Read Online The Edge of Juniper by Lora Richardson - Free Book Online
Authors: Lora Richardson
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didn’t respond to him, because I didn’t want to acknowledge the place inside me that hoped for the same thing.
“Fay, wake up.” Celia shook my shoulder.
I groaned. “You have to stop doing this, Celia. I can’t function without my sleep.”
“This is important.” She switched on the small lamp by my bed.
I sat up and propped my pillow against the headboard, then I scooted over and made room for her to slide in. After she did, I pulled the sheet up over us and rested my head on her shoulder. “Okay, I’m in my listening position.” I stifled a yawn. “How was your night with Ronan?”
“It was fine, but listen. I think I’m ready to do it.”
I slowly moved my head up to look at her. “What?”
“Sex. I want to do it. With Ronan.”
“I knew what you meant. I guess I meant to say why ?”
Celia laughed. “The same reasons anybody else does it. We’ve been together three months.”
Though I tried to hold my expression together, skepticism was no doubt leaking out all over. This was not computing. “You want to have sex with him because you’ve met a three month deadline?”
“No.” She laughed again. “Those were two independent thoughts. I want to have sex for the same reasons everybody does. You know; biology, hormones, love. And also, we’ve been together three months, which is a long time.”
“You love him?”
“Of course I love him.”
“Hmm.” Knowing Celia was fond of big reactions, and likely to do something because someone said the wrong thing and set her off, I treaded carefully. “Three months isn’t that long.”
“It is for Ronan. It’s his longest relationship ever. And he’s so sweet with me. Anyway, I’m not telling you this so you’ll talk me out of it.”
I fiddled with the ends of my hair, trying not to blurt out my unfavorable opinions of Celia’s boyfriend. I was not anti-sex. In fact, I was pretty curious about it, and intrigued by her thought process. But something about her decision-making didn’t seem authentic.
“I can guess your thoughts just by the look on your face,” Celia said. “Don’t even bother giving me your opinion. What I need from you is help getting some condoms.”
“Why do you need help with that? You just walk in the store, grab them, pay, and have the sex.”
“It’s the paying part that’s the problem. There are three stores in town where I could get them, and everybody that works in those stores knows my parents.”
I hadn’t even considered that. Anonymity was easy to come by in Perry. Freya and I had bought condoms once. Neither of us was planning to have sex, we were just curious about them. We bought a three pack and practiced opening the packages with our teeth, something Freya had read about in a book. Then we rolled them down a zucchini from the garden. We were out of bananas, which our health teacher had used in class freshman year, but Mom had a bumper crop of zucchini that summer.
I shook my head at Celia. “The cashiers would know me, too. Everyone has seen us together.”
“That’s why you can’t buy them here either. What I need is someone to drive me to Bakerstown.”
Since I only had my learner’s permit, and no car, I still didn’t know how I was supposed to help with this situation. “Ronan has a truck. Why don’t you just ask him to drive you?”
“I want to surprise him.”
“You want to surprise him with sex? How does that work?”
“I don’t know exactly how I’ll do it. There have been times when we’ve been close to doing it, like it could go either way, but I’ve always backed off and we just do what we always do. I could pull it out of my pocket then, and he’d know I was ready.”
“Celia.”
“What? It’s a good idea. I know he’ll like it.”
“Not to sound like a mom, but are you sure you’re making this decision for you, and not for Ronan? This is the
“Fay, wake up.” Celia shook my shoulder.
I groaned. “You have to stop doing this, Celia. I can’t function without my sleep.”
“This is important.” She switched on the small lamp by my bed.
I sat up and propped my pillow against the headboard, then I scooted over and made room for her to slide in. After she did, I pulled the sheet up over us and rested my head on her shoulder. “Okay, I’m in my listening position.” I stifled a yawn. “How was your night with Ronan?”
“It was fine, but listen. I think I’m ready to do it.”
I slowly moved my head up to look at her. “What?”
“Sex. I want to do it. With Ronan.”
“I knew what you meant. I guess I meant to say why ?”
Celia laughed. “The same reasons anybody else does it. We’ve been together three months.”
Though I tried to hold my expression together, skepticism was no doubt leaking out all over. This was not computing. “You want to have sex with him because you’ve met a three month deadline?”
“No.” She laughed again. “Those were two independent thoughts. I want to have sex for the same reasons everybody does. You know; biology, hormones, love. And also, we’ve been together three months, which is a long time.”
“You love him?”
“Of course I love him.”
“Hmm.” Knowing Celia was fond of big reactions, and likely to do something because someone said the wrong thing and set her off, I treaded carefully. “Three months isn’t that long.”
“It is for Ronan. It’s his longest relationship ever. And he’s so sweet with me. Anyway, I’m not telling you this so you’ll talk me out of it.”
I fiddled with the ends of my hair, trying not to blurt out my unfavorable opinions of Celia’s boyfriend. I was not anti-sex. In fact, I was pretty curious about it, and intrigued by her thought process. But something about her decision-making didn’t seem authentic.
“I can guess your thoughts just by the look on your face,” Celia said. “Don’t even bother giving me your opinion. What I need from you is help getting some condoms.”
“Why do you need help with that? You just walk in the store, grab them, pay, and have the sex.”
“It’s the paying part that’s the problem. There are three stores in town where I could get them, and everybody that works in those stores knows my parents.”
I hadn’t even considered that. Anonymity was easy to come by in Perry. Freya and I had bought condoms once. Neither of us was planning to have sex, we were just curious about them. We bought a three pack and practiced opening the packages with our teeth, something Freya had read about in a book. Then we rolled them down a zucchini from the garden. We were out of bananas, which our health teacher had used in class freshman year, but Mom had a bumper crop of zucchini that summer.
I shook my head at Celia. “The cashiers would know me, too. Everyone has seen us together.”
“That’s why you can’t buy them here either. What I need is someone to drive me to Bakerstown.”
Since I only had my learner’s permit, and no car, I still didn’t know how I was supposed to help with this situation. “Ronan has a truck. Why don’t you just ask him to drive you?”
“I want to surprise him.”
“You want to surprise him with sex? How does that work?”
“I don’t know exactly how I’ll do it. There have been times when we’ve been close to doing it, like it could go either way, but I’ve always backed off and we just do what we always do. I could pull it out of my pocket then, and he’d know I was ready.”
“Celia.”
“What? It’s a good idea. I know he’ll like it.”
“Not to sound like a mom, but are you sure you’re making this decision for you, and not for Ronan? This is the
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