Teddy

I FEEL THE CAR SLOW IN SPEED, turn, and then stop. The engine is killed, doors are opened, and we're being pulled outside. Still, our blindfolds remain.

"Ladies," the haughty voice says a few feet in front of me. "Part one is now complete. We are at our final destination, the spot of part two. Now is your chance to either bail or continue."

"Bail?" Rylie asks, the shock evident in her voice. "No way. This is the best night of my life. I can't wait to find out what comes next."

When I hesitate to respond, the voice urges, "Miss Pierson?"

"I feel like maybe I didn't perform up to your standards in part one, which makes me feel like maybe I don't belong," I begin, then pause to gather my thoughts. "But I did what you asked. I answered honestly. So if I don't fit whatever mold you're looking for, then I'd rather not continue on. I can't be anyone other than myself."

"Miss Pierson, you passed with flying colors. There is no mold. It would be a boring book club if we all thought the same things. We need differing opinions to keep things interesting."

Someone claps. "Ok, are we doing this then?"

"Miss Pierson?" the haughty voice asks.

"Yes," I answer. "We're doing this."

They whoop. I get a whoop!

I'm given no time to celebrate; hands are dragging me forward and suddenly I'm ushered inside a building. It smells weird. Like there's a bunch of conflicting scents comingling. The effect causes me to scrunch up my nose.

"Shit," Rylie whispers next to me. "No way. Are we where I think we are?"

"Where do you think we are?" I mumble quietly.

"If I've smelled one adult bookstore, I've smelled them all. So if my nose isn't lying, we are most definitely in a porn shop."

"What?" I ask, laughing. "Of course we are."

Suddenly, the blindfolds are ripped off and my eyeballs are assaulted with bright, fluorescent lights. I blink rapidly, trying to adjust to the brightness. When I do, I see my friend is right. We are indeed in an adult bookstore.

"So," the haughty voice from earlier interrupts my perusal. I turn toward it, confirming my suspicions that the voice belongs to Marg. Today she is dressed in a bright orange dress with objects in every color stamped all over it. Wait, are those penises? Is that a penis dress?

"Marg," Rylie drawls. "You've outdone yourself with that dress. Nice penises. So lifelike too."

Marg wipes a hand down the dress, inadvertently—or perhaps intentionally—fondling the penises. "Thank you, Miss Foss. This is one of my official club uniforms. Quite possibly my favorite."

There are more? Do the others have vaginas or boobs or butts? I'm so invested in the discovery of the other dresses now. I must pass part two if only to lay eyes on all of Marg's spectacular club uniforms. I giggle covertly behind my hand when I remember that Jensen wanted me to wear one of Marg's dresses with his face all over it.

"It is time for part two," Marg says, clapping a few times as if to get the club back on track. "For this, you have five minutes to scavenge the store to assemble an end of the world survival kit."

Rylie and I look at each other and burst into laughter.

My mom holds up her phone with a stopwatch counting down the time. "You just wasted 30 seconds," she announces, her face a perfect mask of seriousness.

"Shit!" Rylie shouts, grabbing my hand and pulling me further into the store. I snatch a plastic basket and we hastily run up and down the aisles, tossing stuff into it, giggling fanatically the entire time.

A loud buzzer sounds and we immediately halt our movements.

"Time's up!" Marg booms. "Bring us the items in your survival kit."

We join the group of ladies back in the middle of the store and hand the basket over to Marg, who begins sorting through it, naming off each item as she goes. "Candy knickers, handcuffs, magic wand, lube, Debbie Does Dallas, silver bullet, bondage kit, paddle, and last but not least, a strap-on."

When she finishes rattling off the list, everyone is quiet. Rylie clutches my hand, bouncing on the balls of her feet, transferring her nerves to me. I bite my lip and hold my breath. Then Marg pumps one fist in the air, which must mean something, because the group of women whoops loudly.

"Welcome to Paperback Riders, Miss Pierson and Miss Foss," Marg says, dropping the haughty voice.

Rylie and I exchange wide-eyed looks; then we start screeching as we join hands and jump up and down. "We're in, we're in, we're in," we chant over and over.

"You two might be the kinkiest members yet," Loretta says with a smirk. "A bondage kit? A strap-on? Anything you guys want to share?"

Rylie zips her fingers across her lips, and everyone bursts into laughter.

-

I LEAN OVER MY BATHROOM SINK AND splash cold water on my face to rinse off the day's grime. As I'm drying off, I hear a knock at my front door. I toss the towel onto the counter, peer into the mirror to check my appearance and then trudge through my apartment. Butterflies are twittering around my stomach in a mix of dread and excitement. I don't need to peek through the peephole to know who's on the other side of the door.

I pull open the door to find Jensen on my doorstep. He traded in his jeans and boots for a pair of gym shorts and flipflops. His hair is a wavy mess as if he'd been running his hands through it.

When I don't say anything or move to invite him in, he leans against the doorframe, crossing one ankle over the other. He takes my hand in his, loosely intertwining just the tips of our fingers together. Our hands dangle between us, his thumb softly caressing mine.

I mimic his stance on the opposite side of the doorframe, and I watch as he studies me, running his eyes from my bare feet up to one of his old t-shirts and then finally resting on my face. "Nice shirt," he says, finally breaking the silence. "I've been looking for it."

"Liar. I've had this one for years and years."

"It looks beloved."

"I got it this way." The shirt has a big hole starting in the armpit and continuing down the side. I refuse to get rid of it, though.

"Now who's the liar?"

"Well, there was a hole. It's just gotten bigger over the years."

Jensen drops my hand to brush his fingers along the skin exposed from the hole. I try to hide my reaction, but I shiver involuntarily from his touch. "I missed you, baby," he whispers, his eyes finding mine.

When I don't respond, he reclaims my hand in the same loose hold. "Please come home with me. You can be mad at me there, but just come home. I can't sleep without you."

"Teddy?" he asks after a few moments of silence. "I'm sorry I was an ass. I've been sufficiently scolded by my sisters and cousin. They helped me see it from your eyes. I honestly never thought about it that way before. I know that makes me an even bigger ass. I guess I need to do better about thinking before reacting when it comes to you and the jackoffs that piss me off."

He tightens his grasp on my hand, tugging me closer to him. We're inches apart, but the only parts touching are our enclosed hands. "I do trust you, baby. It's never been about that. It's more about not wanting to share you. You're mine, and I don't like it when others look at you like you could be theirs. But I'm going to try to do better. Ok?"

When I nod, he dusts the knuckles of his free hand over my cheek. "I don't like it when you're mad at me. It really sucked when you ignored me all day. I didn't like it, Teddy."

"I know." I fist my hand in his shirt, pulling his body flush against mine. "But I wasn't doing it to be petty. Or to piss you off. I just needed a minute, you know?"

I spy a smile forming on his face as he wraps his arms around me, encasing me in his warm hug. He rests his cheek atop my head and sighs. "Are you done being mad at me?"

"Not yet. I feel like I should milk it more. A foot massage maybe. Or maybe you could put me to bed the same way you woke me up."

I feel the chuckle rumbling through his body. "Babe, you realize that isn't punishment for me, right? I love tasting you."

"Jensen," I grumble into his chest before pushing away from him. "Just shut up and take me home already."

Once we're buckled into his truck, he asks about the book club meeting. "Oh, babe," I say, my hands waving animatedly. "You would not believe the night we had. First, we were blindfolded and kidnapped and interrogated. Then we had to put together an end of the world survival kit at the porn store. We wowed them with our bondage kit and strap-on."

"Um...what now?"

I throw my head back and cackle. "I guess you had to be there."