simple conditioning. In boxing, there is an expression: "Everyone has a plan until they get hit." For Giselle and other women I later interviewed, it seemed that they often had Rocky-like sexual con dence until game time with a partner, when all the buried insecurities surfaced despite (or perhaps because of) their best e orts to suppress them. It was practice facing these demons that they needed, not better self-talk. Masturbation it was. I hoped five minutes of nightly homework would be enough. THE POSITIONS: PRECISION AND PRESSURE Nina emphasized two slight modifications to most positions: 1. Changing the angle of penetration so that the head of the penis makes more contact with the female g-spot, which is generally about a quarter in size and one to two inches inside the vagina on the top side. If the male inserts an index finger up to the second knuckle (palm up), and
if he'd gloat like I had imagined he would. Plus, I was having fun with him. "Oh, Eva." Cross spoke my name in a decadent purr. "You're determined to drive me to my knees, aren't you? What will it take to talk you into a threesome with B.O.B.?" I ignored both questions as I slung my bag and purse over my shoulder, grateful he couldn't see how my hand shook. I was not discussing Battery Operated Boyfriends with Gideon Cross. I'd never discussed masturbation openly with a man, let alone a man who was for all intents and purposes a stranger to me. "B.O.B. and I have a longtime understanding-when we're done with each other, we know exactly which one of us has been used, and it isn't me. Good night, Gideon." I hung up and took the stairs, deciding the twenty-floor descent would serve double-duty as both an avoidance technique and a replacement for a visit to the gym.