“Whoa.” He pulls out carefully and lifts my chin with his finger. “You’re not okay, are you?”
“So, maybe I’m not going to class because I can’t walk.” I bite down hard on my lip with the admission.
“Well, then”—he presses out a dirty grin and turns off the water—“I guess you’ll just have to be catered to all day long.”
He flicks the towel off the rung until it topples over my stomach.
Cruise carries me straight back to bed and licks my wounds quite literally.
The next morning, Cruise asks if I’d drive to school with him even though he has a faculty meeting an hour before class. Of course, I say yes. I would rearrange my entire schedule to spend just a few extra minutes with him each day.
I make my way to the student café where I’ve made arrangements to meet up with Lauren and Ally.
They wave me over in the back, and I make a beeline to them without bothering to pick up some much needed caffeine. Needless to say, I haven’t done a whole lot of sleeping since Cruise decided to gift me with the best birthday present on the planet—himself.
“Morning ladies,” I say out of breath as I settle in amongst them. I rattle out a quick confession of the fornicating festivities that have ensued since the most memorable night of my life and the mindboggling pain that glommed onto my privates thereafter like, well, hellfire. “I considered faking a twisted ankle just so I could use those crutches he keeps in his hall closet. Crutches!” I hiss it out in a heated whisper.
Lauren and Ally explode in a fit of hysterics, and, swear to God, I think Ally just wiped a tear from her eye.
“What’s so funny?” I ask. “It’s not normal, is it? Knew it. Worse yet, what if I’ve got that viral form of the clap Aunt Jackie hexed him with at Christmas? What if the female version was launching an inferno in the ‘field of dreams?’”
Ally screams through her laughter.
“You’re funny.” Lauren says it dry before gulping down the remainder of her coffee. “That happens to everyone.”
“Crutches?” Ally chokes it out as they continue their decent into maddening titters on my behalf.
It is kind of funny when I think about it.
I suppose I’ll never look at crutches the same way again—or a penis. Definitely not Cruise’s extended appendage. God—it was the size of a golf club.
“So, was he huge?” Ally’s eyes augment in size as if to ask the question for her.
“I don’t really know.” The urge to gossip about Cruise’s unusual size and stature has suddenly left the building. He’s my boyfriend for Pete’s sake. Boyfriend…
I give a dreamy smile.
“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Lauren dips into me, confused. “Didn’t you see it?”
“Yes, I saw it. And so did everyone in my art class.” I spill the little tidbit about our foray into exhibitionism. “He’s sort of, you know…like an arm.” There’s that.
“Get the hell out.” Ally shouts it so loud people actually snap their necks in our direction as if she just told me off. She’s not telling me off, is she?
“No, it’s more normal than that. Oh, I don’t know.” I try to shake it off and change the subject. A familiar blonde saunters past the window and grabs a hold of the door as if she’s about to step inside. “It’s Blair from my art class.” I wave, but she glosses over us and sits by herself a few tables away.
Lauren and Ally exchange looks, and the table grows increasingly quiet.
“Everything okay?” I ask because I so know its not. I can totally read silence like a book.
“Everything’s great.” Lauren lifts her coffee, prompting Ally to do the same.
“To conquering Cruise,” Lauren says it so loud her voice practically echoes off the walls.
My face burns with heat at the proclamation, and suddenly I’m thankful he’s not in the vicinity.
“To love,” I counter.
Blair shoots me a look and darts out the door.
“Awe, to love,” Lauren and Ally coo in unison before they drink to this beautiful oblivion that’s enveloped my existence.
The truth is, Cruise conquered my soul, and now every part of me feels free in every way.
Free to love.
Free to drown in the bliss that is Cruise Elton.
Cruise
Class begins, and my favorite student is ten minutes late. I’m half tempted to tell everyone to bury their heads in a book, so I can go out and track her down. She probably fell in the snow trying to cool the sting. I feel like shit knowing I physically hurt her and, to top it off, repeated the offense of multiple occasions yesterday—once again this morning.