Chapter Thirty-Five
Ailee
I head to Max’s and my favorite mom-and-pop café in downtown. She’s finally back, and of course, we have to hang out
Fluffy Haven is a small café with the best chocolate scones in the city. The elderly couple that owns it must make most of their money from the scone—not the coffee, because they have some of the cheapest brew in town. But everyone who drops by to grab a cup also gets a scone or two.
Max waves from the booth in the back with the most privacy. I take my tray, laden with a sugary coffee and chocolate scone, and head over. “You look amazing!” she squeals, and jumps up to hug me as soon as I place the tray on the table.
I squeeze her back, enjoying the tight embrace. She’s a great hugger.
“So do you,” I say. Although her hair is in a messy bun and she’s wearing a sweatshirt and tights, she screams confidence.
She smiles. “And you’re really dressed up.” Her eyes move up and down, taking in my high ponytail, fitted green dress and pointy sandals. “Got a date with Josh after this?” She waggles her eyebrows.
I laugh and sit down opposite her. “No. But I’m meeting his mother later.”
“Wow! Already at that phase?”
I shrug, then take a sip of the hot coffee. “She wants to talk.” But I don’t know what she wants to talk about. Akiko was nice to me at the dinner, but maybe secretly she doesn’t approve?
Obviously, I wouldn’t say anything in front of the others to save your pride, but really, Ailee, you should know better. I sigh. Good old Mom’s voice, right on cue.
But I’m not going to let myself think negatively. Akiko seems sweet and kind, and I’ll take her at face value until I have a real reason not to.
“So where are you staying?” I ask. Max’s mom passed away last year, and as far as I know, she doesn’t have a father.
At least, I’ve never seen the man, even though we were neighbors.
And she and her boyfriend don’t seem to be at the stage where she’d feel comfortable sharing a living space.
“Sorry we haven’t gotten to talk about getting a new place.
I didn’t think you’d be back until next week. ”
“Neither did I, but there was a change of plans.” Max rolls her eyes, then munches on her scone.
“So typical of him. I’m staying at a hotel right now.
It’s comfortable enough. And I drove by our old apartment on the way here.
” She shakes her head. “There’s nothing left of the building except some blackened I-beams.”
I nod. “Yeah, it’s pretty crummy.” We sit and think about that for a moment. “So, you want to get a new place together? We can look this week.”
“Sure, but…” She frowns. “Aren’t you with Josh now?”
“Yeah, but I can still pay half the rent. I don’t mind.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Plus”—I lower my voice—“the thing between me and Josh…it isn’t really real.”
“What do you mean?”
I explain the six-month commitment Josh made to spare my pride.
As I speak, I realize that we have less than five months left.
The idea makes my shoulders sag. Although Josh and I slept together yesterday, we still haven’t discussed what’s going to happen to our engagement.
I should talk to him about it, but then he left early this morning.
And a cowardly little bit of me was secretly relieved that I didn’t have to broach the subject.
“Ailee, he wouldn’t have agreed to do that if he didn’t care about you,” Max says. “You guys are doing a really slow burn, but it’ll turn into something more.”
I shake my head and let out a wobbly laugh, abruptly realizing that, once again, I went for my default response: Good things don’t happen to me. And if they do, they don’t last for long.
Max gives me a skeptical look and takes another bite of her scone. “You sleep with him yet?”
My cheeks warm before I can say a word.
“Ah-hah! That blush says everything!” She leans closer.
“He was good, right? I got something to make it even better.” She pulls out a box out from her big tote bag.
“Tada! I got you a surprise subscription to the Year of Coming First. I didn’t know your new address, so I had them deliver the first box to my office.
But I’ll change it as soon as you send it to me. ”
I cover my mouth in shock. But at least the box is discreet. “Purple and pink? It’s like some kind of baby product,” I say, looking at the packaging.
“The activity does occasionally lead to procreation, so…” She shrugs with a mischievous spark in her eyes. “Check it out.”
Looking around to make sure that nobody’s paying attention, I open the box and rummage through the crinkling tissue papers.
The first thing is… A pair of silver nipple clamps.
Seriously? The instructions say they vibrate, but they seem a little too heavy.
“I don’t think these are really for me,” I say with a small giggle.
“Don’t know that until you try.” Max makes a rolling gesture. “Keep digging.”
“There’s more?” Shoving them to the side, I pull out a very nice-looking pair of panties in a gorgeous, satiny red.
The shade is super sexy, but not something you always see in stores.
Somehow Silicone Dream got the color just right.
Having an extra pair wouldn’t be so bad, since I still haven’t found the ones I lost, and there hasn’t been a chance to replace them yet.
Underneath the underwear is an instruction booklet for the panties.
“Instructions to put on underwear? Especially when you’re old enough to buy sex toys? ”
Max starts laughing, then nearly chokes on her coffee.
I hand her a napkin, and she dabs her mouth and chin while giving me a small, anticipatory smirk.
I glance at the cover of the manual, my opinion on humankind sinking lower.
But…oh, wait. The panties vibrate, too? And come with a remote control?
I upend the box, and a sleek black cylinder rolls out, chic and discreet.
