Chapter 25

ChapterTwenty-Five

Sadie

“I’m not kidding, Katie.” I pinch the phone between shoulder and ear as I fold another shirt. I’ve been here for a week, so laundry is well overdue. “You’d really like Will.”

Katie grunts on the other end of the line. “You know what I think you’re doing?” she demands, and I blink as she explains. “I think you’re talking about this Will guy, trying to get me interested so that I don’t pressure you for details about your hot mountain man.”

“That that’s not what I’m doing.”

“I think it’s exactly what you’re doing, babe.”

“Katie, I’m serious. Will is perfect for you.” I drop a folded shirt onto the pile and grab another as Claus looks at me through sleepy eyes from where he’s curled up on a throw on the middle of the bed. He’s warmed up a lot in the last couple days.

“Okay, well Mr. Perfect For Me is a few too many States away to actually be perfect for me.”

“There are planes.”

Katie grunts again. “Unlike you, I’m not crazy enough to fly away for Christmas to some unknown place with unknown people.”

“Oh, whatever,” I huff. “Come after Christmas.”

“Sadie,” Katie warns. “I want to know what happened with that man.”

I groan and reply, because if I don’t, she’s unlikely to give up. “Nothing.”

“Sadie!”

“I’m serious!” I shriek. “Nothing. Literally nothing.” I’m thankful the house is silent, because Nick’s outside currently plowing snow. We got another dump last night, and he’s working on the neighbor’s drives now. He probably won’t be in for another hour.

“Nothing?” Katie deadpans.

“Nothing,” I repeat. “That’s the problem.” I continue moaning into the line. “Nothing has happened.”

Katie makes a noise. “What do you mean, nothing has happened?”

“Exactly what I said,” I huff. “I told him I’m a virgin, and that I wanted to have sex with him, and he did nothing about it.”

“Nothing about it?” she echoes, in shock.

“Well, I mean, he used his fingers. But—”

“Oh my God!” Katie shrieks and I wince. “Did he make you come?”

There’s excitement in her voice now, and I roll my eyes. “Yes, but that’s not the point. The point is the fact that he hasn’t actually had sex with me. Why hasn’t he had sex with me?”

“I don’t know. That’s weird.” She hurries on to continue when I gasp in a sharp, horrified breath. “But, babe, I don’t know this guy. You’ve hardly told me anything about him.”

“But it’s weird that he hasn’t—you know—made that move?”

“Yeah. I mean—you give a man the green light and he’s ready to go, ya know?”

“Okay…”

“I mean, if you tell a guy he can stick it in, chances are he’s gonna stick it in.”

“Eww, Katie.” I scowl. “Gross.”

“Not gross. Fact.”

“Well, Nick isn’t like that.”

She snorts. “Clearly.”

“Katie.” I sigh, dropping my booty to the bed beside my pile of clothes. Claus lifts his head, muttering a kitty meow, before dropping his head back to his paws. I look back to the closed door of my bedroom and bite back another sigh. I feel tender and insecure—and she’s not helping.

Gentler, she asks, “Does he get hard? Maybe he has issues keeping it up?”

I can hear her cringe, but the idea of Nick having that issue makes me laugh. “Yeah. No issue there.”

“Okay, that’s good.” I can literally hear her smile. “Have you made him come?”

“Um…” I shake my head even though she can’t see me. “No.”

“Sadie!” she yells. “That is not fair play!”

“He won’t let me,” I cry in defense. I’ve tried to get him to let me return the favor more than once. He shuts me down every time. My confidence is taking a real hit.

I must be doing something wrong.

“So let me get this straight,” Katie starts. “You’ve slept in his bed, in his shirt, for two nights and he’s made you come but you haven’t returned the favor because he shuts that shit down as soon as you try?”

“Yes,” I admit quietly, ashamed.

“Well, babe, you’re just going to have to step up your game.”

Nervously, I ask, “And how am I supposed to do that?”

I can sense Katie getting herself comfortable as she prepares to deliver me a play-by-play of exactly what I’m going to do to step up my game.

“Here’s what you’re gonna do,” she starts. “You’re going to get yourself to some saucy lingerie shop and you’re going to buy the sexiest little piece you can find. Then you’re going to put it on for him. One look, and that man will be hot and hard for you, so you’re going to take advantage, drop to your knees and suck him off. When you’ve blown his mind—and his dick—you can let him unwrap his gift. Which, babe, if you’re not getting what I’m putting out there, is you.”

The image Katie’s painted in my mind has hot heat pooling between my legs and a simmering flush under my skin.

She continues in original Katie fashion. “He’ll be sure to pop your cherry after that.”

“Katie,” I wheeze, blinking away the mental image. “Gross.”

“That’s not gross. That’s fucking hot.”

Okay, she has a point. Still, I’m not admitting it to her.

I groan. “I hate you.”

“No, you love me.”

“Well, right now, I’m not feeling the love.”

She snorts again. “Right now, honey, you’re feeling excited. Just do what I say, it’ll work.”

I nibble my lip as I think about it, but I just don’t know. He promised to make me scream his name. And yeah, he’s kind of fulfilled that promise a few times, but not in the way that I want him to. And he hasn’t let me return the favor. Not once. That’s really getting old.

I don’t like being a taker. Relationships are about give and take. They are back and forth, but this is all take. I want to give.

I want to do what Katie said and blow his mind.

“I still think you should come out after Christmas,” I say, changing the subject. Katie knows what I’m doing, but she doesn’t harp on me for it.

“So I can meet Mr. Perfect For Me?”

“Exactly. And to see your best friend.”

“I’ll think about it. I miss your cute little ass.”

“Yeah, and I miss your crazy ass,” I return quickly.

“Love you.”

I blow her a kiss through the phone and end the call. Then I open my chat with Allie and shoot her a message. We make plans to get together first thing in the morning for breakfast and lingerie shopping. She’s as excited as Katie to help me blow Nick’s mind.