And all Letty could do was nod weakly in reply.
Then let Lydia take the lead in what was surely going to be a conversation from hell.
“The real question I have to ask myself though is: is he hot?”
Not as hot as Tate Sullivan.
“He does wear those awesome V-necked sweaters.”
“You mean the ones that show off his pecs.”
“The very same. And you can always see his chest hair.”
“I love that it’s a different color from his head hair. Kind of makes me think of Vikings.”
“That makes no sense at all and yet completely makes sense to me on every level.”
Lydia grinned, those black eyes full of mischief.
“Think I should let him plunder my village?”
“And by village you mean vagina, right?”
“You know me so well.”
And you don’t know me at all. No one knows me. Not even my brain, who should have known me enough to stop all of that before it even started.
“You should go for it.”
“I don’t know.” Lydia sighed, stirring her bowl of oatmeal. “Sometimes I think…”
“You think what?”
“That maybe there should be something more there. That there’s supposed to be that electric spark, you know? That thing that makes you go crazy for someone. Lose your mind and get all horny just at the idea of him. Every second you’re alone with him all you can think about is…”
“Jumping his bones. Fucking his brains out. Fucking your brains out.”
“Exactly. Exactly.”
“Maybe you don’t even know why.”
“Mmmm yes, perfect.”
“It just comes over you in a big wave that you can’t stop or get away from, and then next thing you know you’re doing insane things that you honestly never thought you could.”
After she’d said it she realized Lydia wasn’t stirring her oatmeal anymore. She wasn’t looking down at her bowl. She was staring right at her with this piercing sheen to those inky eyes, in a way Letty had come to know well. Usually it thrilled her, to know someone was so interested.
Now she felt her stomach drop.
“Do you have something you want to share, Juliet?”
“What? No. No.”
She tried to sound casual and calm.
But hearing her given name was enough to send her into a tailspin.
“Are you sure? I’m detecting a hint of bullshit. It has a faintly man-shaped aroma.”
“I’ve told you beforeI’m an extremely boring person. I might be able to imagine thrilling shit like wanting to maul a guy the minute you’re with him, but it’s never likely to happen to me. And if it ever did happen…if by some miracle…”
“Yes?”
“It would probably…just be a mistake. An accident, almost. Brought on by…exterior influences.”
Lydia raised one eyebrow, but Letty felt better after that. Like she’d cracked the code. She could escape friend jail. She was still smart and good. It was just the movie that had done it, and the weird pool situation, and her hot, claustrophobic little dorm room. Anyone would have done the same given those circumstances; she was completely certain of it. Next time she saw him, everything would be back to normal.
And it kind of was.
He was so casual with her and warm, despite everything. Part of her had expected him to be standoffish, to never call, but he just came right up to their table. He laughed and joked around, like nothing had even happened. No one would know that he had offered to get her off, then orgasmed in her mouth. Even she was convinced, for the first five minutes. She was just about to write the whole thing off as a hallucination when two things happened at once.
Lydia turned to see who was calling to hersome girl from her Intro to Pysch course, maybe.
And when she did, Letty happened to glance up at Tate. Just for a second, but a second was enough time to see that everything about his face had abruptly changed. That easy smile was gone. His sultry, heavy-lidded gaze was back. It was back, and it had brought reinforcements. Now he was pretty much drilling great burning holes through her body. She wanted to throw up her arms and protect herself, or maybe use her tray to deflect his laser stare onto someone else.
That blond girl Sam, maybe, who was currently watching them curiously.
Yet before she could do either, he decided to increase the intensity. He damn near turned the dial up to eleven thousand, then snapped it offand he knew it. She could tell he understood exactly what he was doing when he started moving his hand toward her. He definitely saw her eyes following its progress, with a kind of dawning horror. It even seemed like he provided the slow motion himself.
Though she was willing to accept she was just losing it.