Chapter Two
DEREK
Surely, I must have passed out at my desk, and this was a dream. There’s no possible way Lilly Peters appeared on my doorstep out of the blue asking to see me . All I’d ever gotten from her year after year were eye rolls, whining protests, snapping sarcasm, and retreat from any kind of closeness.
And here she was, drinking from my tap and telling me she came specifically to see me. I had to imagine a host of unsexy things so I wouldn’t get hard at her sudden lack of disgust at me. My boxer briefs wouldn’t go very far in hiding the evidence of my longstanding crush if I didn’t mitigate my response to this woman.
I wanted to drop the act completely and finally be real about my feelings for her. But the man I had been socially—the cocky, athletic, promiscuous character I had created and permanently embodied in high school was my armor, and I had sworn to never shed it. As that character, I was known as DJ, and I’d played him so long I didn’t know how to stop.
“You won’t regret this, Lush. I’m gonna make you call out to God so much this house will get tax exempt status.”
“Oh, for God’s sake!” she said, marching around the counter and plopping into a seat at the kitchen table.
“No, more like oh, God, oh, GOD, Derek! Yes, yes yes! ”
“Please stop. Just stop for one second, okay? I can’t right now.” She held up her hand and closed her eyes. Lilly suddenly looked weary and sad. I may have been an oblivious dick, but even I knew where the edge was when I fucked with her, and she was at it.
“Okay. I’ll quit.” I rounded the counter and sat opposite her. “So, what’s up?”
Lilly let out a long exhale while staring at her clasped hands. Following her eye line, I couldn’t help but notice her left hand was devoid of a certain rock that she loved to show off.
“What I’m about to say has to stay between us.”
Holy shit! The unprecedented nature of us having a secret could not be overstated.
“Well, I’m sure I can tell Sarah, right? You tell her everything.”
Her big brown eyes stared up at me with a hollow, determined gaze. “No, Derek. I’m not telling Sarah about this. Not yet at least.”
My heart pounded as my chest swelled with pride at her faith in me. Keeping Lilly’s secret was about to be the most important undertaking of my adult life. I traced an “X” across my chest with my finger. “You can trust me.”
She took a deep breath and let it out. “Jared broke off our engagement.”
My emotions burst in all directions like glowing fireworks. How on earth could any guy be stupid enough to let Lilly go? At the same time, my skin tingled with jubilance at knowing she was free of the pretentious douche nozzle. And lastly, a stabbing ache zinged my chest at the hurt and rejection she must have suffered. “Wow. I can’t believe it. What the hell happened? Did that fucker cheat on you? ‘Cuz I’d be more than glad to clean his clock.”
Lilly held up her hands. “No, no, no. Nothing like that.” Her pinked cheeks made my chest puff up even further. Maybe she didn’t hate me as much as I thought. Maybe she’d let me be her hero…if she decided she needed one. “The truth of the break-up…well, it’s kind of embarrassing. That’s why I really need you to keep this to yourself.”
I will promise anything. Please take me into your confidence.
“Of course.”
“Okay…ugh…don’t look at me.” She covered her face. “Jared said I wasn’t adventurous enough.” Her words were muffled by her palms.
“Like, you won’t bungee jump or sky dive or some shit? That’s not embarrassing, Lil.” I played dumb. If the topic of sex was going to be legitimately raised, she was going to be the one to do it.
“No, not like that. I’m not adventurous…in bed.”
She seemed to shrink herself down and fold her body up as though she wanted to disappear. Grinding my teeth and feeling rageful heat burn behind my eyes, I wanted to tear the world apart for making this gorgeous, smart, vulnerable girl feel so self-conscious and meek about her sexuality.
“Did he ever try to show you what he likes? Does he have some kind of kink that freaks you out or something?” Though I hated talking about Lilly in context of having sex with any man other than me, she looked desperate. and I couldn’t resist trying to help.
“That’s part of the problem. He isn’t exactly Don Juan either. He’s tried to initiate a couple of things here and there, but it’s just so ridiculous the way he does it—well, I can’t help but laugh, and he gets really upset.”
Oof. For the first time since I’d met the doofus, I felt for Jared. Being a shitty lover was bad enough, but to be laughed at by your lady when you try to spice things up had to sting.
“Look Lil, I don’t want to be the one to say it, but maybe Jared’s right. Maybe your incompatibility in the sack is a sign that it wasn’t meant to be.”
She popped out of her seat and slammed her hands on the table. “Don’t you dare say that! We’re getting married! Our wedding is only six weeks away and it’s all planned and paid for!” She frantically paced the kitchen. “We have the hall, the church, the DJ, the photographer. Shit, I made two hundred favors by hand from a super complicated idea off of Pinterest. This wedding has to go forward!”
Her determination to salvage the Jared situation would have bothered me, except for the fact that she seemed determined to have a wedding , not necessarily a marriage .
“So, onto the million-dollar question. Why are you coming to me with this?”
She stopped pacing and blushed deep red.
Please God. Oh, please let her say what I hope she’s about to say.
“So you…let’s be real, Derek. You have had a lot of sex.” She wouldn’t make eye contact with me suddenly.
“Yes, I have,” I said, leaning back and crossing my arms with a satisfied grin.
“And I’m guessing some of it was…outside the norm, shall we say?”
“Yes, we shall. A great deal of it celebrated a delicious spectrum of unorthodox activities.” A slight exaggeration, but she didn’t need to know that.
She swallowed with a cartoony gulp, and I bit my cheek to keep from grinning.
“So I figured…” she trailed off, running out of steam.
“Yes? Tell me what you want, Lilly.” I dropped my voice in the basement. My lower register typically proved very useful for melting panties.
“I want you to teach me.”
Thank you, God, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the Holy fricking Spirit!