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“Oh! Oh shit. Did it—did it happen when his legs were … What’s a polite phrase? Did it happen from the IED?”
“His junk is fine.” Henrietta trotted down the road, and Olivia was quick-stepping behind her.
“‘Cause you checked.”
“Of course I did,” Olivia scowled at her phone. “With a name like that, wouldn’t you be curious?”
“Did you stop at a fact-finding mission?” Jaylen’s voice brightened with interest. “Or did you jump his bones?”
“I did not necessarily jump his bones.”
“You had sex, though?”
“We did.” Olivia smiled.
“Are you thinking your usual serial killer thoughts?” Jaylen’s voice was muted as she moved away from the phone.
“About the sex? Absolutely not. No.”
There was a pause; a moment later, Jaylen’s voice was back in range. “So he didn’t get rough in bed, choke you, or insist you wear a matching bra and panty set?”
“I was very mismatched, so I felt safe,” Olivia smiled wider, remembering. “Nothing kinky. Nothing violent. Lots of consensual questions. ‘Is this okay?’ ‘Would you like it if I …?’ I’m not used to that.”
“What did you say no to?” Jaylen asked.
“Nothing. Everything he wanted to do was great by me. More than great. Best.”
“Best?” Jaylen’s voice was shocked.
“Best.” Olivia let Henrietta run to the end of her retractable lead.
“He’s ruined you for all other men.”
“Shut up,” Olivia laughed. “Stop teasing.” She felt content, and that was so foreign to her. “Yeah. It was surprising.”
“Mmm, that's not always a great sentence to say after a roll in the sack.”
“He certainly has a lot of talent,” Olivia said. “No details.”
“But you were thinking serial killer around him?”
“You said that, not me. But also, with all my years in the prosecutor’s office—”
“Will make you terrified of any human interaction,” Jaylen finished her friend’s thought. “I get it. Aw, look, you have a Crush on Crushed,” Jaylen laughed. “You’re Crushed.”
“Maybe just a tad.” Tilly screeched in the background. “And that’s the signal to say good-bye.”
“Hey, do you realize that both Nuts and Olives grow on trees?”
“Helpful information. Goodbye,” Olivia sang, then added, “I hope Tilly feels better soon.”
Amidst the splashing of Jaylen pulling Tilly from the tub, Olivia heard, “Nutsbe and Olivia sitting in a tree—”
Olivia swiped the phone to end their connection. Then let out an amused huff. Yeah, something about Jaylen’s teasing felt happy.
Wasn’t that interesting?
Olivia had been a stranger to that emotion for quite a long time. The best she had been lately was “head above water.”