“And you can’t expect her to come every time,” Dylan piped up. “And especially not the first time.”

Danny tilted his head thoughtfully. “My health teacher said if a woman has an orgasm every single time you have sex, she’s probably faking a lot of them.”

“Probably true,” Seth said with a shrug. “Women are different from men, dude. According to my wife, it takes a lot of ‘mental energy’ to come.”

“So she doesn’t, um, come every time?” Danny said shyly.

Seth shook his head. “There are times when she doesn’t come at all, and other times when it happens more than once. But she’s always into it, no matter the final result.”

Danny looked ready to ask another question, but Jackson quickly redirected the conversation before the teen could ask him—God forbid—about his and Mia’s sex life.

Because that would just be…wrong.

“Here’s another tip,” he said. “This applies to the first time, and whenever else you think it’s necessary, but jerking off an hour or so before sex is recommended.”

“Definitely,” Dylan agreed.

A crease dug into Danny’s brow. “Why?”

“Because you’re a virgin,” Seth answered with a laugh. “The moment you see your girl naked for the first time, you’ll be a stroke away from exploding. Which means you’ll last thirty seconds, forty at the most.”

“If that,” Jackson said wryly.

“Which pretty much guarantees she won’t get much pleasure out of the experience. So yeah, yank it beforehand,” Seth advised. “Release all the pent-up energy, and then when you’re getting it on, you’ll impress her with your crazy stamina.”

“But…what if I don’t come a second time?” Danny asked in concern.

The three men just stared at him.

“Dude. You’re sixteen years old.” Seth rolled his eyes. “Trust me, you’ll come again.”

Chapter Thirteen

It was nice having some time to herself. Mia loved her brother to death, but she had to admit that she’d missed waking up to a quiet, empty apartment. She’d lived on her own before Danny had moved in, and sometimes she longed for those days. Back then she’d had the freedom to do whatever she wanted. Sleep in until noon, stroll around naked if she felt like it, eat cold pizza for breakfast if the urge struck.

Being a parent involved rules and schedules, not to mention a total lack of privacy, and so she treasured this feeling of liberation as she rolled out of bed on Sunday morning and headed to the bathroom to wash up.

The only downside was that she and Jackson hadn’t been able to take advantage of her first teenager-free weekend in ages. Jackson had been in Irvine on Friday—watching the Warriors win yet another game—and the following evening he’d gone to the rehearsal dinner for a teammate’s upcoming wedding, Ryan something or other. He’d apologized profusely for not being able to invite her since it was a wedding-party-only event, but Mia had been slightly relieved to be excluded.

Truth was, she was still deeply troubled by the way their relationship was progressing. She hadn’t dreamed she’d still be seeing Jackson after six weeks, and when he’d referred to himself as her boyfriend, she’d experienced a sense of panic that had stuck with her.

As much as she loved being with him, she worried that she was starting to care for him a little too much. He was on her mind more often than not, and the level of anticipation she felt about seeing him was kind of terrifying.

Was she falling in love with him?

The idea scared her to death. She couldn’t let herself fall for him. That would only make it a million times worse when the relationship eventually ran its course. Because it would. Something this good couldn’t possibly last, and when it reached its inevitable end, she refused to be left brokenhearted and destroyed.

Mia forced the disturbing thoughts from her head as she wandered into the kitchen to fix herself some breakfast. She was just grabbing a carton of eggs from the fridge when a knock sounded on the door.

Sighing, she set the carton on the counter and left the room, wondering if Danny was back early and had forgotten his key. But if that was the case, she knew he would have texted to give her a heads-up. Ditto for Jackson, who was too polite to stop by unannounced.

Which meant that the person on the other side of that door was most likely some rude jerk who’d decided to bother her at nine o’clock on a Sunday morning.

Times like these, she really wished her front door had a peephole, but the people who’d put up this building had been too lazy to install one. Frowning, she left the chain on and opened the door a crack so she could peek out.

And then her blood ran cold.

“Mia!” Her mother looked overjoyed. “Baby, hi! It’s so good to see you!”

Mia’s jaw clenched so hard her teeth rattled. “What are you doing here?” she demanded, her tone icy and unwelcoming.

Brenda’s green eyes filled with hurt. “I told you I was coming to San Diego for a visit.”

“Yeah, last month. And surprise, surprise, you never showed.”

“I couldn’t get time off from work. I tried, I really did, but it didn’t work out. Luckily, I had this whole weekend free so I’m finally here!”

Mia made no move to slide open the chain. She just stared at her mother suspiciously. “If you had the whole weekend off, why are you here today, on Sunday, instead of coming earlier?”