As I removed the disgusting towel from my head, I saw Brooke, still topless, staring at me and trying to suppress a laugh.
"Brooke, I don't understand."
"What don't you understand? You better not start acting like a sulky, little bitch again, Walter. I'm warning you."
"I don't understand why you let him do that to you. You told me he was an abusive bastard who used to hit you. I don't understand why you texted me to come back when you knew I'd see him..."
"See him fucking my brains out, you mean?"
"Yes."
"Well, let me try to clear some things up for you. Luke was a lousy husband. But he is, far and away, the best fuck I've ever had or ever will have in my life. Yes, he hit me a couple of times. That's why I finally ended it. That, and the fact that, outside of sex, we were totally incompatible. Sort of the complete inverse of us."
I wasn't sure if I should be more pleased or hurt by that last remark.
Brooke continued, "He used to slap me around a little when we had sex. He's very dominant. I liked that part. It loosens me up to give up control and be submissive sometimes, at least with someone who's so naturally dominant. And it turned me on when he punished me, like it turns on a lot of women. You remember how popular that Fifty Shades of Grey book was back when I was in college?"
"It was very poorly written."
"I just knew you read it. I agree, it was a crappy book. But it was very popular, and there's a reason why. The protagonist was an English Lit major, just like me. Only my dominant lover wasn't a wealthy tech entrepreneur, mine was a blue-collar plumber. Luke has actually turned out to be a pretty successful entrepreneur himself, more so since we got divorced. He's not stupid; he's just really anti-intellectual -- which is almost worse than being stupid, in some ways. But I'm digressing. Blue collar or not, I bet Luke could do things in bed that Christian Grey could only dream of doing. If he were real, that is. You saw what Luke's packing."
I simply nodded and looked downwards.