“Look at that. You can use an app if you download it to your phone. Then connect your device to the Bluetooth on your phone and control it, whichever is more convenient. How high tech,” I murmur as I glance at the manual.
“Sex toys have come a long way. But all the advancement has been for a good cause,” Max says, then picks up the remote control. Her index finger runs over a little dial on the side that looks like a mouse wheel, then she taps the end of the stick.
Abruptly, the panties start to dance. The crotch part clatters loudly on the table. Oh crap. I slap my hand over it. “Turn it off!” I whisper, praying nobody notices.
Max taps the tip of the remote again, and the panties quiet down.
I look around. Everyone’s either busy enjoying their coffee and scones or has their nose to their phone, thank God. “What the hell? This underwear rattles!” I say, doing my best to keep my voice down.
Max takes a sip of her drink. “Because you aren’t wearing them. But at least you know they work.”
“I can’t wear something that rattles, Max! With my luck, I’ll go viral as Rattle Pussy.”
She laughs until tears fall from her eyes.
“It won’t if it’s flush against your private parts, so don’t worry.
It also has a crotch hole, in case you want your partner to do something about your horniness.
The size I ordered should be snug enough for you, so you don’t miss out on the motor action. I have a sense for these things.”
My jaw slackens at how smug she sounds. “How do you know all this?”
“Because I also have a pair, and they work great.”
“Isn’t it better to just use a regular vibrator?” I’m not certain the tiny motor in the panties would be enough to push anybody over. I know I need more.
“In public?”
“What? Why would you want to masturbate in public?”
“For the thrill? Because you’re being bad? I don’t know. Whatever gets you off. Why does anybody masturbate?” She shrugs, but there’s a glint in her eyes. “Maybe the men in my life are unreliable.”
I pull my lips in. I’m learning more about my best friend’s sexual preferences—and possibly her relationship history—than I ever wanted to.
“You can wear it to work, if you know what I mean.” She raises an eyebrow suggestively.
“No.”
“Josh won’t mind.”
“Have you worn them to work?”
This time Max chokes for real—and very badly. A mouthful of coffee ends up on her sweatshirt. “Oh shit. Fuck,” she mutters. “No. Hell no. I’d rather die a virgin.”
I laugh at her scrunched face. “A little late for that.”
“Okay, fine. I’d rather give up sex for the rest of my life.
” But even as she says it, a strange redness suffuses her face.
Not like a flush of interest, but not quite from humiliation, either.
I can’t put my finger on it, which makes me want to probe, in case she needs to get something off her chest.
“Did something happen between you and Jeffrey?” I say, bringing up her boyfriend.
Her eyes narrow. “Yeah. He’s been cheating on me. Caught him red-handed.”
I blink. It takes a moment for me to process. “What the… I’m so sorry.” Max didn’t say a word, and I feel like a horrible friend for staying ignorant. Was she consoling me about Chad when she was grappling with Jeffrey’s betrayal? “When? What happened?”
“I ran into him and his side chick. In Tokyo! He had his tongue down her throat so far, I’m surprised she didn’t die. But then, his tongue is even shorter than his dick.”
I nod in shock. Jeffrey seemed like a great guy. Guess you can’t judge someone by their smile, no matter how friendly.
“Do you know that asshole told me he didn’t have time to go on a long vacation with me?
Then he had the gall to tell me we’d always had an open relationship—which was news to me—and I was the stupid one for ‘not taking advantage.’” She bares her teeth in a rictus of a smile.
“It was just fucking fantastic because my dad was there too and sided with him.”
“Your dad?” My tone says, You have a dad?
“Yeah. That cheating scumbag. I hate him. He’s been dead to me since he turned his back on me and Mom when I was a kid.
He can go to the ninth circle of hell for all I care.
” The fire raging in her eyes says if he doesn’t get there himself, she’ll send him there. “But that wasn’t even the worst part.”
I blink. “There’s more?”
“Oh, yeah. Of course there is! Rhys saw the whole thing.”
That would be the cherry on top of the crap cake. She isn’t fond of her boss.
I cover my mouth. “I’m so sorry,” I say again. “You deserve better.”
“Goddamn right I do. And I want to sue that hotel in Tokyo for saying there was only one room available during our stay.”
“Want me to check?” I offer. “I’m sure Huxley & Webber has at least one lawyer who specializes in that sort of thing.”
“No.” Max sighs, shoulders sagging. “I’m sure there was a liability clause somewhere in the thick stack of papers Rhys had to sign to check in.”
“You didn’t have to share a room with him…right?”
Max sniffs, then takes another bite of her scone. “I’m just unlucky in relationships. I need to find myself someone like Josh. Honorable. Smart. Hot. But not my boss. Never the boss.”
“Definitely not.” I nod, wondering if Max was forced to share a room with her boss. That’d really suck, given how much she dislikes the man.
She swirls her coffee morosely. “Too bad his twin’s taken. What was his name…?”
“Bryce. And he is taken. But so what? The firm has plenty of great associates. I’m sure I can play matchmaker for you and some hottie lawyer. Trust me.”