Full Package

And later, when I put her on her hands and knees and fuck her until she groans, I groan, and the bed groans, I revise my earlier sentiment about her chest being my favorite place.

She is my favorite place.

And I’m ridiculously glad I have a date with her, even though I doubt it’ll be the first of many, like I want.

The clock ticks on this thing between us. The more we spend nights in bed, the harder it’ll be to carry on as just friends when this ends.





26





If I thought Josie was into playing mood music the other night, she’s got nothing on Ivory.

The teacher of the sensual cooking class pipes in a constant stream of Sade at the cooking school in Soho on a Friday night.

Oh, and she’s also arranged scented candles around the room. I suspect she hopes we’re all going to get it on right here on the kitchen counter after we prep the chocolate-covered strawberries.

Josie and I aren’t the only ones taking the Enticing Appetizers and Alluring Desserts class, but I think we might be the only couple that’s barely a couple. Or the only pair not quite taking this class as seriously as all the others.

There’s an older couple here, in their sixties maybe. The man has his paws all over his woman. I’m not opposed to PDA in theory, but I’m not all that interested in seeing him grope her ass incessantly. But it’s nice that they dig each other. A younger couple is here, and the woman is pregnant. They might be trying to get pregnant while pregnant tonight, if such a thing were possible, judging from how many times he kisses her as they chop vegetables. Two men are here, too, and they’re quite touchy-feely as well.

Fine, it’s a sensual cooking class, but it’s a bit like we’re on an episode of Couples Retreat—Watch The Modern Man and Woman Mate. Or Man and Man. Or Woman and Woman.

And look, I’m all for getting it on with Josie as much as possible. Just not in a class. Tonight, she wears a summery dress along with her cherry-patterned apron, and surprise, surprise, it makes me think of the first time we made—

Screwed, I mean.

That’s all it was, and she looks completely screwable in her apron, as she mixes melted chocolate in a glass bowl at the wooden counter.

We’ve already cooked a pepper dish, while Ivory, in her slinky red dress, opined on how the heat in peppers stimulates blood, endorphins, and, you got it, erections. Considering I’m hard nearly all the time around Josie, I don’t need peppers to serve as my Viagra. But peppers are tasty, so we nibbled on that enticing appetizer.

Oysters came next, and Ivory watched over us, encouraging Josie to feed them to me. I declined. “You should try them. They make you virile,” Ivory said.

“Already there,” I told her.

She moved on to another couple, and I whispered to Josie, “Can’t stand oysters.”

She crinkled her nose. “I can’t either, so that was the right answer on the Roommate Compatibility test.”

Next, our teacher waxed on about asparagus and bananas, citing both the stimulants contained in them, but also how their shapes served as foreplay.

Everyone nodded sagely, like Ivory was sharing some newfound wisdom. But no one seemed able to utter the reason why their shape might be a turn-on.

“You mean because they’re phallic?” Josie asked, as if she were just learning this fact.

“Yes,” Ivory said, stroking a banana. “See?”

“Oh, I get it now,” Josie said.

When the teacher turned around, Josie opened her mouth wide like she was about to fellate the fruit. That made my night.

Yeah, maybe we’re goofballs. Maybe we’re irreverent. Maybe this class isn’t exactly for us. It’s a bit too serious, but we’re having fun in our own way.

Especially now that it’s dessert time.

“Chocolate is the ultimate aphrodisiac,” Ivory says, wandering around the room like a dance instructor. Her dark hair is braided down her back. She stops at a hipster couple—a guy with black glasses and a goatee, who slices strawberries next to a woman with a pixie cut. Ivory places one hand on his shoulder, the other on hers. “Chocolate is delicious, but that’s not the only reason it’s an aphrodisiac. Do you know why it is?”

The woman clears her throat. “They say it makes you feel like you’re falling in love?”

Ivory nods and holds up a finger. “They do say that. But why? Why does chocolate make you feel like you’re in love?”

Josie steals a glance at me, and for a second I think it’s because of the topic. That she can read it in my eyes, or that she’s checking to see if I might feel that way. Nerves crawl up my throat, but when Josie nudges me, it’s clear she’s just having fun. “I know the scientist in you is dying to answer,” she says under her breath.