A Mess of Reason Read Free Page B

to eat chocolate bunny ears before the tail? Are
you pussy whipped? Tell me you’re not! Please!”
    I kneel up on my stool, then lie across the
bar, sliding my belly straight to the tapper. Giving him a full,
perfect shot of my caboose. And he loves it. I don’t mind…not one
little bit.
    “Get a good look. And while you’re at it,
slide your glass over here so I can fill you up, too.”
    He looks at it, all right, then he shoots me
a glance that hits me from my heart to my gut. That little waggle
in his eyebrows doesn’t hurt either.
    “You still got it, Tess. Still the hottest
girl in the room.”
    You see? He tells me this stuff and I don’t
know what to do with it. I feel like a daisy that’s getting my
petals torn off. He loves me, he loves me not, he loves
me….
    “Aww, shucks, Scout…I’m blushing now.” I
think I am. I’m too old for these games. Gah.
    “Yeah, I don’t think you’d blush if I
pantsed you.” Try me…
    I scoot back onto my barstool, then slide
his beer down to him. He’s a hair further away from me than I’d
like. I grab the leg of his stool and try to scootch him
closer—think mouse moving Superman—not happening. Naturally he gets
the hint and comes to me. Just not as close as I’d like.
    “So, you never did tell me. Is she vanilla
in the sack? Or does she like naughty slap-and-tickle sex like we
do?”
    “She’s vanilla. But a fuck is still a fuck,
Tess.”
    “Yeah, I know it is. But I’m sad for you.
Well, if you ever want to liven things up, I’d be happy to be the
third wheel in your threesome. You know I love my kink. Would that
ruin my friend status, though?”
    “No, it would not…but I promise you baby,
she wouldn’t do a threesome if it were climbing up her ass.”
    “Wow, that’s a bummer…ha ha, get it?”
    He tilts his head at me, then drags his
long, sculpted fingers over the thick stubble riding his jaw. Have
I told you about his hands? His beautiful man hands? And yes, I’ve
pictured them on my naked body more times than should be legal.
They make my libido go “Excuse me, you dropped something—my jaw.”
You feel my pain?
    “Do I need to point my jokes out to you now,
too? Are you getting old or tired or are you just not spewing
enough semen out these days to keep your brain properly flossed?
Or, wait…oh no…am I just losing my touch?”
    “No gorgeous, you’re not losing your touch.
I just don’t want to talk about Liberty. Let’s talk about you.
You’re my favorite topic. Enlighten me…” His hand sweeps across my
cheekbone, then under my chin… Oh, you love him, don’t you?
    “Enlighten you with what, darling man? Do
you want to pick the topic or shall I spin the wheel for fifty
dollars and see where it lands?”
    “What about you and big-nuts? You gettin’
all you need?”
    He flashes his crooked smile at me while
giving my knee a ticklish squeeze. I could climb onto his lap right
now, move my panties aside—he could be in me in ten seconds, mach
speed. Do I sound desperate? Don’t think poorly of me. I’d do it—I
want to think I have that level of courage, the I’ll-Take-That-Dare
level—but the risk of him turning me down is paralyzing. The only
thing I seem to be able to move around him is my smart-ass
mouth.
    “Eh, he’s a pretty good fuck as fucks go.
He’s not vanilla—more more like fifty-six flavors—so at least we
don’t get bored in the sack. It’s…you know…pretty good. I take care
of myself when it’s not.”
    He grabs my thighs, making me gaze up and
down his delectable arms. I can’t not look. He’s mid-thigh,
squeezing my legs—and let me tell you, he could easily slide them
to my zipper and be in the midnight dip in seconds.
    “I have to ask because you’re my girl. Are
you head over heels with him? I mean, he’s the one? All hearts and
rainbows? Tell me the truth, Tess.”
    I put my hands over his and he scoops my
fingers into his palms. Inside I crumble as he takes them to his
lips,