Page 78 of Anton

“What do women like when they’re on…” I glance at Milo, who’s staring at me like I’m Santa Claus.

“Yes?” she prompts.

“Their period.”

“Oh.” Her eyes widen, and she blinks at me. “Wow. I, uh…definitely didn’t expect that to come out of your mouth.”

“Neither did I. So, can you help or not?”

Milo peers over at her. “Mom, what’s a period?”

Sloane pinches her eyes shut, her shoulders shaking with a small laugh. “Well, thank you for reminding me that I need to have that talk with my son.” She points toward the living room. “Milo, go play for a little while. Let me talk to Anton.”

“Is he my uncle?”

“Yes, because he’s Daddy’s brother. Remember we talked about this?”

“Okay.” He shrugs. “But he’s kind of scary.”

Her face heats up. “That’s not nice. Say sorry.”

“Sorry, Uncle Anton. Bye.”

“Just go play,” I tell him.

He waves, while I simply ignore him.

“I’m sorry about that.” She straightens herself.

“Why? It was a compliment.”

“Right.” She grimaces. “Of course. Anyway, back to your question. Well, for me, I like a nice heating pad, some chocolates, something salty too.”

Thora already said she wanted chocolate, but I didn’t want to show up with just that.

“A nice foot rub is good too,” she goes on. “Or even a simple hug.”

“A hug?”

I cringe inside. That sounds awful. I don’t get women.

“Yeah. Who doesn’t love cuddling on the sofa?”

“Me.”

“Right.” She nods. “Okay, maybe not a hug, then.”

“Is that it?”

“Yeah. I think I covered it all.” Then a smile follows. “Is there a lady friend you’re asking all this for?”

“I didn’t say that.”

She assesses me more closely. “So you’re just asking this for no reason.”

“That’s right. Just research.”

“You know, it’s okay if there’s someone you’re interested in. It can stay between us—and, well, the boys.” She laughs, throwing a hand in the air.