The Welder

by Ramona Gray

  “I can, uh, text it to you if you give me your cell number,” she said uncertainly. “I mean, if we’re going to be fake dating, we would have each other’s numbers, right?”

  I stared at her and her pale skin matched the colour of her hair again. “If, you, uh, don’t enjoy fucking me tonight and we don’t, um, pretend to date, I’ll delete your number. I promise.”

  “Fine.” I gave her my cell number and she typed it into her phone before giving me another uncertain look.

  “Okay, well I guess I’ll see you tonight then.”

  “Yeah.” I turned and started back down the path. I could hear her walking behind me and it was taking all of my willpower not to slow down and wait for her. I didn’t want to walk with her like she was my damn girlfriend. Didn’t want to ask her why there was so much competition between her and her sister, or ask her if it bugged her that her parents –

  There was a muffled thud from behind me and Luna muttered a soft curse. I immediately turned around. Luna was on the ground and I started toward her, my long strides eating up the distance in a matter of seconds. I leaned down and cupped her waist, picking her up easily and setting her on her feet.

  There were scrapes on the palms of her hand and her pants were ripped at the knee. I could see blood seeping through the fabric.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Just fine.” She gave me a bright smile, but I could see the pain lines around her mouth. “I tripped over…something.”

  For some reason she looked embarrassed but before I could ask why, she said, “I’m so clumsy. I’m always tripping over nothing. Once, when I was a teenager, I tripped and smashed into my mom’s curio cabinet and…sorry, I’m babbling.”

  She shut her mouth and wiped the palms of her hands on her pants. She winced, and I stared at the smears of blood that were left on her pants.

  “You’re bleeding.”

  She studied the palms of her hands. “Just some scrapes. I’ll clean them out when I get home. Bye, Asher.”

  She pushed past me and I heard her hiss of pain, saw the way she flinched when she put weight on her left leg. She didn’t stop though, just limped her way down the path. I sighed and chased after her, ignoring her little squeal of surprise when I picked her up and carried her.

  “Mr. Stokes – Asher – what are you doing?”

  “Your knee is bleeding.”

  “It’s only a scrape as well.”

  “You can barely walk on it.”

  “I twisted it a little. I just need to walk it off like my dad always says.”

  I scowled and tightened my grip on her as I left the park. I walked to the street corner and waited for the light to change, shifting Luna in my arms.

  “You can put me down,” she said. “My knee already feels better.”

  I ignored her as an older bald man with a cane in his right hand, thumped his way up to us.

  “Luna? Is that you?”

  “Oh, uh, hi, Mr. Taver, how are you?”

  “I passed a kidney stone day before last. Hurt like hell.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Luna said politely.

  The man squinted at me. “Who’s that holding you?”

  “This is Asher Stokes. Asher, this is Mr. Taver.”

  I grunted out a hello as the old man stared silently at me before turning back to Luna. “You fall again?”

  “Yes,” Luna said. “Mr. Stokes is being very kind and helping me to my car.”

  Mr. Taver’s laugh sounded like he’d smoked for most of his youth. “You’re always fallin’, young lady. You need to learn to watch your feet when you walk. I’ve never seen anyone as clumsy as you. It’s like God himself forgot to give you the ability to balance when you was cookin’ in your mama’s belly.”

  Luna flushed a dull red, I could almost feel her embarrassment rolling off her in waves, and I curled my lip at the old man. “Keep your opinions about Luna to yourself, old man.”

  Luna stared wide-eyed at me as Mr. Taver gave me a startled look. The light changed, and I walked across the street before he could say anything.

  “You shouldn’t be rude to Mr. Taver,” Luna said.

  “He should keep his mouth shut about you.”

  She frowned at me. “I’ve known him since I was a little kid. He was my neighbor.”

  “Doesn’t mean he can talk shit about you.” I walked into the parking lot of the coffee shop and headed toward Luna’s car. Christ, she was so little, I wasn’t even breaking a sweat carrying her. I’d have to be careful fucking her tonight.

