Chapter fourteen Astrid
Chapter fourteen
Astrid
“Do you think I brought enough snacks?” Hazel asks as she, Willow, and I stare at the smorgasbord on my kitchen counter.
“Um, I think you could feed an army with this feast,” I say. “Seriously, how many people are you expecting?”
Hazel bites her lip and winces. “I honestly don’t know.”
My head snaps in her direction. “Come again?”
“I literally texted everyone that I could think of because we never get to have get-togethers like this,” she argues.
Willow’s gaze bounces between the two of us. “Um, I know I’m new here, but is this something you guys do often, or…?”
“Willow, I assure you, we have never thrown a passion party together. This is definitely a first for me and Hazel.”
Hazel huffs out a breath. “Well, we should be doing this more. I mean, why is it always the boys that get to hang out together? Always bro-ing out in their man caves.” Then she looks at Willow. “Well, until you came along, that is.”
Willow points a finger to her chest. “Me? What did I do?”
Hazel shakes her head. “Nothing. In fact, I’m so glad you’re here because now Dallas is far less grumpy than he was before. But he’s definitely not hanging out with the guys as much now.”
“He has access to regular sex now, so I’m sure that takes priority.” Willow winks.
“And that’s also probably why he’s far less grumpy,” I add, making Hazel gag.
“Don’t remind me that you’re banging my brother, okay?”
“You brought it up,” Willow reminds her.
“I know. I guess I just wanted something to look forward to, you know? It’s not like there’s a man in my life or any action for that matter, if you catch my drift.”
Willow and I stare around the house at all of the penis décor and phallic-shaped foods. “I couldn’t tell,” I say, teasing her as she rolls her eyes.
“I’m happy for you, Willow. Really, especially after everything that brought you and my brother together.”
“Thank you, but don’t give up hope, Hazel.
Hazel nudges me with her shoulder. “At least I’m not the only single one left, am I right?”
“Um, yeah...” I don’t dare correct her. That is not a conversation we need to have tonight, when I’m going to be shopping for sex toys for me and her older brother.
Willow shoots me a knowing look, but luckily the doorbell rings before she can call my bluff.
In a matter of twenty minutes, my house is full of over thirty women of varying ages. It’s the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of the turnout, but it seems a lot of women in Carrington Cove are in need of sex toys.
Huh. Something I didn’t need to know about my neighbors.
Shaking off my convoluted thoughts, I slip into hostess mode and make as much room for people to sit in the living room as I can.
“Hey, beautiful ladies!” Hazel’s friend Adeline exclaims from the center of the room, gathering everyone’s attention.
She’s the rep selling the products, and judging by her pink hair, breasts on display, and banging pre-baby body, I’m guessing she is probably quite confident in bed, which means we’re all in good hands.
“Is everyone ready to go shopping for pleasure?” A few women hoot and holler, but most of us giggle under our breath.
“No need to be shy. We’re all gal pals in here, and we all have a pussy, right?
” Another round of laughter and agreement fills the room.
“So tonight it’s about finding the right tools to make your pussy purr.
” She claws at the air, and I glance over at Willow who is barely holding herself together behind her hand.
“How the hell did I get into this again?” I mutter beside her.
She stifles her laughter. “I honestly don’t know, but hey, at least we get free entertainment for the evening.” Adeline starts dancing with two vibrating dildos in her hands, spinning them around like batons. “Oh God. I can’t buy one of those now. This is all I’ll be able to see!”
I snort and then lower my voice. “Dear Jesus. This is what I get for sleeping with Penn, isn’t it? Is this karma?”
Willow places her hand on my shoulder. “Hardly. Tonight you’d better buy something for you two to enjoy together.”
I think back on the sex I’ve had with Penn thus far.
Honestly, I don’t feel like we need anything to increase our chemistry, but I’m trying to be open.
I don’t even know if he’d want to use toys in the bedroom, but if he’s willing, it might actually be fun.
Brandon didn’t want toys in the bedroom—even when he was gone.
He didn’t want me to “replace him.” So this could be a brand-new experience that Penn and I share.
And I think we might need that—something that’s just ours.
Adeline spends the next thirty minutes explaining the products to us, passing them around so we can see how they look and feel and decide if it’s something we might want to try.
It feels like we’re playing hot potato with dildos, and yet again, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at some of these women the same way again.
Pam has been analyzing an anal plug so long, I know that image is never leaving my mind.
