“No,” Daisy says softly, actually starting to open up. Her arms like jelly, flopping by her sides. The liquor has just loosened her joints like a limp…thing. I cough on my churro.
Rose pats my back with a stiff hand. “I told you not to eat that.”
I smash the churro into her chest since the dessert is obviously not nice to me. Disgruntled, she tosses it on the sidewalk.
Poppy gapes, “Rose, you shouldn’t litter.” Our oldest sister leaves our side to pick up the churro and find a trashcan.
“I’m feeding the birds,” Rose calls after Poppy, who is already on an environmental mission.
Daisy is much harder to keep upright on my own, but I manage somewhat, resituating my clutch around her hip. Rose must see my struggle though because she replaces Poppy, hooking her arm with Daisy’s and leisurely strolling along.
“I hate giving blow jobs,” Rose suddenly opens up. She rarely talks about her sex life with Connor, so my lips part in shock. Maybe she thinks it’s only fair to offer some info when she keeps prodding Daisy. “I mean…” She sighs and rolls her eyes. “The first time wasn’t awful, but it’s my least favorite thing. I’m not good at it, and Connor is huge—do not mention that I complimented his dick. Please.”
I am soaring with these tidbits. “My lips are zipped.” No they are not. My mouth is permanently hung open. Though I can keep a sisterly secret. Rose has entrusted me with some before.
“Do you like them?” Daisy asks me with a tipsy smile.
“Yeah,” I say without blushing. Ah-ha! Success. “I like the control and watching Lo…” come. I can feel my ears heating. Damn.
“I’ve never really liked them,” Daisy says honestly. “And with Ryke, I can sometimes tell that he’d rather be pleasing me instead of me pleasing him. So he usually stops me before I get him off.”
“Aww,” I say. I’ve never made this sound out loud before, but this is an aww moment if there ever was one in my book. Some people would call it a perverted book, but I think I’m going to rename it The Lily Calloway Sexy Times Book.
It has a nice ring to it. And it makes me feel less like a creep.
Daisy tries to hide a bigger smile. “You know the dare?” She’s going to give us details?! Rose and I listen closely, very intrigued. “I was giving Ryke a blow job for the very first time, and that’s when Connor walked in.” She tucks her hair behind her ear, and the crowds that follow us （yes, people are trailing us, along with our bodyguards） grow in octave, so Daisy has to raise her voice. “I heard the door open, and I jerked back the same exact moment…” she trails off.
“He ejaculated,” Rose finishes without balking.
I wince. “Do you have to use that term?”
“Yes,” Rose says with confidence. I wonder if I’m making Daisy feel more ashamed by being all ashamed myself. It’s a nasty cycle that I want to break.
“Lo has come on me before,” I state. Wow it kinda felt good.
Daisy smiles. “Really?”
“Yeah, my face too. But not that much anymore.” I frown deeply, thinking about our current stasis of being. I feel healthier, and I like that Lo has spaced out all these steps with sex over months and months. It’s better to go slow.
Fast is not the right speed for me.
Daisy looks a little lost in her head.
“What is it?” I ask.
She takes a deep breath. “Do you ever just want to run? Like strip all of your clothes and speed down a street, using all of your strength, no one stopping you but yourself?”
It sounds freeing, but I can’t say it’s a thought that’s ever crossed my mind. After two minutes of pathetically running, I’d face-plant or grow out of breath—baby or no baby.
“No,” Rose says definitively. “I don’t run. I walk quickly.” This has been her motto since she discovered high heels.
To Daisy, I say, “In theory it seems kind of nice.”
She springs on her feet like she’s ready to take off. “All theories should be tested, at least once.”
“RYKE, STOP!” Lo suddenly screams ahead of us.
My heart is in my throat. Ryke has charged some random guy wearing a surfer graphic tee and frayed shorts. Lo restrains his brother by the shoulders.
Ryke spits out nasty words…all in Spanish. We walk faster to reach the guys.
“Go!” Rose shouts at the bodyguards and motions them like she’s herding cattle. “They need your help.”