I’m willing to suffer for the cause.”
Although she felt herself softening, Melina didn’t reach out to her friend. This challenge had been Grace’s idea. Maybe she needed it more than Melina did. She hadn’t dated in almost a year, convinced that if she couldn’t even attain pleasure with a man, there was no point in putting up with one. Lucy, on the other hand, put so much stock on pleasure that she often put up with a man’s failings longer than she should. Melina turned to her friend, keeping her face impassive despite the scowl on Lucy’s face. Lucy’s birthday wasn’t for a few months, but it was a big one, the big 3-0.
“ Lucy thinks she should get a pass on this one,” Lucy said. “I’m fearless when it comes to sex, you know that. I’ve tried everything there is to try. There’s no reason—”
“ You fear intimacy,” Grace said gently. “You only date jerks, guys who are never going to commit to you—”
“ Just because I happen to love brooding, creative men with an edge does not mean I fear intimacy,” Lucy protested.
“ It’s one weekend, Lucy. One weekend with a nice guy you normally wouldn’t give a second look,” Melina clarified.
“ A nice guy?” Lucy looked outraged. “Oh, sure. For your birthday weekend, you get to ask a hot friend to show you everything he knows in bed. Grace gets to have someone pleasure her for two days straight or die trying. What do I get? A nice guy who probably doesn’t know a c-ring from a cockatoo.” She held up a hand to forestall Melina’s response. “But fine. If you two can do it, then so can I.”
Lucy paused and smiled sweetly, which—from her—was the equivalent of a big, flashing “danger” sign. “I call the stakes. Anyone who puts their plan in motion and sticks with it the entire birthday weekend, regardless of the results, gets a full day of pampering at Silk Spa. Anyone who chickens out has to get up in front of my Women’s Studies 101 class and explain why. In excruciating detail. And answer questions afterwards.”
Lucy stuck out her hand, palm down. After a brief hesitation, Grace placed her hand gently on top of it. Melina’s hands curled into fists. Her gaze landed on the magazine that Lucy had been reading, the one with the sex survey she’d read through earlier. She’d committed one paragraph to memory: “Of those people who are very satisfied with their sex lives, ninety percent are also very satisfied with their marriage or committed relationship overall. The less sexually satisfied people reported being, the less satisfied they were with their marriage or partnership.”
It sounded so simple, she thought. Keep a man satisfied and he’d be less likely to stray, right? Continually blow a man’s mind in bed, and he’d be yours for life. In that way, men weren’t unlike the bugs Melina studied—give them what they wanted and they’d give back to you.
With Max as her teacher, she’d learn to keep a man sexually satisfied. And she was an excellent student. She’d just never given that particular skill her total focus. Once she did, how hard could it be?
She shakily laid her hand on Grace’s.
She’d never have Rhys. Maybe being with Max was the next best thing. One thing was for sure, though. Given the parameters that Lucy had set, none of them was backing out of this challenge.
Although she felt herself softening, Melina didn’t reach out to her friend. This challenge had been Grace’s idea. Maybe she needed it more than Melina did. She hadn’t dated in almost a year, convinced that if she couldn’t even attain pleasure with a man, there was no point in putting up with one. Lucy, on the other hand, put so much stock on pleasure that she often put up with a man’s failings longer than she should. Melina turned to her friend, keeping her face impassive despite the scowl on Lucy’s face. Lucy’s birthday wasn’t for a few months, but it was a big one, the big 3-0.
“ Lucy thinks she should get a pass on this one,” Lucy said. “I’m fearless when it comes to sex, you know that. I’ve tried everything there is to try. There’s no reason—”
“ You fear intimacy,” Grace said gently. “You only date jerks, guys who are never going to commit to you—”
“ Just because I happen to love brooding, creative men with an edge does not mean I fear intimacy,” Lucy protested.
“ It’s one weekend, Lucy. One weekend with a nice guy you normally wouldn’t give a second look,” Melina clarified.
“ A nice guy?” Lucy looked outraged. “Oh, sure. For your birthday weekend, you get to ask a hot friend to show you everything he knows in bed. Grace gets to have someone pleasure her for two days straight or die trying. What do I get? A nice guy who probably doesn’t know a c-ring from a cockatoo.” She held up a hand to forestall Melina’s response. “But fine. If you two can do it, then so can I.”
Lucy paused and smiled sweetly, which—from her—was the equivalent of a big, flashing “danger” sign. “I call the stakes. Anyone who puts their plan in motion and sticks with it the entire birthday weekend, regardless of the results, gets a full day of pampering at Silk Spa. Anyone who chickens out has to get up in front of my Women’s Studies 101 class and explain why. In excruciating detail. And answer questions afterwards.”
Lucy stuck out her hand, palm down. After a brief hesitation, Grace placed her hand gently on top of it. Melina’s hands curled into fists. Her gaze landed on the magazine that Lucy had been reading, the one with the sex survey she’d read through earlier. She’d committed one paragraph to memory: “Of those people who are very satisfied with their sex lives, ninety percent are also very satisfied with their marriage or committed relationship overall. The less sexually satisfied people reported being, the less satisfied they were with their marriage or partnership.”
It sounded so simple, she thought. Keep a man satisfied and he’d be less likely to stray, right? Continually blow a man’s mind in bed, and he’d be yours for life. In that way, men weren’t unlike the bugs Melina studied—give them what they wanted and they’d give back to you.
With Max as her teacher, she’d learn to keep a man sexually satisfied. And she was an excellent student. She’d just never given that particular skill her total focus. Once she did, how hard could it be?
She shakily laid her hand on Grace’s.
She’d never have Rhys. Maybe being with Max was the next best thing. One thing was for sure, though. Given the parameters that Lucy had set, none of them was backing out of this challenge.
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