  “He wasn’t,” she protested. “Besides, everyone talks about how clumsy I am. I’ve been called Loopy Luna since grade school.”

  “It bugs you.” I set her down next to her car as she gave me a startled look.

  “How do you know – uh, no it doesn’t bother me.”

  “Yes, it does. Can you drive with your knee?”

  She stared at her knee before staring at her car. “Yes. How did you know this was my car?”

  Fuck. I was really fucking bad at hiding my obsession with her.

  “Lucky guess. See you tonight.” I turned and crossed the parking lot to my truck, climbing in and driving off without looking at Luna again. I couldn’t. If I did, I might be tempted to just take her home and fuck her right now.

  Why the fuck aren’t you?

  Because I needed to play it cool. If Luna saw how eager I was for her, how desperately I wanted her, she’d have all the goddamn power in the relationship. After watching the hell my father went through, I wasn’t about to give any woman power over me. Not even Luna.

  Chapter Three

  Luna

  “Wait, so you’re basically having a sex audition tonight. Is that what you’re telling me?” My best friend’s voice was rising, and I made a shushing motion with my hands. The walls in my apartment were thin.

  “Claire, quiet!”

  “Luna,” Claire leaned forward, “this is insane. You know that right? I know better than anyone how much you’re into Asher, but the guy’s being a dick. He’s using you to get his rocks off tonight, and nothing more. You can’t honestly think that he’s going to help you cover up your lie to your sister in exchange for sex all weekend.”

  “He said he would,” I replied.

  Claire stood and paced my small kitchen. “Honey, that’s what makes him a dick! A nice guy wouldn’t demand sex in exchange for helping you.”

  “He is a nice guy,” I protested. “He could have just said no and then I’d really be screwed.”

  “No, honey, you wouldn’t be. You could tell your sister that you and Asher broke up. You don’t have to confess that you were never dating in the first place. She’s only here for the weekend, and it’s not like Asher Stokes will be at the key ceremony or the parade. She won’t talk to him.”

  “I don’t want to tell her we broke up,” I said stubbornly. “I want her to think that he’s my man, that I got him, and she couldn’t. All our lives she’s been the smart one, the pretty one, the successful one. Just once, I want something she’ll never get.”

  Claire sat down and took my hands. “Okay, I get that. Your sister is a real piece of work and has been since we were kids, but did you agree to this sex audition with Asher because you want to one-up your sister or because you’ve wanted to bang him for years.”

  I blushed furiously before shrugging. “Both.”

  Claire smiled before squeezing my hands. “Which is the only reason why I’m even letting you go ahead with this.”

  I winced and pulled my hands free, examining the scrapes on the palms from my fall in the park. “I’m a grown woman, Claire. I love you, but you can’t tell me who I get to have sex with.”

  “I know, but have you really thought about what sex with Asher Stokes will be like.”

  “Um, it’s all I think about.”

  She made a sound that was half-exasperation and half-amusement. “Honey, push your libido down and really think about it. Asher is a big guy
and you’re a small woman. What if he likes it rough in bed? Hmm? He could hurt you accidentally.”

  “He’ll be gentle,” I said even though I had no idea if he would be or not.

  “You don’t know that. And even if he is gentle, a guy that big is gonna have a big dick.”

  “I know,” I said with a saucy grin.

  She rolled her eyes. “Listen, every woman thinks they want a nice fat dick on their guy, but again…the size difference between you two, Luna. What if he’s too big and you can’t take all of it? Do you really want him trying to shove his giant dick into your lady taco when it’s just not gonna fit?”

  I burst into laughter. “Lady taco? Oh my God, Claire. One, don’t ever refer to my vagina as a lady taco again, and two – it’ll fit. Even if he’s really big, vaginas stretch. A guy being too big to fit is just something women tell men to make them feel good about -”

  “Luna, no it isn’t,” Claire said. “Sometimes they don’t fit.”

  I blinked at her. “Seriously?”

  “Yes, seriously.”

  I stared down at my crotch for a moment as a trickle of apprehension went down my spine. Shit, what if Claire was right? What if he was too big? I wanted Asher, but I also didn’t want my lady parts wrecked.

