“I, uh, I drove her home from your bar and one thing led to another,” I said vaguely. I didn’t want to share any intimate details with him. Those I wanted to keep just between me and her.
“So are you two, like, a thing?”
I shook my head and sighed. “I blew it.”
“That’s what she said.”
I glared at him.
“Sorry,” he said, holding up his hands. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” I moaned. “It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I wasn’t supposed to like her at all. I don’t know how this happened!”
“Well, you can’t really control who you fall in love with,” he said, sounding wise all of a sudden. “But I actually meant how did you blow it?”
“I, um, I failed her final paper,” I admitted, feeling like the lowest of the low. “Even though it was great.”
“You’re kidding me. Why’d you do that?”
“I don’t know. I was upset. I can’t think anymore, Matt. It’s like I’ve lost my mind!”
“It could just be sex haze,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Sex haze?”
“Stephen, are you sure that you’re in love with her? Maybe it’s just because you’re finally getting some p—”
“No!” I interrupted, not wanting to hear his crude assessment of my feelings for Julia. “It’s more than that,” I insisted. “I like being with her and not just when we’re, um, you know.”
“Getting your fuck on,” he supplied.
I made a face but nodded just the same.
“So this is the real deal, huh?”
“I think so. I mean, I’ve never felt like this before, and I…I miss her,” I said miserably.
“Does she feel the same way about you?”
“No. That is…I’m not exactly sure. She seemed to like the fact that we were ‘sex buddies,’ ” I told him, making air quotes.
“Wow,” he said, completely awestruck. “She’s like the perfect woman. Young, pretty, and into casual sex.”
I scoffed. “Maybe that’s perfect for you, but I want more than that. I think there might have been more for her as well.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes. Um, let me ask you this. Say you’ve spent the night with a girl who was drunk, right?”
“I’ll try my best to imagine that,” he said, laughing.
“So I take it that you’ve done that?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
Matt nodded and grinned. “Drunken sex is insane! All inhibitions are gone.”
They certainly are. I trashed my living room. Me, for God’s sake.
“Would you go over to her place the next day with hangover food and watch movies, give her a massage, and take a nap together?”
“No,” he answered immediately. He raised his eyebrows. “Oh, did she do that for you? Wait, dude—you were drunk?”
“Yeah, she brought over smoothies and sandwiches and we spent the day together. It was really nice,” I said with a sigh.
No, not just nice. The most wonderful day I can remember. I am in completely over my head.
“Um, but then she saw her paper on my desk and she got really angry with me.”
“You really gave her an F?”
“Yes.”
“Ouch!”
“I was drunk. And angry with her.”
“But if you just change the grade and explain yourself to her, everything will be all right, won’t it?”
“I don’t think so. She won’t speak to me. She was so angry with me, Matt. You didn’t see her face. She even…she even called me an asshole and did some self-defense move when I tried to stop her from leaving.”
“Ah, that’s nothing. Don’t worry, I’ve been called an asshole by lots of women, and then later they came back to bed and showed me some self-defense moves there, if you know what I mean!”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” I said dryly. “But I don’t think Julia will just come back on her own after what I did.”
“So, what are you gonna do?”
“That’s the thing. Her friend Sophia said that the three of them are going to a club on Friday and I should sort of…show up, I guess. That way we’ll be in the same room at least and she might hear me out.”
“That’s seems like a good plan,” he said, nodding.
“Yeah, only…Julia knows that I don’t go out. Would you come with me? She knows that you go out to clubs all the time and it would seem less conspicuous that way.”
“Are you kidding me?” he said excitedly. “A night out with my bro and another chance to see Megan? Count me in!”