Best in Bed Page 6

  “Good choice.” Lori’s voice was raspy a she reached for the water.

  "I agree. Penny, you’re good with people, especially kids. If it doesn’t feel right you can always change it again." I suddenly felt like I was the family shrink. Hopefully, I hadn’t set Penny on the wrong path. If I couldn't fix Lori's situation, how could I hope to fix Penny's? Poor thing couldn’t settle on a career that would support her and that she liked.

  “The classes look interesting.” Penny nodded. “Well, I better get back. Thanks again.”

  “Thanks for the delivery, Penny.” I locked the door behind her and looked over at Lori.

  "I should be shot." Lori sipped her water and groaned, holding her head.

  "No, you just need to rest." I crossed the room and sat on the coffee table. "I’ll get you something bland to eat."

  "Maybe later. What time is it?" A look of panic filled her eyes as she tried to focus on her watch.

  "I already called your office. Don't worry, you have the whole day to recover."

  "Thanks. Does Jen know?"

  "No, Penny’s the only one. You got drunk. It's not like you paraded naked in court or something."

  "I know but this isn’t fun, post-party drunk. This is pathetic drunk."

  "You're not pathetic. You had a bad night and needed to erase it for a bit. It's that time of year when our families make us crazy and we want to hide. Think of this as a warm up for your parent's Christmas party.”

  “Don’t remind me. That’ll be here way too soon.” Lori massaged her forehead.

  “Think how much fun that will be. They invited me and Jen, both with guests. Not to mention my parents. We'll upset your mother much more than you will. My mother will bring deviled eggs or lasagna or something to clash with your menu. I’m not sure if they can make it yet. Cross your fingers they’ll have other plans."

  "She doesn't have to bring food. Mother is having it catered," Lori corrected automatically.

  "I know, I told her. I know my mother, though. She'd feel like a terrible guest not bringing something and a bottle of wine or box of candy isn't my mother's style."

  "I like your family." Lori smiled. "Even Penny's better than my cousins. She helps out, doesn't criticize, and takes our advice seriously."

  "She's young. She should listen to her elders. I mean she's about to turn twenty so a woman of thirty has a lot more experience." Lori would hate that!

  "You’re not thirty yet. If I didn't need this coffee so much, I'd dump it over your head," she said seriously.

  "Would you want to be nineteen again?" I headed for the kitchen and brought the coffee pot to the couch to refill our cups.

  "No, everything was up in the air then. My parents still had all the money and even controlled my dorm room situation. Things are better now."

  "See, being old has its advantages."

  "Older!" she insisted. "We're not old yet."

  "I'm glad you're seeing the light. Now you might want to see the inside of the shower because your makeup is smeared and your hair looks like you belong in the sixties or the B-52s."

  "You've seen me worse." She sat up slowly.

  "True, you'll feel better after a shower. Then maybe we can talk about this without alcohol interfering." I had followed most of her stuff last night though odds were she didn't remember our conversation.

  "I don't know if I want to talk about it." Lori stood up and took baby steps to the door holding her head still. "If I'm not back in half an hour, call 911."

  "Okay." I watched from the door to make sure she was walking into the right apartment and steadily. If she made it across the hall, she'd be fine. Getting her to her apartment wouldn’t help me solve the Nick situation.

  Maybe if I got her really, really drunk and took her to the garage, I could solve this Nick and Lori thing for good. She’d at least admit how she felt. Though, it might help if Nick were drunk too.

  ~* * *~

  One week down and all I'd accomplished was a hang up from Nick. So far, this had gone very badly. At least Lori had returned to her normal routine. I'd restocked my liquor cabinet and bought extra tequila for the margaritas I was contributing to the first week check in.

  I could already smell the pizza Jen was making. I'd dressed for comfort in my loose boot cut jeans. The cherry red sweater was slightly unraveling on the left cuff but at least my socks matched my sweater. I saved my sexy form fitting jeans and cleavage showing tops for dates or at least leaving the building.