  “It isn’t too late to call this off,” Claire said. “Text Asher and tell him you’ve changed your mind. When your sister gets here on Friday, tell her you and Asher broke up. Easy peasy.”

  I pushed down my anxiety and shook my head. “No, I’m doing this.”

  “What if you two aren’t compatible and after he fucks you, he refuses to help?”

  I shrugged. “Then I do what you suggested and tell Lydia we broke up. But, it’s not gonna happen. I’ll do whatever I have to, to make it good tonight with Asher. He’s gonna be so sexed up, he won’t know what hit him.”

  “Not to play devil’s advocate, but you don’t have a lot of experience,” Claire said.

  I scowled at her. “I have experience.”

  “You’ve dated two men and only slept with one of them.”

  “Yeah, but we slept together eleven times.” I could hear the indignation in my voice. “I have moves, Claire. I’m practically a slut.”

  Claire burst into laughter. “Having sex eleven times does not make you a slut.”

  “Well, technically it was ten and a half times.”

  “Ten and a half?” Claire raised her eyebrows.

  “I was giving him a blowjob and he came before we could actually have sex,” I said. “But I’m still counting it as half because we were both naked and one of us had an orgasm.”

  “Derek didn’t give you an orgasm after he came in your mouth?”

  I turned bright red. “Don’t be crude, Claire. He was really tired, okay? I get it. I’m always tired after an orgasm too.”

  She just rolled her eyes again. “We need to find you a nice, sweet guy to be attracted to, Luna.”

  “Derek was…okay, fine, I guess Derek wasn’t really that nice or sweet, but Asher is.”

  “Asher is the very definition of not-sweet. You know about his reputation just like I do…he fucks ‘em and leaves ‘em, Luna Davis. You’re about to become the next notch on his bedpost. Are you okay with that?”

  “Yes,” I lied. “I’m perfectly fine with it. But, he’s nicer than you think. He caught me twice before I could fall on my face and – AND – when I did fall, he carried me like a hundred miles to my car. That’s something a nice guy would do.”

  “Yeah, well that nice guy is also going to be here in,” she checked her watch, “half an hour to test you out before agreeing to help you.”

  I winced. Claire wasn’t wrong, but I hated to hear it put so bluntly. Especially since I was a willing participant. Right or wrong, I didn’t give a shit that Asher was using me for sex. I wanted to sleep with him and besides, I was using him too. It was a mutual…using.

  I stood. “Okay, you gotta go. I don’t need you here and giving him the stink eye when he arrives.”

  She sighed and stood. “Luna, are you sure? Really sure that -”

  “I’m positive. Be happy for me, Claire. My biggest fantasy is about to come true in twenty-eight minutes.”

  She gave me a worried look. “Text me in the morning, okay? Let me know that you’re okay. I’ll be at work, but I’ll check my phone.”

  “I will,” I said. “Hey, do I, uh, look okay?”

  As soon as I got home, I had jumped in the shower and cleaned the scrapes on my hands and knees before washing the rest of my body and shaving. I had braided my hair in a loose plait with a few curls framing my face and put on a light layer of makeup. My dark green dress was one of my favourites, and I smoothed my hand over the skirt before giving Claire a nervous look.

  “You look beautiful, honey,” Claire said. “Your knee is bruising though. How bad does it hurt?”

  I studied my left knee, frowning at the way it had swelled and the dark bruise that was blossoming on it. “Actually, it’s pretty sore. Hopefully Asher doesn’t want to have doggy-style sex.”

  I limped after Claire when she walked to my front door. She put her coat on and smiled at me. “Well, good luck and have fun, I guess?”

  “Thank you. I will.’

  “Just… be careful, okay?”

  “I will. I promise I won’t let Asher Stokes ruin my lady taco with his giant penis.”

  She laughed and leaned down to kiss my cheek. “Love you, girl. Text me tomorrow.”

  “Love you too. I will.”

