Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Harlow
Harlow
What feels better for a guy? Jerking off or having someone else do it? And then do men prefer a woman’s mouth or hand more?
Waylon
Harlow…it’s seven in the morning.
Harlow
Oh, shit. Were you sleeping? Sorry!
Waylon
Physically, no. Mentally, yes.
Harlow
I thought you were up at like 5.
Waylon
5:30-6ish.
Harlow
Okay, so you’ve been up for over an hour. What’s the problem?
Waylon
I don’t usually talk about blow jobs before noon. Especially on a Monday.
Iroll my eyes because I know he’s messing with me.
We’ve been talking every day, all day, for the past week and it’s been a lot of fun. Way better than having to Google or read through Reddit forums. But we’ve also talked about other stuff, some more personal, and some simple like our favorite movies and artists.
It’s made the anxiety about the incident go away and my attacker’s potential probation.
Even more so now that I found out he was denied probation.
There were added pending charges to his case that weren’t there before.
When I looked up the codes, they were for assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder.
I can only assume without asking my lawyer to look into it that he must’ve been in a prison fight, perhaps with a shank, and it must’ve been bad enough that they’re adding time to his existing time.
Thank God.
I won’t know for sure until he gets sentenced, but it was enough of a relief not to stress about it in the meantime.
Safe to say, I’ve been in a great mood for several reasons.
Harlow
I might have more questions by then.
Waylon
I have no doubt.
Guys like being touched anywhere, in any variety. We’re not picky.
Harlow
Will you show me?
Waylon
Show you what?
Harlow
How you jerk off…like the movements and what feels good. I imagine there’s some kind of rhythm to it…I want to see how guys touch themselves so I know what they like.
Waylon
You want to watch me come?
Harlow
Yeah…you watched me.
Waylon
Technically, I didn’t. I only heard you.
Harlow
Well you weren’t the one learning, so you didn’t need to. If it makes you uncomfortable, you can use a banana to demonstrate.
Waylon
Jesus Christ.
I laugh because I can hear his annoyed voice in my head.
Harlow
Or I’ll get a banana and you tell me what to do.
Waylon
No banana.
Harlow
What about a cucumber?
Waylon
No.
Harlow
An eggplant?
Waylon
The fuck? No.
Harlow
Then WHAT??
Waylon
I’ll show you on myself.
I do a little happy dance in my bed because I knew he’d cave.
Harlow
Great. When?
Waylon
When do you need to learn by?
Harlow
Well, I have a date on Friday afternoon at the cafe.
I’ve been talking to this guy from the app, Emery. Since I need the experience and figured there was no harm in it, I agreed. He’s a few years older and prefers getting to know someone in person, so we’ve only been texting a little here and there.
But I’m only teasing about needing to learn by then. No way I’m touching anyone’s dick on the first date.
But I enjoy Waylon’s reactions too much not to mess with him.
Except, when he doesn’t respond after an hour, I message him again in case he got busy at work and forgot.
Harlow
Are you free tonight?
It takes him twenty more minutes, but he finally responds.
Waylon
Sure. How’s 8?
Harlow
Works for me.
Last Thursday during Natalie’s and my weekly virtual hangout, we spent most of the time catching up and her squealing at everything I told her about Waylon.
She claims he must like me because no other guy would “teach” a girl how to masturbate and answer all my questions.
But I told her she was crazy because Waylon doesn’t see me that way.
If he did, there’s no way he’d be okay with me talking about dating other guys and wanting to learn so I can hook up with them.
But when I told her I wasn’t having much luck on the app, she told me about the “emoji test.”
“Send them one emoji—completely random, it doesn’t have to be anything specific—and see how they respond. If they play along and send one back, they’re worth talkin’ to. If they reply with something snarky or rude, block. No more wastin’ your time.”
I figured I had nothing to lose at this point. Almost every guy I’ve started a conversation with ended in ghosting me or I blocked them for being a creep.
So when Emery responded to my prompt, I replied with a duck emoji.
He responded with a goose.
Then I sent a turtle.
He replied with a fish.
But then I sent an eagle with a fish.
Finally, he broke the emoji battle and said I’d won because my eagle ate his fish.
I found it humorous enough to give him thirty minutes of my time to chat. The following day, another thirty minutes. And then yesterday, he asked to meet in person.
Since I’ll only go to public places, I suggested The Grindhouse. It’s the one place in Sugarland Creek that won’t put on a lot of pressure to sit through a whole meal. If things go well, maybe he’ll ask me out for a second date. Until then, meeting over coffee will do.
