“I…thank you, I guess,” I said, nearly draining my beer to get rid of my dry mouth.
Julia threw the cigarette out and turned, giving me a lopsided grin. “No, I should be the one saying thank you,” she said. “You’re a pretty stellar lay.”
“Oh, well, you’re…um…stellar, too,” I stuttered, feeling my face grow hot.
She merely smiled and excused herself before going into the bathroom. She came back a few minutes later, declaring herself minty fresh. It made me wonder if she’d brushed after the cigarette because she wanted to kiss me at some point. I found myself hoping she might.
“I’m really sorry we got busted like that,” she said, flopping down onto the bed. “But I swear that you can trust Meg and Sophia to keep their traps shut. They won’t say anything to anyone. They’re like sisters to me.”
I nodded, hoping she was right. Her friends hadn’t looked shocked when they found me here, which was very surprising. It put me at ease that they didn’t judge me. They had just seemed curious rather than appalled.
“Have you told anyone?” she asked. “Your brother, or—”
“No!” I said, much too emphatically, and added, “I mean, not that I’m embarrassed either or anything like that, it’s just, you know, against the rules, and I don’t ever talk about, um, sex with anyone anyway, so, no. But, um, I guess it would be him if I told anyone, but I won’t because, well, you know.” I took off my glasses and scrubbed my face with my hands.
Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking.
She let out a small laugh and I looked up at her.
“You’re funny,” she giggled and jumped to her feet. “Do you want another beer?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I should go.”
“Oh, you don’t want to stay?”
“No, I do,” I said immediately. “I just didn’t think you’d want me to after…you know.” I motioned to the door where her friends had just left.
“They’re not coming back tonight, and we might as well have fun if you’re still interested.” She walked over to where I was sitting. “Are you still interested?” she asked, smiling.
“Uh-huh.”
She sat down in my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck. “I had fun last time, didn’t you?”
I nodded, swallowing nervously. She leaned in and brushed her lips against mine before pulling away.
“I don’t taste like smoke, do I?” she asked. “I know you don’t like that.”
“Not at all.” I wasn’t sure it would have stopped me from kissing her if she had, though.
She pressed her lips against mine again and I groaned when I felt her tongue requesting access. My hands on her waist gripped a little tighter as my thumbs rubbed circles just below her chest. She moaned softly before grabbing my right hand, sliding it under the neckline of her robe and placing it on her naked breast. I cupped it gently and marveled at the contrast between the softness of the mound and the hardness of her puckered nipple. She angled her head slightly and deepened the kiss, while her hands caressed my face and then moved to my hair. It all felt so good, and I especially liked it when she moaned, kissing me deeper, when I started massaging her breast a bit more firmly.
There was a knock on the door and I groaned in frustration when she pulled away.
“Don’t worry,” she said with a smile. “We’ll continue this later.” She climbed off my lap. “Will you get the pizza and I’ll get us some more drinks?”
That would be really embarrassing for me.
“Um, it’s not that I don’t want to help you, but I, uh, I need a minute to…collect myself,” I explained. Her eyes darted to my lap. The predicament I was in due to the heated kiss we had just shared was clearly visible.
“Oh.” She grinned. “Sorry, I didn’t think about that. You stay here, then.”
She walked to the door and I was grateful that this time it was actually a pizza delivery guy on the other side. That is, until his eyes traveled over her scarcely clad body and I felt a tightening in my chest. I could see that he desired her and it made me feel angry.
Stop looking at her like that.
I jumped out of my chair and before I could think about what I was doing, I’d walked over, wrapping my arms around Julia from behind. The guy gave me a sour look, and for some reason I liked it a lot.
“Have a good night,” he said, clearly only meaning Julia.
“We will,” I said, leaning down to kiss the side of her neck. The guy glared at me again and turned to walk down the stairs. Julia turned her head, giving me a curious look.