Absolute Beginners(40)

“See, that’s where you could have let out a fuck.”

“I guess I’ll have to work on that for next time.”

“Next time?” she asked.

“Yes,” I answered immediately.

“Great!” she said, smiling. “Then we can watch the rest of Kill Bill and maybe the sequel, too.”

“There’s more?”

She smirked. “Baby, you have no idea.”

I had the very distinct feeling that Julia wasn’t talking about movies at all, and my suspicions only increased when she started placing open-mouthed kisses on my chest, heading south.

“Ready for some extra credit, Professor?” she asked, glancing up at me.

I took a deep breath and nodded. There was no point in trying to deny that I wanted this, and when I felt her lips around my considerably less level head, I forgot about everything except being the most studious man in the world.





Chapter 10


I stumbled out of Julia’s apartment at three o’clock in the morning, feeling both exhausted and elated at the same time. My body was spent and utterly satisfied, and my mind was reeling from everything that had transpired in the last couple of hours. I had gone over to tell her that we couldn’t see each other anymore, and the exact opposite had happened.

At the end of the night, Julia had again invited me to stay over, but I’d politely declined. I needed some boundaries or I feared that it would be too difficult to distinguish between Julia, the girl I slept with, and Ms. Wilde, the student in my class. She’d been fine with my leaving and had even kissed me good-bye at the door. I’d already agreed to there being a next time and I couldn’t bring myself to regret accepting the offer. Sleeping with Julia was, without a doubt, the most wonderful physical experience of my life, and I knew that I wanted to do it again—soon.

The next morning, I was rudely awoken by my phone, and I tumbled out of bed, looking for the offensive object that had intruded on my dream in which I was in Julia’s embrace. I wanted to dive back into the dream rather than face the reality that was now descending, thanks to the sounds of my annoying ringtone. I groaned when it started up again from somewhere in the living room.

“What?” I spat, after locating the phone and picking up.

“Still haven’t figured out how to get rid of that awesome ringtone I set for you, huh?” Matt laughed. “Sex-ualll heal-ling!”

I knew he’d set the song to tease me about my supposed celibacy. If he only knew. In my ear, Matt kept singing the chorus in a deep baritone.

“I’m going to kill you,” I growled, flopping down on the couch.

“Easy, I’m just calling to let you know that I’m running a little late for the gym.”

“What time is it?” I asked, looking around for my watch.

“It’s almost eleven. Wait, you’re not there yet?”

“No, I guess I overslept,” I mumbled as I walked into the bedroom to pull out my gym bag.

“Again?” he asked incredulously. “You’re not sick, are you?”

“I’m fine. Look, I’ll leave in a few minutes. See you there?”

“OK.”

I quickly packed my bag, threw on some clothes and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. We were going out to lunch afterward so I didn’t bother with breakfast. When I arrived at the gym, Matt was already waiting for me outside.

“What happened to you?” he asked, looking me up and down.

“What do you mean?”

He grinned. “Well, to put it plainly, bro, you look freshly fucked.”

Freshly—wait, what? He can tell I’ve had sex by just looking at me? No, don’t be silly. He’s just joking…I hope.

“What are you babbling about?” I asked, hoping that I sounded surprised.

“You’ve got the worst case of sex hair I’ve ever seen,” he said, eyes fixed on the mess on top of my head.

“I, um, I need to get it cut soon,” I said, quickly trying to smooth it down.

“No, it looks good that way, it’s just not like you at all. And you’re not even wearing your glasses.”

I’m not?

I brought my hand up and sure enough, my face was bare for the first time in ages.

“I don’t know why you wear them all the time anyway,” Matt continued as we walked inside. “I mean, you only need them for reading and writing.”

“I guess that’s pretty much all I do. It’s just easier to always wear them.”

“So, what did you do last night?” he asked me.

“I just stayed in,” I lied, hitching up my bag. “Um, how was your date?”

I didn’t actually care about his latest conquest but I was eager to move the focus away from myself and my activities last night.