  As I left my apartment with the tequila and margarita mix, I hoped Jen and Lori had made better progress in the past week or this would be a very fast and boring conversation. I still believed no regrets was a good motto. It’d been my idea to explore it with the ex’s. If it backfired, I had no one to blame.

  "Hey, Jen." I entered her apartment and joined her in the kitchen. True to Jen, she was in a crisp blouse, khaki pants and an apron. She already had the blender and ice set out for me. Her fancy tiered cooling trays contained two deep-dish pizzas. I could see another one in the oven as she zipped around setting out Parmesan cheese and oregano. "We each get a whole pizza?"

  "Hi, Marina, no. I just had extra ingredients and wanted to use them up. If we have a lot leftover, you can take it to the animal hospital with you. You said your colleagues would eat anything." Jen pulled out plates and silverware like she was having the Pope for dinner.

  "True, however you might be right making extra. If tonight depresses us we might need them all." I poured the ice into the blender, added the rest of the ingredients, and let the blender mix us some relief.

  "If that’s the case, it’s a good thing you got the industrial size tequila and drink mix." She handed me a towel in case I spilled. Jen never missed a thing. "Where's Lori?"

  "I haven't heard from her today. She's supposed to bring dessert." I wasn't about to forgo cheesecake because Lori got stuck at the office. I pulled my cell phone out of my worn jeans pocket and speed dialed her cell number.

  "I'm coming, Marina," she answered. "I left your mom's bakery ten minutes ago."

  "At least I know it'll be good cheesecake. You've got fifteen minutes or we're cutting the pizzas without you," I informed her and hung up.

  "Ten minutes," I relayed to Jen.

  "Everything should be done by then." Jen pulled garlic bread out of the oven.

  I busied myself with the blender and poured strawberry margaritas into Jen's funky cactus stem glasses as Lori entered weighed down with her briefcase, purse, and two pastry boxes. Everything was covered with a dusting of snow, including Lori.

  Jen ran to her aid and took the cheesecakes while Lori tried to get herself in order.

  "I guess winter is officially here." I handed Lori a drink as she hung up her coat.

  "Thank you,” Lori said as her lips touched the glass. She took a long drink before elaborating. “Yeah, looks like it'll be our first good snowfall of the year. I got one strawberry cheesecake and one chocolate. I was only going to get one and then your mother insisted on both."

  "Excellent!" I had a terrible weakness for cheesecake, especially my mother's strawberry one. "Was Mom still at the bakery this late?"

  "She said your dad was coming to get her. I offered her a ride but she said no. I guess her car is acting up." Lori shrugged.

  "Thanks for looking out for her. She really needs a new car. Nothing fancy, she just putters around the Southside from home to the bakery and around Taylor Street

  . It's not like they can't afford it. She likes that boat of a car." I took a swallow of my drink and resisted the urge to call my father and lecture him about getting mom a safer and more dependable car. Dad was proud, yet Mom had the final say on all things.

  However, it could be useful. If Dad couldn’t fix the car himself, I’d be the first to volunteer to take it in to Nick’s garage. I couldn’t count on it but if the chance presented itself, I wouldn’t ignore it.

  "Ready for pizza?" Jen asked. "I made one pepperoni, one sausage and
mushroom, and one with everything. You guys tell me if I got Chicago deep dish right."

  We dug in and settled down around the coffee table with pizza and drinks. "So, who got where with their guys?" Lori asked.

  I knew Lori was curious about Nick, and she seemed to have news of her own too. I was in no rush to share until more alcohol had been consumed. Luckily, Jen chimed in first.

  "Well, I called Lucas' office. I couldn’t get any details about his personal life. He still works there. He was all business. Polite and not chatty."

  "That sounds about right." I shrugged cutting into my pepperoni wedge of pizza. I took a bite and groaned. "You got the spices right, Jen. Very good. Bland pizza isn’t Chicago, no matter how deep the dish."

  Jen grinned and glanced at Lori who was stuffing her face with a slice of everything deep dish. "Good, I’m glad you guys liked it. I'm going to visit Lucas' office and see if he has a ring on or pictures of kids in his office. If not, I'll take it from there."