Admittedly, I’m not overly excited about it. Mostly because I don’t know that much about him. However, he seems cool enough and looks cute in his photos to at least give him a chance. Even if we’re not compatible, it’ll be nice to get experience to find out what is or isn’t my type.
Harlow
I have my session with Noah at three. You wanna come watch?
I only had one last week, with the holiday, but went out on my days off to ride Piper.
The weather has been in the forties and fifties, and even dropping to the thirties at night, but if I don’t get out of my house when I’m not working, I’ll go stir crazy.
My seasonal depression comes out in full force and although it’s been better than when I was diagnosed with it years ago, I know I need to keep myself busy during the winter so I don’t become a hermit in my bed.
However, Moose very much enjoys it when I do.
Waylon
We start getting the trail horses ready for the afternoon tour around 3:30, but if I can, I’ll swing by for a few.
Harlow
Okay, cool. When are you bringing Bentley to the ranch again?
Waylon
Saturday afternoon. Why?
Harlow
Thought it might be cool to hang out with him again. Maybe the three of us can go riding.
Waylon
He’s a little young for you, don’t you think?
Harlow
Very funny, you sicko. I thought he’d enjoy riding up the mountains, especially with the snowcaps. It’d be a beautiful view.
Waylon
I’m sure he would. I’ll ask him.
Harlow
Just don’t let me fall on my ass again. I bruise easily as it is.
Waylon
I won’t.
Harlow
Okay, I’m off to work for a few hours. Then I gotta find a cute outfit for Friday. If he’s on the shorter side, should I wear flats instead of heels?
Waylon
Uhh…how short are we talking?
Harlow
His profile says he’s 5’9, but Natalie says guys always lie about their height on dating apps, so he could be shorter.
Considering I’m five-foot-seven, I don’t want to make him uncomfortable if he doesn’t like girls being taller than him. Waylon’s a good six or seven inches taller than me, so he probably doesn’t care either way if girls wear flats or heels.
Waylon
No, I’d definitely wear heels. The taller the better. Short guys like that.
I contemplate asking if he’s lying, but he’s been nothing but honest with me, especially when it comes to sex stuff and dating. So I take his word for it.
Harlow
Okay, perfect because the boutique got in the cutest ankle boots but they have a five-inch heel.
Waylon
That should work. He’ll feel more confident knowing his height isn’t an issue for you.
Harlow
Great, thanks!
I get ready for work and am relieved I’m not working with Ashley today.
She’s nice enough, but she talks nonstop and as someone who was homeschooled for five years and didn’t have a normal high school experience, I find it uncomfortable when someone gossips about their “friends.” It’s one thing if she was saying nice things about them, but she’s not.
I’ve concluded she was probably a mean girl in high school, and ten years later, she’s still mentally there.
Maybe it’s because I didn’t have a lot of friends growing up, but I’ve never been interested in talking shit about my so-called friends.
After everything I’ve experienced, I’ve learned that you never know what someone else is going through behind closed doors, so it costs nothing to be nice.
Even now, I don’t have many friends. Although I have a lot of acquaintances—the other girls at work, Noah, Magnolia, Ellie from the ranch, the people in the horse club group chat, and some others I’ve met at show horse jumping events—I don’t consistently talk to them or share personal details of my life.
Delilah and Natalie were the only two, and now Waylon, who I consider being close to.
And I can’t imagine ever saying anything mean or hurtful about them.
“Hello, welcome!” I greet as another customer walks through the door. “Lemme know if I can help y’all find anything.”
“Thanks.” Two women smile at me before browsing the other side of the store.
“So this date on Friday…” Marissa comes and stands next to me, grabbing sweaters to fold so we look busy. “What’re you wearin’?”
I showed her Emery’s profile earlier when the store was empty and told her we were meeting up Friday for coffee. She’s a couple years older and way more experienced in the world of dating than me.
“Those new ankle boots we got in, with jeans and a blue sweater.”
“The ones with the five-inch heels?”
“Yeah. Thought they’d be cute, but hopefully I won’t slip or fall on my ass. That wouldn’t make a good first impression,” I say with a nervous chuckle.
“You’re gonna wear heels? On a date with a man who’s less than six feet tall?”
My shoulders drop, and I turn to look at her. “Is that bad?”
“It is if you don’t wanna be taller than him.”
“I thought that meant I was showin’ him I was okay with his height and that he didn’t haveta be insecure if I was taller than him with heels?”