“No, Gabby, I’m handling things…surprisingly well. Look, I don’t have a lot of time, but I need your help.”
“Ohh, sounds ominous.”
“It is,” Amelia sighed. “I kind of…met…a guy.”
Gabby shrieked.
Amelia yanked the phone from her ear until the screaming finished.
“Holy shit! You did it, didn’t you? You finally had some hot dirty sex, didn’t you?”
“What?” She gasped. “No!”
“Aww, why not?”
She eyed the door nervously, then said, “Um, well, we might have done other things…”
“No. Freaking. Way. Tell me everything!”
Quick as she could, Amelia told Gabby everything about Daniel, leaving out the prison part. All she needed now was for Gabby to blab to Amelia’s parents. “So now I’m trying to think of a reason why I shouldn’t…you know…go for it. I figured you’d be my best hope. The one to talk me down from…doing that…with a guy I’ve only known for a few days.”
“No way, lady. I’m saying go for it. And you already know it isn’t going to hurt, not like if…you know…everything was still intact.”
Amelia met Gabby at an animal shelter fund raising event shortly after she finished school – which was also shortly after she faced the group of boys. One of them kicked her between the legs so hard she saw stars. It was the single most painful experience of her life.
After that, Mom sent her to see a gynecologist, just to make sure there wasn’t any damage. The examination took care of the proof of her virginity though.
“How do you know it won’t hurt?”
“Trust me,” Gabby giggled. “Once you get that part out of the way, it’s all good. I mean, as long as the guy knows what he’s doing.”
Daniel definitely knew what he was doing with his hands and mouth…
“You like him.” It wasn’t a question.
“I…” She did. “I don’t know much about him, but yeah, I like him.”
“So? What’s the issue then?”
Amelia thought for a moment. Technically no issue existed, aside from fear. But fear of what?
“Tell you what you should do,” Gabby continued. “Put on a movie. Have a few beers or whatever. Snuggle up. And then, make a move.”
“Make a move? Your big advice is to just…make a move. Like I even know how to make a move. What does that even mean, anyway?”
“This is exactly why I love you! You’re so innocent, Ames!”
“I am not.” I so am. Amelia pushed her free hand to her forehead. “Tell me what to do.”
Gabby laughed. “Kiss him. If he’s got a button-down shirt on, start undoing the buttons.”
“And if there’s no buttons?” Amelia sighed. “Right, I know, just take his shirt off. This is so not helping me. At. All.”
“Trust me,” Gabby said, laughing. “You’ll figure it out. If anyone can do whatever she sets her mind to, it’s you, Amelia. If you like him, just go for it. Don’t think. Just feel.”
The water shut off. Her heart worked in triple-time.
“Gabs, I have to go. But I’ll call you. Or text you.”
“Have fun!” Gabby sang, singing off.
Make a move. Have fun. Those were Gabby’s big ideas. The great advice she had to offer Amelia in these wild circumstances. A phone call meant to deter further thoughts of doing anything even partially nude with Daniel turned into a conversation about how to get him naked and do bad things with him.
Very bad things. Delicious things.
“You taste so good.”
The mere memory of his head between her thighs had her clenching her legs together, wanting him. Needing him.
“So sweet.”
He enjoyed it. She enjoyed it. Now all she had to do was get over the fear of sex and try to get Daniel on board.
The drive to Dublin took less than twenty minutes, including the stop at a small park overlooking jagged cliffs where she spread a little more of Poppa’s ashes. Daniel held the urn for her, and he kept her from falling apart completely.
“There are a few places we could go,” Daniel said, parking the rental at the back of St. Andrews Church in the heart of Dublin. “Castles, Trinity College Library, Phoenix Park, Kilmainham Gaol…”
The last suggestion hung in the air, thick with reminders Daniel probably didn’t want to relive. His jaw was tight. Daniel unbuckled his seatbelt, staring directly ahead.
“Why don’t we go inside the visitor’s centre and see what they suggest?”
“Aye, good thinking.”
She hated that he had to go through what he had. Even worse, the memories haunting him now would always be there. This country took a carefree boy and moulded him into a hard, distrusting man.