“Really. Men. I’m so fucking sick of them.”
I watch as June wrenches the bouquet of roses out of her mailbox and crushes them under her Crocs. She throws up her hands, her tight midriff showing under her baggy grey sweatshirt. She looks up, catching me watching, and smiles. "Hey, Mercy!“
I hate when she addresses me by name, because I have no idea how to address her. "Hi, Miss Maples,” I mutter. Her porn name sounds awkward coming out of my mouth, but she’s never shared her real name. Too much risk in the business.
She laughs, tossing her silky ponytail over her shoulder. "For the love of God, will you just call me June? We’re all ladies here, we can handle first names.“ She strides over to me, leggy and inviting. "I made extra lemonade, and if you refuse it, I’ll consider you a bad neighbor.”
My shy smile nearly splits my face. I’ve only dreamed of being acknowledged by women as beautiful as June. "But it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood,“ I say, immediately regretting it and feeling like the ill-fitted nerd I am, "so won’t you be mine?”
June’s face flutters, and my stomach churns, but it doesn’t seem to faze her. "Of course,“ she says, and extends her hand. I slip mine into hers, my whole body tingling with giddiness. "Let’s go spike some lemonade and sunbathe. I’m feeling girly today.”
Inside her house, I feel entirely out of place. Everything is quality, even the drapes, and compared to my relative bachelor pad it’s like a palace. An even worse realization hits me when I remember I have nothing to sunbathe in.
“Psshhh. You’re basically my size.” She raises a perfectly shaped eyebrow at me as I part my lips to protest. "You think I don’t know what you look like under those baggy clothes you wear? I’ve scoped out the competition.“ She winks, leaving me weak-kneed, and throws a sexy black-and-white bikini at me.
"You – watch me?” The bikini dangles from my hand like a foreign object.
She’s blushing, just enough to color her smooth cheeks, as she pulls off her sweatshirt to reveal a bright, flowery halter top underneath. It flatters her torso, her perky B cups. "Well. Now and then. When you leave the blinds up, almost like – like you mean me to see.“ She motions with manicured nails. "Shirt off.”
My turn to flush as I comply. "If we’re being honest…I do mean you to see. I’m sorry.“ Apologies bubble up like a dammed river as I pull the two-sizes-too-big shirt over my head, but June crosses the room in three strides and puts her fingers on my lips.
"Shut up. That’s not what I meant. I’m a porn star – I see naked women all the time.” She closes in; our bodies are nearly touching now. The shirt drops from my hand. "Just not any I’d care to keep around. Until you.“
"Me?” I feel like I haven’t had a drink of water in weeks.
“You.” And she kisses me. She tastes like strawberry chapstick and expensive perfume, and underneath all of that is a hint of ordinary girl, laundry and TV dinners and old books. I want to devour her. I compensate by kissing her back, my hands tracing her fine bones until I reach the back of her head. I clutch handfuls of her golden tresses, like I have in my dreams.
I have to break it off first, gasping for air. "June,“ I manage.
She licks her lips and purses them, trying to hide a smile. Her next move is to kick her Crocs off behind her and shove me heartily onto the couch. I sit down hard, crumpled into the cushions, and when her sweat pants are off she straddles me so her crotch is at my eye level.
"Let’s skip all that first date shit,” she says, planting kisses along my forehead like my grandmother’s tulips, all in a row. "Except the part where we giggle a lot. I want to cuddle and watch movies and not think about men except to laugh at them. Okay?“ As she says this, she wriggles forward until I can’t stand it any longer and plunge my hands into the bikini bottom. Her ass is as smooth and hard as I imagined.
"Yeah,” I say, “okay.” And I peel the bottoms forward and press my whole face to her pussy. She moans, and I don’t think she means to. I close my eyes. She smells perfect.
Ever so gently, I extend my tongue and caress her clit, just once. This time her moan is unmistakable. "God, but the men could learn a thing or two from you.“
"Satisfaction guaranteed,” I say, grinning. She touches the corner of my mouth and echoes the smile.
“Then get to work, before I ask for my money back,” June says, and I oblige, burying my face chin-deep in her delicious folds. She writhes against me, teaching me her most sensitive points by the way she moves her hips, a dance I will not soon forget.