give the bellhop a good tip.
“How bad is it?” she asked Claudia.
“Long story. It involves her trying to get Henry to rearrange his groomsmen so they line up by height. She thinks the tallest one should be best man. Henry’s brother was not amused.”
“Short men deserve love, too. Is Mike still single?”
Claudia shook her head. “Nope. He’s here with his girlfriend. Why?”
“I need to get laid. It’s work-related.”
Claudia nodded. She knew all about Beatriz’s work.
“I have connections there, too,” said the bellhop. Keaton, his nametag indicated.
“I love this guy,” Beatriz said as they neared the elevators.
“So what’s the job?” Claudia asked as the three of them got on the first elevator.
“I have a book to review by Monday. Sex position manual creatively entitled THE MANUAL. They call it ‘The Joy of Sex for Generation Y!’ complete with exclamation point.”
“What’s Generation Y?”
“Us.”
“Got it. We’ll find someone to do you. Someone generation Y.”
“I like older men. Gen X works, too.”
“A couple of the groomsmen are single,” Claudia said. “Jake’s here.”
“No way. He always wears too much body spray. I’d need to wear a hazmat suit. Hazmat suits are not sexy.”
“Speak for yourself,” Keaton the bellhop muttered.
“Jed?” Claudia suggested.
“We hooked up in college. He’s terrible in bed.”
“Really?” Claudia sounded stunned. “He seems so confident. Cocky even.”
“It’s a cover. Guilt. Momma complex. You have sex and then fifteen minutes later he’s giving you the ‘I don’t think we should do this anymore’ routine. I told him his cock wasn’t worth cutting through the red tape for.”
“You go, girl.” Keaton nodded his approval as the elevator door opened.
The three of them disembarked and headed for room 424.
“Well…there is one other option,” Claudia said as they reached Beatriz’s hotel room.
“Not worry about it since you’re getting married in five days?” Beatriz asked.
“Not that. Getting you laid is much more fun than me getting married.” Claudia helped Keaton with the bags.
“Then what?” Beatriz asked.
Claudia smiled at her. It wasn’t a good smile. It was a “don’t kill me” smile. Immediately Beatriz thought of a plethora of ways to kill Claudia.
“Ben’s here, isn’t he?”
Claudia winced. “Sort of. He’s one of the groomsmen.”
“You told me he wasn’t coming,” Beatriz almost shouted.
“He wasn’t coming because of a work thing. Then he got a promotion. So now he is coming. I mean, he came.”
“So Ben’s here?” Beatriz glared at Claudia.
“Ben’s here.”
“Right now?”
“Right now.”
“Who’s Ben?” Keaton asked, leaning against the luggage rack and smiling.
“My ex-nothing,” Beatriz said.
“She was in love with him in college, but nothing ever came of it. She’s still a little bitter.”
“I’m not bitter. I’m just still mildly disappointed in him. You know, as a human being. Because he never fucked me, and he should have.”
“Yes, he should´ve,” Keaton said.
“Thank you. I owe you money, right?” Beatriz asked.
“I wouldn’t want to impose.” Keaton waggled his eyebrows.
Beatriz handed him a five-dollar bill. He gave Lincoln a quick kiss and headed for the door with the luggage rack.
“You should leave the rack,” Claudia said. “She’s having crazy sex this week with someone she doesn’t know yet. She may need that.”
“If she needs it back, call the front desk,” Keaton said as he pulled the luggage rack out of the room. “Put the wheel brake on first. Voice of experience.”
Alone now in the room with Claudia, Beatriz started to unpack.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me Ben’s here,” Beatriz said, angrily removing her underwear from her suitcase.
“I didn’t want you bailing on the wedding.”
“I wouldn’t bail on the wedding. But if I knew he was going to be here, I would have mentally prepared myself to see him again.”
“Mentally prepared as in?”
“I would have brought a date with me. I have a male escort who owes me. Although I think one of the Real Housewives has him booked this weekend.”
“Your life is weird, Bea.”
“What? Because I’m a sex education blogger?”
“For starters. Are you mad at me?”
“No, I’m not mad. He’s one of Henry’s best friends so of course he’s here. He should be here.” Beatriz hung her dresses up in the closet and started sorting through her shoes. “I just don’t want things to be weird.”
“It shouldn’t be. You haven’t seen him since college.”
“True, but we didn’t part on the best of terms. The day he graduated I went to his room in a bathrobe, took it off and stood naked in front of him. I told him to fuck me like he’d never fucked anyone before. I knew I’d probably never see him again so why not? No strings attached. No pressure. Only beautiful sex. My graduation present to him.”
“I never knew you and Ben had sex.”
Beatriz’s heart stuttered at the memory of standing naked in front of Ben in his dorm room. He’d already packed everything up. Nothing remained but the bed, the sheets, him and her. The way he’d looked at her when she dropped the robe, she knew she had him. Not only did he want her, he adored her. He drank up the sight of her like a man who’d walked across a desert and
