Free Headspace by Calinda B Page B

Dean. “I’ll give you my order before you leave. I’ve got some junk that needs sorting. A field that needs plowing. And a hole that needs to be plugged.” He laughs and saunters off, swishing his hips side to side.
    “No subtlety there,” I say.
    “None whatsoever,” Dean says.
    “You guys have it easy.”
    “In what way?” Magicka picks up his napkin, opens it with a shake and drapes it in his lap.
    “Oh, you know. Sex for you is easy.”
    “It’s got to be hard before it gets easy.” He flashes me a wicked, knowing smile. “And I am never easy, girl, I guarantee you that.” He snaps his fingers at me and smiles.
    “Funny.” I roll my eyes. “I just meant that you…you know…you’re not all complicated like women. You can…”
    “We can what, darling?” Magicka turns the tiny vase of flowers on the table so that the flowers lean their heads in my direction.
    “You know…you can orgasm easily. Ka-blam . Like that.”
    “We can indeed. Ka-blam !” He turns to Dean and the two men laugh. “Not so easy for you?”
    He says it innocently enough, but a warm flush creeps up my face, as if he has read into my secret. “Not really.” I hope what passes for nonchalance has worked. “I kind of have to work at it.” Move it along, Vienna, move it along. “Have you ever done it with a woman?”
    “Me? No,” Dean says. “Never had the interest. You’ve had a few confused moments, right, Magicka?”
    “I wouldn’t call them confused. More like healthy exploration of possibilities. And what I learned was that it wasn’t possible to be with a chick.”
    “Why not?”
    “No wood to build a fire. It just could not, would not happen. I tried.” He shrugs. “I even used my tongue.” He waggles his tongue suggestively at me. “But the taste is not to my liking. I prefer something a little muskier…a little manlier.” He glances at Dean and winks. “But why all this talk about the complexity of the female body? Yours looks fine to me.”
    “Oh, no reason,” I say quickly. “I was just musing.”
    “Well, let’s muse about your heart. Yours sounded pretty broken when you called.”
    “Yeah. Can you believe it? Jonas is miserable in his relationship. But he lets her yank him around by the short hairs. And to take me off of the friend list!” I quickly turn away as tears flood my eyes.
    “Ouch,” Dean commiserates.
    “Super ouch,” Magicka adds. “You’ll work it out. This could just be his confused phase.”
    “What’s there to be confused about? He told me he was getting fed up. He caught her red-handed with another man. Doesn’t sound that complex to me.”
    Magicka pushes his spoon to the edge of the table. He nudges it off the edge where it falls with a clatter. “Sometimes it seems like a long fall when you’re standing at the edge.”
    “But he wouldn’t have to fall that far!” I protest. “What are friends for? To catch you when you fall!”
    “Uh huh,” Magicka says knowingly. He and Dean exchange a look.
    “What?” I scowl at them before glancing around the room. “Where’s our waitress?”
    “She’ll be along. Don’t fret.” He gives me a searing look. “I think you have more than friendly feelings for your boy.”
    “He’s not my boy. He made that clear. He was my friend. My friend ! We did things together. We confided in each other. We’ve always been there for each other. We’ve consoled and comforted. Laughed and joked around. And then, at the end of the day, we go home to our respective lives. It’s been a perfect friendship.”
    “Sounds like a bit more than that to me,” Magicka says gently.
    I meet his gaze. His eyes are almost lavender in hue. They’re a bluish-purplish blend of softness right now, peering out of his colorful, made-up face. They appear deep and wise and kind. “You’ve got pretty eyes.”
    “Thank you,” he says, and he doesn’t look away. “Yours are beautiful. As is all of you.”
    I look away. “Thank you.