too much energy. Or maybe it’s just the men I meet. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to dinner parties and listened to them droning on about football, or fishing, or how damn important they are at work. One even gave me a blow-by-blow description of building a model airplane. I mean, come on!”
Jenna agreed.
“Although maybe it’s just men our age: we should do what Lee has done and find ourselves some younger guys.”
“I’d definitely recommend it,” I said, winking at Sebastian, whose eyes were flicking between Alice and Jenna so quickly, he looked as if he was watching a table tennis match.
He grinned at me, while Alice continued.
“Well, I’m a bit out of practice now, I admit it, but food has some serious advantages over sex.”
I laughed out loud, and Nicole told her she was talking bullshit.
“I’m serious!” she said, ticking off the points on her fingers. “Eating: you can do it every day, at least three times a day, with snacks in between; you can do it with as many people as you want, of any gender, and you don’t have to worry about their sexual orientation; there are more good recipes and restaurants than hot, available men around – and believe me, I’ve done some research on this; I’m not going to get pregnant or STDs by eating ice cream; and, best of all, even if you gorge yourself with different people every time, no one calls you a slut.”