  "Good work." Lori nodded. "Did he sound well hung?"

  “Like it shrunk?” I tossed a pillow at Lori and she stuck her tongue out in return.

  “I don’t know about that from a phone call. I was able to confirm his name but didn’t get to that personal level. I couldn’t even get him to tell me if he was married or not.” Jen shrugged.

  “Why would he?” I asked. “You didn’t ask him that. Did you?”

  “No, I pretended to be from a florist and the Lucas Rigby I was looking for had ordered a dozen roses for his wife and I couldn’t make out the address. He wouldn’t tell me anything though.” Jen shrugged.

  “You lied to someone?” Lori asked.

  “I’m so proud!” I clapped.

  “Me too!” Lori hugged her.

  “Nothing?” I asked.

  “No, he patiently waited for me to finish, told me I had the wrong man, and hung up. I’ll get him in person.” Jen nodded. “What about Nick?”

  "I called Nick's garage and I believe he is still single. He was busy so I'm going to have to go down there in person and talk things over. I don't want to get him in trouble at work." For all I knew Nick could be married with kids too. I couldn’t stand it if Lori got her hopes up and they were ruined.

  “Did you mention me?” Lori asked.

  I felt terrible. If this didn’t work, I’d never forgive myself. Regret free was good. Opening old wounds might prove cruel. “Yes, I did.”

  “What did he say?” Lori put her drink down.

  “Not much.” That was as close to the truth as I could get. “He was at work, Lori. I’ll try to get him talking in person. I didn’t want to get him in trouble.”

  “We don’t want to jeopardize his job,” Jen agreed.

  I was relieved Jen backed me up. Lori was frowning, a slice of pizza inches from her mouth.

  “You’re right. He needs his job. Same job, same life. Probably still making the same money.” Lori shook her head. “Can you imagine me with him?”

  “Let me get all the facts first and then we’ll worry about things. He could be married or bald by now. This is just to erase any doubts.” I looked over at Jen to mentally nudge her to change the subject. Two nights drunk with Lori was more than my nearly thirty-year-old body wanted to endure.

  "So two phone calls." Jen sipped her drink eagerly. "What about Brian?"

  Lori smiled and leaned back against the couch. "I called him, naturally because he lives in California. I didn't get to actually talk to him."

  "Three for three," Jen pouted.

  "No, I wouldn't say that." Lori shook her head. "I talked to his boyfriend."

  "Boyfriend?" I sat up straight and leaned in. "You're kidding?"

  "You mean his roommate," Jen corrected.

  "No, his boyfriend. They were celebrating their anniversary. Sorry to bring you the bad news, Jen. You turned Brian gay." Lori suppressed her giggles.

  I covered my mouth to hide my smile. "At least you know he isn't the right one for you."

  Jen's forehead crinkled as she processed the information. I poured the rest of the margaritas into her glass and shrugged at Lori who smiled back.

  "That explains a lot." Jen gulped from her glass now. “I’m so stupid.”

  "Explains what? You said Brian was your best sex ever." Lori took another piece of pizza and put one on Jen's plate too.

  "Well, he wasn’t exactly my best." Jen twisted her fingers around her apron strings.

  "So now you’re lying to us? Why did you pick him then? Come on Jen, so the guy turned out to be gay, big deal. He was probably really confused when you were together." I headed to the kitchen to make more margaritas.

  "No, I swear he and I never slept together." Jen’s voice was getting frantic and squeaky.

  "Then why would you pick him as your best sex?" Lori challenged. She pulled out the dessert and brought it to the coffee table.

  "Come on Jen. It's okay. Now you're sure the right man is still out there for you." I didn't understand why Jen was being so weird about this.

  "I'm sure the right one is out there, somewhere. I only picked Brian because I don't have a best sex. Are you guys happy now?" Jen shoved another bite into her mouth.

  "You've never had an orgasm?" I concluded. "Big deal. There are whole books out there on how some women have a harder time. Now I know what to get you for Christmas. A how-to book and a toy to get you there. Not all men know how to hit the mark."

