Page 34 of Menage a Passions
“Sorry. Cramps are not kind tonight.” If Rebecca took medicine the moment she noticed her period was starting, she usually skirted the worst of it. But she had been distracted andwaited too long before the cramps settled in.I’ll be lucky if they go away in the next couple of days.“You know where the vibes are.”
“If you think I am going to bang one out while you are asleep next to me, no thank you.”
“You could do it alone without me being any the wiser, but you insisted I sleep with you.”
“Because I thought I had a shot at some shagging, love.”
“Well, you didn’t.”
“Becca!” Jane flung herself around her girlfriend, creating a cacophony of surprised cries and the whole bed squeaking against the wall.Oh, god, there goes half the contents of my uterus.Becca was simultaneously grateful for her industrial-quality period panties and so turned off by what she felt that she was liable to knee Jane between the legs to get her tocalm down.“I love you! Let me tell youallthe ways, love!”
Before Becca knew it, she was on her back, Jane straddling her. “Caitlyn was right when she once called you a menace to society.”
“Admit it, you love me back.”
“Do I have a choice at this point? You’re a riot.”
Becca may not have been in the mood to make love, but she could be convinced to indulge in the kind of kisses that often led to lovemaking. And when Jane excused herself to take another shower as if she hadn’t just done so, Becca took the opportunity to whisk herself off to a wistful sleep where she didn’t have to think about cramps or teen girls going to homecoming.
“So…” Becca served their guest some ice water while Jane sat him down in the living room for a quick chat. “PerryMerryweather. I believe I once attended the same cocktail party as your father. Jason, is it?”
The gangly teenager wearing a well-fitted suit and sporting a broccoli haircut looked mildly impressed. “Whoa. Yeah. That’s my dad!”
“Brilliant. I do love a good Biblical name. They are so easy to remember.”
Becca took the serving tray back to the kitchen, still in ear’s reach of the conversation in the living room. “Whoa.” Perry sat up straight for the first time since he crossed the threshold. “Jason’s in the Bible?”
Becca happened to glance over and catch Jane’s disbelieving gaze that said,“How do I know more about his people’s book than he does?”“Never mind that.” She changed course at the same moment Becca realized that Perry had not gotten into Winchester Academy on mere academic merit. “While we await our star of the evening, I thought we would have a wee chat about our expectations tonight, Perry.”
“Oh, don’t worry Mrs. Lam, I am averyrespectful guy.”
Becca contained a snort while Jane’s pitch grew increasingly higher with her frustration. “You can call me Jane, love. And it’s Ms. Wong. Our Cece is my niece through my sister.”
“Whoa.”
Jane asked him to bring Cecelia home by midnight and to treat her as he would treat his distant cousin, which Rebecca found to be odd phrasing, but Perry seemed to get the message. There was also the reassurance that Jane understood teens liked to have a pint or two while celebrating on the weekend, but Cecelia was not to come home drunk, nor would anyone bedrivingher home drunk. Jane asked if he needed funds for a potential Uber ride, but he turned her down, reassuring Jane that one of his buddies was the designated driver after a recent stint in rehab.Yup. That’s solid teen logic right there.In advance of that night,Becca had given Cecelia some money for a ride if she needed it. As well as the reassurance that if she called and needed help, Jane would get her with no questions asked.
But it wasn’t easy convincing a teen heiress from Hong Kong that not everyone in her family was out to judge her for every little thing. So Becca likewise informed Cecelia thatshewould come to get her if necessary.
Cecelia emerged from her room in her burgundy gown that was more about accentuating her natural lines and tones than calling attention to itself. She and Becca had gone to the salon earlier that day, the latter conceding to have her hair straightened again while Cecelia had hers dolled up in an intricate style that commanded fake flowers and a repurposed leather collar she had found at a thrift store.When Jane heard “leather collar” she thought of something quite different.Becca had not enjoyed explaining how so many necklaces could be called the same thing in English.
But Jane had forgotten about that by the time her niece arrived in full homecoming attire. She and Becca took pictures of the couple in front of the window and a well-lit wall. Cecelia signed off on which picture was allowed to be sent to the family, and Perry presented her with a corsage that vaguely matched her dress. When Cecelia finally relented to carrying a tracking device in her clutch, it was because Jane reassured her that it was“in case the family gets on my arse about where you are.”
Rebecca was happy to see them go. Not because she was eager to get rid of Cecelia for good, but because she had a date with herself that night while Jane lounged in the living room and suggested they watch a movie.
“I’m taking a bath in Cait’s room,” Becca announced. “Me and a bottle of ibuprofen.”
“You still dancing with Bloody Mary?” Jane called after her. “It has been three days!”
“You know I go the full six or seven!”
“I do not understand!” Jane’s voice rose in volume as Rebecca walked farther away. “Mine only lasted about two!”
“Yes, and it’s very rude of it to not afflict you as hard as it does Cait and me!”
Locked in the silence of Caitlyn’s room, Rebecca treated herself to a bath and the book she still had yet to finish after all this time. As the jetted tub massaged her back and thighs, she checked her phone for any messages from anyone of note and leaned back in the hot water.
She almost fell asleep, the only thing keeping her awake was the sensation of the book smacking her on the face.