think they’re compensating, but I doubt it’s the case with your man.”
Ethan went to get their drinks, and Sam showed Tara to the back patio. The day promised to be warm, but with the ceiling fans it was still comfortable.
“What happened to get you out of sorts, if I may ask? You’re walking more gingerly than the last time I saw you, and you just sat as if you have hemorrhoids.” Her eyebrows rose. “Or maybe a butt plug?”
Sam laughed. She hadn’t intended to go into details, but Tara was easy to talk to. “We went to a play party last night, and Ethan tried out a new piece of equipment. Something he’s been thinking of building, but wanted to see how I did on it.”
Tara’s smile let Sam see the sadist in her as she said, “Do I dare ask what piece of equipment?”
Sam rolled her eyes. “Do you know what it means to ride the pony ?”
“Oh, girlfriend, do I ever.” Her face showed compassion now. “You poor thing. How long did he leave you on it?”
Ethan stepped into the room. “Forty-five minutes, and I had her situated so she could go on her toes and come down, so she didn’t spend the entire forty-five minutes bearing her weight.”
Tara leaned forward and patted Sam’s thigh. “If this was your first time, I’m sure you think this is as bad as it can get.” She looked to Ethan and back to Sam. “It isn’t, though. Forty-five minutes is a walk in the park; he only gave you a taste , baby-doll.”
Sam’s gaze went to Ethan’s face, then Tara’s. “Yeah, so he said. What do you know about putting girls on the horse? I thought you just played with boys?”
“Well, yeah, but there are usually girls around at the clubs, and I’m interested in how they handle things, seeing as how I’m slowly turning into one.” She sat back. “Not that anyone’s ever going to put me on a wooden pony. I do the torturing, thank-you-very-much, and once I get my girl parts I’m going to be very nice to them.”
Ethan smiled and asked, “How much longer until you finish your process?”
Tara looked at Ethan a few seconds before she asked, “You really are okay with me, aren’t you?”
Sam threw a pillow at her new friend. “I told you he would be.”
“You did,” Tara agreed, “but your husband is the exception. A lot of boyfriends and husbands pretend to be okay so their woman won’t be upset with them, but they most certainly aren’t okay being in the same room with me.”
Ethan shrugged. “I try to see people for who they are, without focusing on gender or race.”
“Well, since you brought it up, I’ll ask. Just what race are you?”
Sam laughed. “I wanted to ask the first time I met him, too. He’s Chinese, Latino, Jamaican, German, Irish, and Italian.”
Tara shook her head. “And one hundred percent man .” She looked at Sam. “You are one lucky woman. I prefer my men submissive, though, so there’s no worry of me misbehaving while he teaches me self-defense.”
“Good to know,” Ethan deadpanned. “Speaking of self-defense,” he shifted back to his normal speaking voice, “have you had any formal training?”
“I took a class about ten years ago, but it was a complete waste of time. Kirsten tells me Sam can teach me things I can actually use in real-life situations, though.”
“Why was the class a waste of time?” Sam asked.
“They just made me squat funny and wave my arms around.”
Ethan chuckled. “It may have seemed pointless, but if you did it for any length of time you built some valuable muscle memory we can make use of.”
“Right,” Sam agreed. “Let’s move downstairs, so we can get started.”
When Tara said her goodbyes a few hours later, she did so with some new self-defense skills she felt confident using if necessary, and with the knowledge she was accepted by her new friend’s husband, which apparently wasn’t the norm. Sam was saddened her friend had been so nervous about their friendship falling apart because yet another
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