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“Oof. I shouldn’t,” shebegan, but her resolve weakened almost at once. “I don’t know. Whatcould it hurt?”
“Exactly.Give yourself a chance to come down.”Give me a chance to make sure nothing we did threw you for aloop.As sexually free with her body asshe was, she was still in her twenties. If a role-playing threesomehad blown her mind, she wasn’t as experienced as she would perhapslike me to believe.
The tub would take some time to fillup, so I sat on the edge of the king-sized bed with her.
“How was it?” I asked. Myvoice was oddly uncertain. I’d wanted her to be impressed with itall. Not only the sex, but the care I’d taken to make the sexhappen, to make sure she’d enjoyed it.
“Um, amazing?” She reassuredme.
“Too short,though?”
“Just right,” she promised.“I wasn’t timing anyone. And frankly, I probably shouldn’t have hadanother sex marathon. Not with the wedding rehearsaltomorrow.”
“The wedding rehearsal.”Fuck. “I forgot, I’m not here to have sex with you and fulfill yoursecret desires.”
“Right, we need to stayfocused. It’s Scott and Lauren’s big day.”
“Big weekend,” I correctedher. “And tomorrow night is the bachelor party.”
The bachelor party hadseemed so important before. After all, it was one of my biggestduties as the best man. And itwasgoing to be an awesome party. But it would makeme miss out on spending more time with Charlotte.
Time I’d begun to view as precious. Andthat might be a problem.
“I don’t get bachelorparties,” Charlotte mused aloud. “I mean, the groom is already in acommitted relationship. Why would he want to go out and dosomething to fuck it up the night before a really expensivewedding?”
“It wasn’t expensive tothem,” I reminded her, and I had no idea why. It sounded petty.“But I get what you’re saying. Why quit the race right before thefinish line?”
“Exactly! It’s misogynisticand weird. The idea that someone needs ‘one last night offreedom.’” She punctuated the sentence with finger quotes and animitation of a deep voice.
“What about bacheloretteparties?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve neverbeen to one, and I wasn’t invited to Lauren’s.” There was a note ofhurt in her voice. “She doesn’t like me very much. And I don’t fitin with her friends.”
“I don’t think you’remissing anything.” It sounded mean to put it like that, but thereit was. “One of them cornered me in the kitchen and wanted to knowmy opinion on revising legislation to protect trademark standards.I recognize that it’s an important subject but… it was supposed tobe a party.”
“Politicsare a good time for some people. Usually people who have no stakein them, like soulless billionaires. Maybe she was trying to meetyou on your level.” she pointed outso charitably. “But let me guess. Itwas Art Fair Jewelry Woman.”
The description was short, but on thenose. “What was it made out of? Rope and clay? It looked soheavy.”
“She was into you. Maybe youshould get her number. You could find out,” Charlotteteased.
And I didn’t like it. The notion that Ishould pursue another woman when Charlotte was right there, and thefact that she was so compatible sexually—
The realization that overtwo days I had gone from wanting Charlotte to wantingjustCharlotte washedover me like a rogue wave of doom. And she would be leaving onSunday. There were only two nights left, and one of them was spokenfor.
“I think I’m going to pass,thanks,” I responded, standing to go check on the water level inthe tub.
She followed me and whipped off hertop, then stepped out of her shorts. “It looks good enough. Let’sget in and let it fill up around us.”
“Remember what I said aboutpatience and how you needed to learn some?” I said, but put onefoot in the hot water, anyway. “Careful, it might be alittle—”
She stepped in, sat down, and reachedto adjust the tap to a more scorching setting.
“You’re going to boil mealive,” I complained, but at least I could admire the view while Iwas dying.
“I know hot baths are badfor your skin,” she explained guiltily, “but my muscles needthis.”
The water was high enough to turn onthe jets, so I did, and she leaned back in the curve of the tubwith a long sigh of appreciation. “Don’t let me fall asleep anddrown.”