Something Great
Page 13

“Anyway,” Becky turned to Nicole. “Hello…why didn’t you tell us that in the first place? It’s important, you know. Did he at least make you come?”
“Becky!” I squealed in a scolding tone, though I didn’t mean to.
Nicole finished swallowing her mouth full of pasta salad and poured more wine into her glass. “You know…I’m not sure.”
“What?” Kate spat. “Are you serious?”
“Do you?” Nicole asked hesitantly.
“Oh yeah.” Kate’s lips curled into a smile and her eyes radiated with thoughts I could only imagine. “You wanna know something funny? The first time we had sex after the doctor gave us the green light, I squirted milk all over John’s face when I came.”
We all busted out laughing, and Becky squirted wine out of her mouth again from almost choking, producing a choking laughing sound.
“Oh my God, that is hilarious.” Becky coughed relentlessly. “I could just picture it—though I wouldn’t want to picture both of you naked—but how funny is that?”
“It was that good. So….” Kate turned to Nicole. “If you were breast feeding, would he make you squirt?”
Nicole pulled her brows together, creating a pinch in the center, seeming to think. “I’m not sure.”
“Everything in life has ups and downs. I’m sure that applies to sex too…right?” I asked hesitantly. Did I even really know much about this topic? Not really.
“True, that applies to life in general, but maybe not sex,” Nicole replied. “Either he’s good at it or not. There is no in between with sex, I guess…I don’t know. Anyway, thanks for the phone calls and the group texts. It cheered me up knowing you were all there for me, but I’m sure I’m fine with the break up. I guess it’s better to know sooner than later.”
“That’s what friends are for,” Becky said sincerely.
“Cheers to that,” Kate said, raising her glass.
“To everlasting friendship,” I muttered, raising my glass. After the clinking sound echoed in the room, we all gulped down our liquid.
After dinner was finished, Becky placed the strawberry cheesecake dessert she’d bought on the table. Carefully slicing each piece, she placed them on small paper plates and passed them to us. Shoving the fork through the cream, I scooped up a chunk and placed it in my mouth. “Mmmm…this is so good,” I raved. “Good choice for dessert, Becky.”
“Knowing it was your favorite, I got it for you,” she winked.
“You’re the best.”
“Don’t you forget it. So…I’ve been patiently waiting all day to ask you a question.”
“You mean, we’ve been patiently waiting,” Kate broke in, pulling the fork out of her mouth. “This is probably the best strawberry cheesecake I’ve ever tasted, and I’ve tasted plenty.”
Nicole nodded her head in agreement and looked at me. “We have two questions. One…did he kiss you; and two…did you see fireworks?”
Making them wait for my answer, I took another bite, savoring the sweet creamy taste, but Becky was getting very impatient.
“Well…answer, or I’ll have to take that away from you,” Becky said playfully, tugging my plate away from me.
“Mine.” Sounding like a child, I pulled the plate toward me. Then all of a sudden, I got really shy, but not from the thought of telling them about Luke. It was just from the mere thought of Max. Knowing Becky would get a kick out of what had happened, I had to tell her…maybe that night.
“Yes, Luke kissed me,” I said with conviction.
Their eyes lit up as they waited for an answer.
“And…,” I continued. “I didn’t see fireworks.” Before they could say, “I told you so” to each other, I spoke again. “But that doesn’t mean I want to stop seeing him. He’s cute, and he’s really nice.”
Nicole looked disappointed. “If you didn’t see fireworks, then the likelihood of having great sex isn’t there. But…who am I to judge? He could prove otherwise. So, when are you going to—”
“Nicole,” Becky barked. “Jenna isn’t like you.”
“I’m just making sure she doesn’t make the same mistake I did, so relax, Mother,” she said to Becky, narrowing her eyes at her. Then she turned to me. “You see…think of sex like this creamy, soft cheesecake.” She patted it with her fork. “It’s good, but how you make it and what you put on it makes it even better. There are many cheesecakes out there, but what makes this one stand out from the rest?”
“The ingredients,” Kate added. “How much effort you put in to making it. You can take the short cut, or put more time and add different ingredients to make it even more delicious.”
“True,” Becky seconded. “You can even spice it up by adding toppings.” She lit a sly grin. “And yes, I’m talking about food and other things.”
“No you didn’t!” Nicole squealed, her voice went up an octave with excitement.
“Yup, whipped cream and all.”
Suddenly I felt hot. I’d known when I gulped the wine down that I would feel it right away, but in a way I didn’t care. I was at home with my friends.
“Are you okay?” Kate asked me.
“It’s the wine. You know how Jenna gets,” Becky explained. “She only drank half a glass.”