  “Yeah, I didn’t get off my first time. It takes a little practice and some patience. Toys will help, and you’ll be in the saddle in no time.” Lori nodded.

  "So how old were you guys when you first had sex?" Jen asked.

  Lori nearly choked on her cheesecake and I poured her more liquor.

  "I love Lori's first time story," I said. It would take Jen’s mind off of Brian.

  "No, it's not that interesting," Lori insisted.

  "Come on, it'll make me feel better." Jen gave a pathetic look and Lori had to give in.

  "Fine, then Marina has to tell hers too," Lori demanded.

  "Sure," I agreed. Lori knew me better than to think that would get her off the hook.

  "I was sixteen," Lori began. "I broke up with this stupid guy when he cheated on me with the class slut. I even changed math classes so I wouldn't have to see him anymore. I ended up with this first year teacher who was right out of college. He was twenty-two and all the girls drooled over him, including me."

  "You slept with a teacher?" Jen's jaw dropped.

  Lori shrugged. "He was really nice to me. I was doing terrible in his class because of this breakup, and he tutored me. One time he asked why I was so distracted, and I told him the whole story. The next thing you know we were naked, and I felt a lot better. No orgasm, but better."

  "At school, in his classroom?" Jen asked.

  "That made it even better!" Lori leaned back and licked her fork of that last bit of cheesecake.

  "Did he get in trouble?" Jen asked.

  "No, I didn't tell anyone. It was just a couple of times for fun. At least I knew what a real man was supposed to be like. Most teenage guys had no idea what they were doing, which would’ve made it much worse." Lori shook her head in disgust.

  “Any teenage guy would’ve been done before you even got started. You were smart," I said. “I love that story."

  "Your turn," Jen said eagerly.

  At least this seemed to be taking her mind off of Brian. "Mine was much more average and rather cliché. I was seventeen and it was the night of my Senior Prom. My boyfriend at the time and I had been going out for six months and my oldest sister told me to just get it over with so I’d be ready for college. She even gave me the condoms."

  "I wish I had older sisters," Jen said.

  "They have good points and bad points. You only had overprotective brothers so that probably did some damage. Overall, my first time was okay. Not the best however it was a good first experience and I learned quickly what worked for me. Men may not ask for dir
ections. The good ones will take them."

  "I'm so behind you guys." Jen cut herself another piece of cheesecake.

  I could see her mood slipping again. It didn’t make sense. We should have made her feel a little better. There was little more we could do, other than get her that Christmas gift early.

  "It's not the quantity," Lori argued. "Most guys still don't know what they're doing. You just have to find one that you can train in bed and that you can live with. That guy you marry."

  I wanted to point out, in that case, Lori should've married Nick. That would be pushing it. "Lori's right, if only there was a man who did it for me in bed and who I could live with the rest of the time, I'd marry him."

  “I’m so far from marriage, it’s not even funny.” Jen appeared to be fully backsliding into depression again.

  “Come on. It can’t be that bad. Brian clearly was out of this element with a woman and so what if the others guys weren’t great. They are trainable once you know what you like.” I tried to sound realistically positive in case she thought we were just humoring her.

  "It's not just the orgasm." Jen started turning red.

  "Then what is it?" Lori asked.

  She covered her face with her hands. "I've never had sex. I'm a virgin, okay?"

  Chapter Five

  Jen on a Mission

  Their silence and stunned expressions said it all.

  “You’re kidding.” Lori shook her head, bewildered.

  “She’s got to be kidding.” Marina shrugged.

  “No, I’m not kidding.” I stood my ground. They really didn’t believe me! I knew this wasn’t going to be a fun conversation. It never occurred to me that they wouldn’t believe me. Talk about making a hard thing worse.

  “Are we talking technical virginity or nothing at all?” Marina looked amused and confused as she moved to sit on the arm of Lori’s chair.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked. A virgin was a virgin. Right? Maybe I knew less than I thought. Or I’d lost my mind and this was all a bad dream.

  “You can’t have done nothing. Fooling around, hands, oral. You must have done something. Right?” Marina looked at Lori who nodded.