fault that she was the first in their friendship group to get married, and after a month, she was hardly the authority on married life.
Besides, she longed to blurt out the truth about their peculiar difficulty, but she couldn’t quite get herself to do so. For starters, this definitely wasn’t the right place. What was she supposed to say? She stalled some more.
‘Why would it change anything?’
‘I dunno.’ Liza shrugged. ‘Does it make it more exciting? Less exciting? Did you do it non-stop?’
‘We’re your best friends,’ Sasha coaxed. ‘You’ve always told us everything! Don’t leave us high and dry now.’
Casey cleared her throat. Mentally she cursed all the intimate girlie chats she had ever had with Liza and Sasha, not only about Alex, but about their respective boyfriends-of-the-day as well. It had seemed so natural at the time, dissecting their love lives, every nuance, every movement: Will he call me? Does he love me?
Now all that was coming back to bite her, and she wished they had never gone there in the first place.
‘It was—it was great. It was exciting. Different exciting, but don’t ask me how. And yes, we kept busy.’ At least that wasn’t a lie; they had kept busy—just not in the way she was implying.
‘“Great?” That’s it? You give us “great” and “busy”?’ Sasha burst out laughing. Alex’s head whipped up, and Casey was worried he would guess what they were talking about. She waved coyly and blew him another kiss.
Alex mouthed something at her that might have been ‘you tease’, but she couldn’t be sure.
Casey rallied to her cause. ‘Yup,’ she grinned. ‘I give you “great”, and that’ll have to do. Married women don’t tell.’
‘Aw, no!’ Sasha and Liza protested in unison. ‘That sucks!’
Sasha threw Liza a meaningful look. ‘Perhaps that joke about the honeymoon baby wasn’t such a joke after all.’
If only!
Casey started sweating. She could feel her hands growing clammy, and she felt slightly dizzy. She wouldn’t be able to keep up the pretence for much longer, not with Liza and Sasha. Their probing eyes and inquisitive tongues would tickle the truth out of her sooner or later.
‘Drink?’ She jumped up before either of her friends could answer and went to explore the buffet.
‘Hey honey!’ Alex was right there. He encircled her in his arms and kissed her ear. ‘Had a good chat with your friends?’
‘Yeah.’ Casey smiled her brightest fake smile. ‘How about you and Myles?’
‘Oh, you know. I fed him a load of technicolour stories about shagging you senseless.’
‘You didn’t!’
‘I did. I had to! It was that or hours of grilling. He got what he wanted to hear. Now he’ll go and spread rumours, and we won’t have to deal with any further questions. There’s method to my madness.’
‘I see.’ Casey laughed reluctantly. Somehow this whole talking about sex thing made her uncomfortable. She had never been a prude, but things had changed. Whatever happened to ‘what goes on in the bedroom, stays in the bedroom,’ she wondered. Was nothing private anymore?
Alex leaned in closer. ‘Sweetie, I know it’s been tough. But…’ He faltered, and Casey could hear him swallow. ‘But I couldn’t really tell Myles the truth, could I?’
Casey wrapped her arms around Alex’s neck, and they started swaying in time to the music. ‘And what is the truth, exactly?’
The blood was roaring in her ears as she waited for his answer. Why did he have to pick a noisy party to broach the subject?
‘I don’t know,’ Alex mumbled softly. ‘I simply don’t know. But we’ll fix it, I know we will. I love you.’
He kissed her gently on the mouth, temporarily forgetting that they had an audience. Their friends clapped and cheered. Alex drew Casey closer still. She could feel his breath against her neck and see his pulse throbbing in a vein on his temple. At the same time, there was a hardness in his groin that
Besides, she longed to blurt out the truth about their peculiar difficulty, but she couldn’t quite get herself to do so. For starters, this definitely wasn’t the right place. What was she supposed to say? She stalled some more.
‘Why would it change anything?’
‘I dunno.’ Liza shrugged. ‘Does it make it more exciting? Less exciting? Did you do it non-stop?’
‘We’re your best friends,’ Sasha coaxed. ‘You’ve always told us everything! Don’t leave us high and dry now.’
Casey cleared her throat. Mentally she cursed all the intimate girlie chats she had ever had with Liza and Sasha, not only about Alex, but about their respective boyfriends-of-the-day as well. It had seemed so natural at the time, dissecting their love lives, every nuance, every movement: Will he call me? Does he love me?
Now all that was coming back to bite her, and she wished they had never gone there in the first place.
‘It was—it was great. It was exciting. Different exciting, but don’t ask me how. And yes, we kept busy.’ At least that wasn’t a lie; they had kept busy—just not in the way she was implying.
‘“Great?” That’s it? You give us “great” and “busy”?’ Sasha burst out laughing. Alex’s head whipped up, and Casey was worried he would guess what they were talking about. She waved coyly and blew him another kiss.
Alex mouthed something at her that might have been ‘you tease’, but she couldn’t be sure.
Casey rallied to her cause. ‘Yup,’ she grinned. ‘I give you “great”, and that’ll have to do. Married women don’t tell.’
‘Aw, no!’ Sasha and Liza protested in unison. ‘That sucks!’
Sasha threw Liza a meaningful look. ‘Perhaps that joke about the honeymoon baby wasn’t such a joke after all.’
If only!
Casey started sweating. She could feel her hands growing clammy, and she felt slightly dizzy. She wouldn’t be able to keep up the pretence for much longer, not with Liza and Sasha. Their probing eyes and inquisitive tongues would tickle the truth out of her sooner or later.
‘Drink?’ She jumped up before either of her friends could answer and went to explore the buffet.
‘Hey honey!’ Alex was right there. He encircled her in his arms and kissed her ear. ‘Had a good chat with your friends?’
‘Yeah.’ Casey smiled her brightest fake smile. ‘How about you and Myles?’
‘Oh, you know. I fed him a load of technicolour stories about shagging you senseless.’
‘You didn’t!’
‘I did. I had to! It was that or hours of grilling. He got what he wanted to hear. Now he’ll go and spread rumours, and we won’t have to deal with any further questions. There’s method to my madness.’
‘I see.’ Casey laughed reluctantly. Somehow this whole talking about sex thing made her uncomfortable. She had never been a prude, but things had changed. Whatever happened to ‘what goes on in the bedroom, stays in the bedroom,’ she wondered. Was nothing private anymore?
Alex leaned in closer. ‘Sweetie, I know it’s been tough. But…’ He faltered, and Casey could hear him swallow. ‘But I couldn’t really tell Myles the truth, could I?’
Casey wrapped her arms around Alex’s neck, and they started swaying in time to the music. ‘And what is the truth, exactly?’
The blood was roaring in her ears as she waited for his answer. Why did he have to pick a noisy party to broach the subject?
‘I don’t know,’ Alex mumbled softly. ‘I simply don’t know. But we’ll fix it, I know we will. I love you.’
He kissed her gently on the mouth, temporarily forgetting that they had an audience. Their friends clapped and cheered. Alex drew Casey closer still. She could feel his breath against her neck and see his pulse throbbing in a vein on his temple. At the same time, there was a hardness in his groin that
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