Work In Progress (Red Lipstick Coalition #3) - Staci Hart Page 0,80

what he says? Any reason to think he wouldn’t be honest and true when it comes to you?”

“No.” My heart ached and twisted against the admission. “He wants to cherish me, just like he promised. He wants to protect me, just like he does with everyone he cares about.”

Rin turned to me, her eyes full of encouragement and hope. “Amelia, don’t do anything you don’t want to do. But don’t be afraid of what you do want. Talk to Tommy. If he wants more than just the physical, then maybe you should consider it. Because that seems to be what you want too, isn’t it?”

My bottom lip slipped between my teeth. I didn’t want to answer.

Katherine gave me a nod. “You are one of the best judges of character I have ever known,” she said with conviction—which for Katherine meant a slight inflection in her typically flat voice. “Trust that. If he wants you to admit your feelings, maybe you should.”

At the thought, I felt the urge to fold in on myself until I disappeared.

“And if you decide not to get physical with Tommy,” Val said, “we got you a little something. Consider it a belated wedding gift.”

She pulled a white box wrapped in silver ribbon out from the bench seat and slid it across the table to me.

For a split second, I was excited—maybe it was fancy wine glasses or a pour-over coffeemaker. But then I registered their faces, which were rigid as they tried to stifle laughter, and my ass clenched tight enough to make me an inch taller.

I pulled the tail of the bow, cursing them in my mind. For a split second, my hands rested on the lid of the box, and my head shook at the three of them.

“Oh my God, open it!” Val finally squealed.

I drew a noisy breath and held it, lifting the lid of the box.

For one stunned second, I stared at the veiny purple dildo, wondering if it was ten inches or a full foot of silicone dick. And then I slapped the lid back on and tried not to sink out of the booth and under the table.

They laughed, those bitches.

“You are all so lucky I love you,” I said, folding my arms across my chest.

Val cackled. “Not as much as you’re gonna love Donny Dong.”

I groaned. “You did not name it. You didn’t.”

“I didn’t,” she insisted, hand pressed to her chest. “Sexbangers did.”

I swiped the box and put it in the booth next to me, ignoring the gargantuan cock as it thumped the inside of the box. “What the hell am I supposed to do with this?”

“Well,” Val said seriously, “so you take it like this—” She gestured.

I died right there on the spot. “Oh my God.”

Rin laughed. “Leave her alone, guys.”

“Thank you,” I mumbled.

She offered a comforting smile, and I returned it, wanting to stick my tongue out at Katherine and Val.

Rin took my hands. “Talk to Tommy. Maybe there’s another option between the two of you.”

“And if not, Donny will take good care of you,” Katherine said.

Our laughter was loud enough to garner looks from a few surrounding tables. And there, in the company of my friends with a big purple dick in a box sitting next to me, I found it hard to be afraid.

I just hoped I could hang on to the feeling.

And I hoped that when I gave Tommy my heart, I wouldn’t lose it forever.

Donny Dong

Tommy

Gus popped to his feet and took off for the door before Amelia’s key slipped into the lock.

I smiled, closing my computer as she worked her way through the door around Gus, her voice high and happy as she greeted him.

“Hey,” I called, hauling myself off the couch. “How was girls’ night?”

“Good,” she said, shaking the snow off her coat over the mat before hanging it up. She’d set a box on the bench, wrapped in a silver bow.

“What’s in the box?” I asked as I strode over.

Her face turned a painful shade of red. She swiped it off the bench and clutched it to her chest, her crimson lips flat. “Nothing.”

I laughed, folding my arms across my chest in challenge. “Nothing, huh?”

“Nothing at all,” she said evasively, nose in the air as she tried to scoot past me.

I snagged her around the waist, eliciting a yelp. I pulled her into my body, her back to my front, and twiddled my fingers in her ribs.

An eruption of giggling bubbled out of her between protests. My free hand found