getting your ass over here within the hour. I made a Yule log for you. With decorative leaves and chocolate filling. You will be here to partake. Do you understand?”
“Oh God, Cass, you shouldn’t have. I was joking about the log.”
She’d told her friend the thing she’d missed mostabout her childhood Christmas vacations in Paris was the bûche de Noël . Her parents had always bought one at a pâtisserie near the flat where they stayed, and they’d always let her have the biggest piece of the chocolate log-shaped cake. When Cass had issued the invitation to her all-couples-except-Yasmine Christmas Eve party, Yasmine had jokingly said she would only show if there was a big chocolate Yule log in her honor.
“You’re lucky I forgot to start cooking the turkey on time—dinner’s in an hour. You and the office hottie had better be here. Got it?”
“Really, Cass. I don’t think that’s a good idea. And besides—”
“No excuses. You have no idea what a pain in the ass this Yule log was.”
“But…” Yasmine scrambled to think of a new excuse, unwilling as she was to get out of bed at the moment. “He doesn’t believe in celebrating Christmas. He’s a…Moonie.”
“So he can pretend there’s not a tree and enjoy the merriment anyway. Really, babe, this is a multicultural, multifaith affair.”
Yasmine gave Kyle a look pregnant with warning as she said goodbye to Cass and then reached across him again to hang up the phone.
“That was my best friend,” she said. “She’s insisting we show up at her Christmas Eve party, which is already in session and which she apparently was expecting me to attend even after I said I wouldn’t be there.”
Kyle glanced down at his still-present erection. “Do you think we have time—”
“If we’re fast,” she said as she straddled his hips and connected their bodies.
“I can do fast,” he said.
And he could. Remarkably well.
Fifteen minutes later they were both breathless and satisfied, tugging on their clothes and getting themselves looking presentable.
They set off on the eight-block walk to Cass’s apartment in the cool darkness, hand in hand. While Yasmine was happy to have a date, she was a little weirded out by their fast physical comfort. And that holding hands freaked her out more than having sex with him told Yasmine once again that she had definitely gotten her perspective knocked askew.
Instead of examining her problem closer, she opted to prepare Kyle for his impending immersion into her social group.
“Be warned,” she said as they waited for a light to change so they could cross the street. “My friends have mostly settled into happy coupledom. They tend to view singles like us as potential converts, and they see it as their personal directive to spread the gospel of commitment and marriage.”
“And you’re opposed to the whole concept?” he said with a half-smile.
“Well, no. I just think we’re all a bit young to be getting too serious.”
“I guess that’s my problem. I’m already over the hill, eh?”
She laughed. “You’ve been holding your own in the bedroom for being such a geriatric patient.”
“Smart-ass.”
“So what we’re doing isn’t too serious for you?”
“Definitely not. But if I find out you’re sleeping with me just to research some new sex software—”
“Oh no, you’ve found me out! Whatever you do, don’t ever try the upcoming game entitled Old Guy Sex.”
He gave her a swat on the backside. “How did you end up working at Virtual Active? You don’t exactly fit the profile of the typical employee.”
“Yeah, well. Being a notorious former hacker doesn’t endear me to potential employers.”
“A what? ”
“A hacker, cracker, system intruder—whatever you want to call it. You probably saw me on the news and don’t remember. I was the first teen hacker given more than a slap on the wrist for accessing government computers.”
“You? I don’t believe it.”
She
“Oh God, Cass, you shouldn’t have. I was joking about the log.”
She’d told her friend the thing she’d missed mostabout her childhood Christmas vacations in Paris was the bûche de Noël . Her parents had always bought one at a pâtisserie near the flat where they stayed, and they’d always let her have the biggest piece of the chocolate log-shaped cake. When Cass had issued the invitation to her all-couples-except-Yasmine Christmas Eve party, Yasmine had jokingly said she would only show if there was a big chocolate Yule log in her honor.
“You’re lucky I forgot to start cooking the turkey on time—dinner’s in an hour. You and the office hottie had better be here. Got it?”
“Really, Cass. I don’t think that’s a good idea. And besides—”
“No excuses. You have no idea what a pain in the ass this Yule log was.”
“But…” Yasmine scrambled to think of a new excuse, unwilling as she was to get out of bed at the moment. “He doesn’t believe in celebrating Christmas. He’s a…Moonie.”
“So he can pretend there’s not a tree and enjoy the merriment anyway. Really, babe, this is a multicultural, multifaith affair.”
Yasmine gave Kyle a look pregnant with warning as she said goodbye to Cass and then reached across him again to hang up the phone.
“That was my best friend,” she said. “She’s insisting we show up at her Christmas Eve party, which is already in session and which she apparently was expecting me to attend even after I said I wouldn’t be there.”
Kyle glanced down at his still-present erection. “Do you think we have time—”
“If we’re fast,” she said as she straddled his hips and connected their bodies.
“I can do fast,” he said.
And he could. Remarkably well.
Fifteen minutes later they were both breathless and satisfied, tugging on their clothes and getting themselves looking presentable.
They set off on the eight-block walk to Cass’s apartment in the cool darkness, hand in hand. While Yasmine was happy to have a date, she was a little weirded out by their fast physical comfort. And that holding hands freaked her out more than having sex with him told Yasmine once again that she had definitely gotten her perspective knocked askew.
Instead of examining her problem closer, she opted to prepare Kyle for his impending immersion into her social group.
“Be warned,” she said as they waited for a light to change so they could cross the street. “My friends have mostly settled into happy coupledom. They tend to view singles like us as potential converts, and they see it as their personal directive to spread the gospel of commitment and marriage.”
“And you’re opposed to the whole concept?” he said with a half-smile.
“Well, no. I just think we’re all a bit young to be getting too serious.”
“I guess that’s my problem. I’m already over the hill, eh?”
She laughed. “You’ve been holding your own in the bedroom for being such a geriatric patient.”
“Smart-ass.”
“So what we’re doing isn’t too serious for you?”
“Definitely not. But if I find out you’re sleeping with me just to research some new sex software—”
“Oh no, you’ve found me out! Whatever you do, don’t ever try the upcoming game entitled Old Guy Sex.”
He gave her a swat on the backside. “How did you end up working at Virtual Active? You don’t exactly fit the profile of the typical employee.”
“Yeah, well. Being a notorious former hacker doesn’t endear me to potential employers.”
“A what? ”
“A hacker, cracker, system intruder—whatever you want to call it. You probably saw me on the news and don’t remember. I was the first teen hacker given more than a slap on the wrist for accessing government computers.”
“You? I don’t believe it.”
She
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