woman, weighing each of them up as possibilities. I may not know Jake’s agenda, but something I do know: I need to take matters into my own hands and find someone tonight. I can still win this.
I have to.
Chapter 6
LIV
“Shit,” Tara hisses, hunching down in the booth so low, she’s almost hiding under the table.
“What the hell are you doing?” I ask, laughing.
“That dude at the bar?” comes her muffled response. “Blonde hair? I went out on a date with him last weekend. Let’s just say it didn’t go well.”
“Didn’t go well how?” I ask my friend. “You can come back up now. He’s gone,” I assure her.
She pokes her head up and, after a quick look around, is satisfied that I’m not lying. She settles back into her seat and launches into her story.
“Okay. So, he takes me out for dinner. We click, things progress, and we end up in his apartment. Things progress ever further, five orgasms and a lot of screaming later, I’m exhausted and lazing on the bed naked.”
“Okay, and that isn’t what you were hoping for?” I query.
I’m in awe of how comfortable Tara is in her own skin. I wish I had half of her confidence, or her ability to not give a fuck what anyone thinks of her.
“Oh, there’s more,” she assures me, her blue eyes gleaming as she tucks a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “So, there I am, telling him how much I appreciate his ten-inch cock, when in walks his grandmother, carrying a tray of milk and cookies.”
“No,” I gasp, laughing.
“Oh yes,” she assures me. “She said we sounded like we needed some good nourishment to recover from all the hard studying we were doing.”
“Studying?” I snort. “Was the sex good, at least?”
“Dude, that’s not the point.” She throws her hands up in exasperation. “He lives with his grandma. I don’t care if he made me come harder than I have in my life. She was in the next room.” She shakes her head. “What kind of self-respecting twenty-six-year-old lives with his gran?”
“Twenty-six?” I grin. “Did he know you were only twenty?”
“Shh,” she hisses, looking around.
I wince. Right. The whole being underage and drinking in a bar thing is new for me, because I’ve been drinking legally for almost two years. I even had a summer job last year after school broke up serving drinks in an upmarket hotel bar that overlooked the beach in Bondi.
“I’m almost twenty-one,” she reminds me, lifting her chin. “And guys love young meat.”
I groan, though I can’t help but laugh. An evening out with Tara is entertaining, if nothing else.
“Hold on, this has happened to you before, hasn’t it?” I ask, the details of another Tara date disaster suddenly filtering into my mind. “I’m sure I remember you telling me how some guy’s mom walked in on you, mid-climax.” She opens her mouth to protest, but then closes it.
“Right. Henry,” she admits, hanging her head in shame.
“See, with a name like Henry, I’d expect him to live with his mom,” I giggle. “What was this guy’s name? Walter?”
“No, it was…” She makes a face as she dismisses me with her hand. “Well, I don’t remember, but again, not the point.”
“I see a pattern here,” I tease her. “You obviously have a type.”
“Oh, you want to talk about types, hey? How about your obsession with accents?”
“I do not have an obsession—”
“Bullshit.” She sits back, smiling at me triumphantly. “All a guy with an accent has to do is open his mouth and your panties soak,” she retorts. “Remember Fabio, that exchange student in sixth grade? I swear I could smell you every time he walked past us.”
“Tara,” I gasp, laughing. “I was like twelve.”
“So? It’s true. And let’s not talk about all those Aussie men you’ve probably spent the last five years screwing.”
Her eyes narrow accusingly when I dissolve into another fit of giggles. She’s completely exaggerating the number of guys I’ve been with, because there’s only been three. Part of why I love hearing about Tara’s escapades is because she’s so much more experienced than I am. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been with guys, just not to the extent Tara has.
“I do not have a thing for accents,” I assure her, even though there might be some truth to what she’s saying.
“I’ll prove it right now,” she challenges. She glances around, a look of determination fixed firmly in her eyes. “There has to be someone in here that can soak your