“Who’s that?’
“Ben.” Ben is on the other side of me, arm around me.
“The boyfriend you just broke up with?”
“Yeah. Don’t hunt him down and kill him.” I swipe to the next photo and it’s Ben and me in a snuggle at the table, so I swipe past it again, feeling Tyson tense.
“Forget this. Let’s do something else.”
“I wanna know more about you,” he says, and his voice has taken a more dangerous tone. He takes the tablet from me and swipes through some of the pictures, looking at mostly family Christmas pictures, which thankfully predate Ben.
“Okay, I’ll show you more later after I get rid of the pics of any men who aren’t blood related or completely platonic. You should put your eye drops in by now, shouldn’t you?”
He tilts his head. “How many men are in there?”
“Probably just a few. I haven’t been serious about anyone the last couple years.” Or ever, but I don’t want to reveal that much about myself.
“How many men have had you, Ivy?” His eyes are now bigger, and I swear his pupils look blown.
“Why?”
“Answer my question.”
“Are we about to have another fight?” I ask.
He clenches his jaw.
“Because I’m not down for that. I’m all happy and sleepy and have enjoyed most of the day in bed with a wild werewolf man and I’m not lookin’ to fight about something stupid.”
“Something stupid?”
“Yeah stupid, like men I no longer have relationships with.”
“How many?” he pushes.
“How many for you?” I return.
“No more than seventy,” he shrugs. “I’ve lost count.”
“Seventy?” I choke. “You’ve fucked seventy women?”
“There; I’ve told you. Now it’s your turn.”
How is that possible? He’s only a man a month per year and hasn’t been a man in years.
I stare in shock. “Fifteen. Well, fourteen, since that one barely counts. We drank too much, and he lost his erection two seconds after he was, you know, in there. I think it might not have counted so much because I found out later he was gay. I think he was trying to play hetero and it backfired, but whatever.”
Tyson’s nostrils are flaring.
I touch his hand. “Sorry, baby, too bad you didn’t catch me and abduct me when I was a virgin.”
He squeezes mine tight. “Too bad your parents moved out of the area or I’d have smelled you as soon as you were ripe to be plucked.”
My jaw drops. “That sounds so wrong.”
He shrugs. “I can’t stop my wish that no one but me has touched you.”
“You’re moving awful fast here with me, Ty, but I’m not blowin’ smoke when I tell you that you blow all of ‘em out of the water.”
“Meaning?” He looks genuinely perplexed.
“Meaning…” I lean forward and put my mouth to his ear. “You are so much better at sex than any of them were. Half those guys were terrible. A couple were okay. Only a few were what I’d consider good and even the best of them has nothing on you.”
He smiles big. Huge, even. He’s happy about that. I mean, what guy wouldn’t be? But I’m being honest here. He’s amazing at it.
He kisses the back of my hand. “Was the last boyfriend bad at it?” Tyson asks.
Sex was one of the things Ben had going for him.
“Well, he wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t as good as you are.”
“I wish he was bad at it.”
“I mean, nobody has a penis that does that magical throbbing thing inside me that yours does.”
He smiles.
“Besides,” I add, “It doesn’t matter. I ended it with him. I don’t want him.”
“You want me?”
“Well, I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Because I won’t let you walk away or because you want to be?”
“Because I’m here. I’m here and I’m enjoying this time together with you. Let’s just focus on now, how about that?” I decide not to focus on his chosen words because otherwise his ‘let you walk away’ phrasing will piss me off.
“We have a future, too, Ivy. I’m not letting you go.”
I smile. “You’re so fucking sweet.”
“I’m very serious,” he warns.
I wave at him dismissively as I stuff the iPad back into the bag.
“Why did you end things with him?” he asks, pulling me close.
“I didn’t miss him when he was gone.” I shrugged. “There just wasn’t that… spark.”
He stares at me a moment.
“You said you didn’t feel anything until me. I guess…” I stop. Wait. Is that it for me, too?
“You’ve felt nothing until me?” he tries.
Whoa. It’s way too soon for a declaration like that.
I say nothing. I’m like a deer caught in headlights.
His eyes bounce back to the bag. “I’d like to see more pictures,” he says.
“I’ll show you some more later. Can you take me to the bathroom so I can pee and then get me some ice cream?”
“You said you were full.”
“I’ve always got room for a little ice cream.”
***
We avoid any further heaviness the rest of the evening. And I loved the night we spent talking. I talked about my job, about my family, about my roommate and her boyfriend and how they were in Jamaica right now and that I would bet money he was going to propose to her while they were gone. I then filled him in on the nightmare of the cabin of ill repute with Megan and her bucket list and told him I didn’t like the vibe in there with those guys, that some of them reeked of ‘sexual predator’.