  I closed the door behind her and limped back to the kitchen. I poured myself a glass of water and drank half of it in two large gulps. I was starting to be nervous and talking to Claire hadn’t helped. What if Asher really didn’t fit? What if his penis was giant-sized and he couldn’t get it in and he got frustrated and -”

  The knock on my door made me jerk wildly. My knee twisted, sending pain shooting down my leg, and I groaned and rubbed it before glancing at the clock on the microwave. Asher was fifteen minutes early. My anxiety faded a little to be replaced by excitement. I limped back toward the door, ignoring the pain in my knee and leg.

  Kissing him at the park was everything I had thought it would be and he’d been gentle when he was touching my boob and my butt. It would be fine. If he was too rough, I would just ask him to be a bit gentler and he would. Despite what Claire said, I knew in my heart that Asher was a good guy. He had to be.

  I opened the door and smiled up at the big man. “Hi, Asher. Come in.”

  He stepped into the apartment and I shut the door and locked it as he took off his jacket and boots. I hung his jacket in the closet and smiled awkwardly at him for a moment. “Um, so c’mon into the kitchen. I’ll just finish my water and then we’ll retire to the boudoir.”

  Sweet.Mother.Of.God.

  He rolled his eyes and I laughed nervously before limping toward the kitchen. “Do you want a drink?”

  “No.” He was staring at me as I walked to the counter and I smoothed my dress self-consciously. “Your knee is really bruised. How bad does it hurt?”

  “Not that bad.”

  See, he was a sweet guy.

  “Can you still fuck?”

  Okay, maybe not that sweet.

  I blushed bright red and drank some water before nodding. “Yes, of course. As long as you don’t want to do it doggy style.”

  He didn’t reply, and I gave him an anxious look. “Do you? Oh crap, you do. Okay, um, yeah, I can do that. I’ll just balance mostly on my good knee. I’ve never done it doggy-style before, even when my knee isn’t bruised, but there’s nothing to it right? Just on your hands and knees – or in my case, my knee - and bada-bing, bada-boom, there’s a penis in your -”

  “Luna.”

  I took a deep breath. “Yeah?”

  “We’re not fucking doggy style.”

  “Okay.” I tried not to look too relieved. If I was gonna wow Asher sexually tonight, I needed to stick to the moves I knew. Which, sad
ly, were limited to on my side, on top and missionary. Derek hadn’t been what you called adventurous in bed. I was totally up for trying some new moves with Asher, just not on the night when I was trying to convince him I was good in bed.

  Let’s just hope he doesn’t ask for a blow job. You’re awful at them.

  My eyes widened, and my hands clenched around my glass. Shit. Would he ask me for one? I kind of hoped not. I was enthusiastic about giving oral sex, but again, not very experienced at it.

  Relax. How hard is it to suck a dick? Guys don’t care if you’re good at it or not.

  My inner voice suddenly had a split personality.

  “Are you clean?”

  I stared at him. Was I clean? I was suddenly very glad I had showered. I mean, I liked my partner to be fresh smelling too, but I would never think to ask them if they had bathed before we started having sex.

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Show me.”

  “Sh-show you?”

  What the hell? Was I supposed to strip in the kitchen so he could inspect my cleanliness?

  “Yes,” he said. “Pull up your records and show me.”

  “My records?”

  “Jesus,” he said impatiently, “your health records. You show me yours and I’ll show you mine.”

  “Oh! My health records, of course, right. Uh, but I bought some condoms for tonight.”

  “I don’t want to use condoms. They’re too tight.”

  “I bought the magnum ones.”

  He gave me another impatient look. “They’re still too small and sometimes they rip.”

  I swallowed compulsively and couldn’t stop my gaze from drifting to his crotch. How big was his dick?

  You’re about to find out.

  Yeah, I was. God help me.

  “Luna, show me your records.” He was already holding his phone out to me and I turned and pawed through the junk drawer.

  “Uh, hold on. I just had my physical two weeks ago and got tested and,” I shoved an open pack of batteries to the side and grabbed the papers stuffed under them, “here they are.”

  I handed him the results of my STD tests as I looked at his on his phone. After a few minutes, he handed the papers back to me. “You good not using a condom?”