something, girls?â
Lil smiled, fascinated by how Annieâs chandelier earrings caught the light. âPretty,â she murmured.
âYes, weâre celebrating.â Shannon nodded. She raised her glass. âTo the end of the innocence!â
Lil lifted her own glass very slowly, focused on keeping the pink liquid within the rim. âTo lend of inner sense,â she exclaimed, pleased that she hadnât spilled any.
She laughed along with Shannon, wrapped in a warm, happy glow.
Â
âL IKE THIS ?â Lil asked, an hour later. She wobbled a little on Shannonâs red velvet couch. Normally she thought the thing was beyond vulgar, since it was squishy and shaped like a pair of huge lips. Tonight it didnât seem bad.
âYes, just like that. Now watch.â Shannon looked like a beautiful, kinky Bugs Bunny wielding that carrot.
Lil collapsed into a fit of giggles and managed to shove the tip of her own carrot up one of her nostrils. âIck!â
Shannon took it away from her and handed her another one. Then she put hers between her lips and took it into her mouth. She settled her lips around it into an O. Then she gripped it firmly in one fist and moved it in and out of her mouth, in and out. She raised her brows in an indication that Lil should do the same.
Lil inserted her own carrot.
âPush it back farther,â commanded Shan.
âGaahh.â
âNow, tight with your lips.â
âOoooog.â
âPull. Push. Pull. Push.â
It was an absolutely ludicrous sight. Lil disintegrated into giggles again. Her head fell between her knees and the carrot dropped onto the floor.
Shannon sighed. âHow many bags are we going to go through? Jeez!â
âYour faceâ¦itâs so shilly-looking! How can a man kleep a straight face?â Lil gasped for air.
âI can promise you, theyâre not focused on your face. They are slobbering with gratitude and their eyes are shut.â
âGood thing!â
âOkay. I can tell that your motor skills are toast. But you get the general idea.â
âHee hee hee hee!â
âYeah. Now, remember what I told you about the underside and the root. And the balls.â
âRoot-balls!â Lil chortled.
Shannon bit the end off her carrot and shook her head, crunching away.
âWanna root-ball float?â
âDefinitely not. But you go ahead and help yourself.â
âHookayâ¦â
âYou probably wonât remember any of this in the morning, but maybe some of it will sink into your subconscious. I think maybe the cowpoke is a good candidateâbut only if heâs very generous himself. Got that?â
âCowpoked! Hee hee hee.â
âExactly. You go get yourself cowpoked.â
Â
T HE SUN was an evil squirt of vitriolic mustard in her eyes. Lil moaned and tried to blink it out, but it only spread. Her stomach felt as if someone had poured gasoline into it and set it on fire. And she wanted to be sick on top of that. Oh, Heaven help her. She rolled to her side and discovered that was a mistake, since it was a long way down to the floor from her four-poster bed and looking at the floor from this angle made her queasy. The patterns in the oriental rug down there spun into a kaleidoscope of nausea.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw that sheâd slept in her suit skirt, stockings and blouseâdisgusting.
How had she gotten home last night? Lil didnât remember. Sheâd gone out to Max a Mia with Shannon, sheâd eaten a bowl full of maraschino cherries. Sheâd spoken to the cherries and Shan had laughed at her.
Then something about carrots?
Lil bolted upright. Oh, no. No!
Her memory was surely playing tricks on her. But there in her mindâs eye was Diabolical Bugs, playing with her carrot.
Push. Pull. Push. Pull.
Youâve never given a blow job, have you, Lil?
âIâm going to kill her with my bare
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