<em>~Mila, doing girl stuff with the girls~</em><br/><br/>Mila sipped her cocoa, taking in what the girls were saying.  She had missed any tension between Nicci and Bo, and it made her wonder where her head was at.  Clearly, it was something that had really upset Nicci, and Mila felt bad, like she hadn't been a good friend.  She vowed to try to be more aware of what was going on around her.  She wasn't used to being around people, but if she was going to live in a house with five others, she needed to be more sensitive to what was happening around her.  She had a thought about Bo, too, but wasn't sure if she should say it out loud.  But she took a deep breath; she had vowed to herself that she would be open with the girls, and so she would be.  She responded first to what Mari said.  "I have a feeling that Bo believes it's only physical with me.  I probably shouldn't have been flirting with Vince.  I think it left Bo with a bad impression of me."  She smiled wryly and added, "What's crazy is that his concept of who I am is so far from the truth.  It isn't physical for me.  I'm here looking for family."  It wasn't that she didn't like sex - she enjoyed it very much.  And although she'd had no lovers except Blake, she'd been hit on enough to know that it wouldn't be difficult to find a sex partner.  It was just that the relationship was more important; physical intimacy was just icing on the cake.<br/><br/>She'd gone on and on responding to Mari and avoiding sharing the thought she'd had about Bo.  She looked into Nicci's eyes and slid herself off the couch, joining the other woman on the floor.  Taking Nicci's hand in hers, she said, "Maybe, if Bo's made both of us feel similarly, he didn't mean to?  What I mean is that maybe he just isn't the best at communicating his feelings."  She felt like she shouldn't say such a thing; when she was younger, her father would have taken a belt to her for criticizing a man.  But she wasn't a child anymore, and she'd learned from years of living by herself that it was okay for women to have opinions.  It had taken her a long time to get there; she'd gone from living with her father, who had those believes and taught them to her brothers, to living with Blake, who believed the same.<br/><br/>She smiled as the women chatted about Vince and Marcus.  It was quite amazing, she thought, that she was so attracted to each of the men.  Bo drew her like a moth to a flame.  He reminded her of the comforts of home and what she'd been missing over the years.  He was like the men she had known, hard but with an internal kindness.  He was a nurturer.  She already knew that about him, and wondered if he knew it, too.<br/><br/>Marcus excited her in a completely different way.  She agreed with Nicci and Mari about their assessment of him, too.  Her lips curved into a playful smile at Nicci's comment about kneeling before him, but she didn't comment.  The other women would think she was a liar if she made a sexual joke since she'd just denied being here for sex.  "I think Marcus is... lovely," she said.  "I imagine that he's going to be good friends with everyone in the household.  He seems to be quite insightful, and the men also seem to like him, I think.  He's a leader, but in a quiet, subtle way.  And he's stunningly gorgeous," she added, laughing lightly.  "He looks like he should be an actor or something."<br/><br/>Mila shifted her body, tucking her legs under her and sipping her cocoa.  "Nicci, this is<em>really</em>good!"  Blushing, she let go of the other woman's hand, realizing that she still held it.  "Vince mentioned that he's a Master.  My ex-boyfriend and I were into the lifestyle, too," she confessed, embarrassed to be sharing something so personal but doing it anyway.  "I'm excited about him.  It's been a long time, and I kind of miss it."  Surely, her face was flaming by now.  To hide how it effected her to talk like that, she took another sip of her hot chocolate, a long one this time.