Once Adeline has shown off her gadgets and gizmos with the same enthusiasm as Ariel, we start the ordering process. I’ve set her up in my bedroom, and we’re taking turns so everyone can make their picks in private. Before I know it, it’s my turn.
“So, do you have any questions for me? Or do you already know what you’d like?” she asks as I take a seat next to her on the floor.
“Um, well…I’m kind of in a new relationship and we haven’t talked about what we’re comfortable with in terms of toys, so I’m not sure,” I explain, feeling confident about my vague answer.
Adeline’s eyes light up. “Oh, that’s so exciting. Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you have any toys of your own?”
“Just one of those bullet vibrators,” I answer, slightly embarrassed. But it was the only thing I could convince myself to order and could hide from Brandon.
“Oh girl, I’m about to change your life.”
Adeline starts suggesting various things to me, and I’m so enraptured in what she’s saying that I almost miss the masculine voice that breaks through the conversation in the living room.
“Uh, hi ladies.”
I feel my eyes bug out of my head. “Oh no.” Scrambling from the ground, I rip my bedroom door open and race down the hallway to find Penn standing in full view of my living room and all the women holding sex toys—lots and lots of sex toys.
“Penn! What are you doing here?” I ask, and his head whips over to me.
“I, uh…” He scratches the back of his neck while trying to think of what to say. But then his eyes land on Hazel stroking a purple dildo with far too much focus. “Oh, fuck.”
Hazel lifts her eyes to meet her brother’s and then she smiles from ear to ear, waving her fingers in the air at him. “Hi, big brother.”
Penn grimaces. “I just walked in on your sex toy party, huh?”
Hazel nods and I feel my stomach twist. First, I can only imagine how horrifying it is for him to see his sister in this light.
But second, I’m sure every woman in this room is wondering what the hell he’s doing showing up at my house on a Saturday night around nine o’clock.
It’s late enough for a booty call—well, at least a booty call for someone in their thirties.
Hazel stands from the couch and starts slapping the dildo against her palm. “That’s right. And no boys allowed.”
Penn rears his head back and his eyes go wide. “Believe me, the last thing I wanted to do was walk in on this.”
“Why would you be walking in Astrid’s house at this hour anyway?” Hazel asks, her brow lifting.
Willow meets my gaze, her eyes widening.
“Uh, he needed to drop something off,” I interject, finally finding my voice.
“Like what?”
“Something for the bakery.”
“Why wouldn’t he just drop it off there?”
Think, Astrid. Think.
But before I can spit out an excuse, Hazel chimes in again. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you’re not supposed to be here.” She grins wickedly and then flings the purple dildo across the room, hitting Penn square in the forehead.
Chaos descends as the entire room erupts into laughter.
“Oh my God! Hazel!” Willow shouts, and Penn starts to retreat toward the door, rubbing his forehead where he was just slapped with a fake dick.
And that’s when all reason goes out the window.
Hazel picks up a cock ring and slingshots it at him.
“What the fuck, Hazel?” Penn exclaims, shielding his face this time, prepared to dodge whatever she finds to launch at him next.
“Get out! No boys allowed!” she yells through her laughter as she sends a pair of edible underwear flying.
“Fine! I’m going!” Penn shouts back, walking toward the door.
“You’d better! Before I get my hands on a flogger!”
“Jesus Christ! You’re deranged!”
She sticks her tongue out at him as he opens the door and I follow after him. “Don’t intrude on girls’ night again!”
“Hazel,” I grit through my teeth as I follow Penn through the door and shut it behind us.
Penn is standing near the edge of the street, rubbing the spot on his forehead where Hazel hit him. “I think I’m going to have a bruise.”
I cover my mouth, stifling my laugh. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what got into her.”
“She’s obviously hopped up on female empowerment.” We share a laugh and then his eyes soften as he looks at me, staring at me so intensely that my heart starts to flutter. “God, you’re beautiful.” His words come out of left field, but I appreciate the sentiment nonetheless.
“You’re not so bad yourself.”
“I wish I could fucking kiss you right now,” he says, his voice low and husky. “But I know there are far too many witnesses.”
“Yeah. Which leads me to my question—what the hell are you doing here?”
“You weren’t answering your phone and I—” He blows out a breath. “I needed to talk to you.”
“Well, as you can see, I’ve been rather busy.”
“I honestly forgot all about this party.”