Chapter 9
"You're staying all night with Mike, right?" Jean is lying on her bed flipping through a magazine watching me get ready.
"Yes." I turn my attention back to the mirror and finish applying eyeliner to my left eye before coating mascara over my lashes.
"You're sure?" The magazine ruffles as she flips it closed. "You're not coming back for a condom? Or your toothbrush?"
"Nope," I reply. "Both are already in my purse." I scrutinize myself in the mirror. My blue eyes look huge. I've curled my hair into tousled waves falling to the middle of my back. "The room is all yours. You're free to impale yourself on Jonathan's cock in complete privacy."
Jean stops twirling the ends of her blonde hair through her fingers. "Impale myself?" She laughs. "That sounds like a Everly-ism."
I spritz myself with perfume. "Hey! I came up with that one myself, thank you very much."
"What are you guys doing tonight? Besides breaking your hymen."
I hold up two pairs of earrings and Jean points to the dangly ones in my right hand. "We're going for Thai over on Chestnut Street," I reply as I slide the earrings through the tiny holes in my earlobes. "What are you and Jonathan doing?"
"We're just fucking."
"Nice." I sit on the edge of my bed to tug on my black heeled boots. Over black socks. Plain black socks. I had to dig around my drawer to find these, but I'm smug that I've planned accordingly at least once this week. "This is fine for Thai, right?" I ask, indicating my jeans and pink sweater.
Jean waves a dismissive hand at me. "It's perfect. Thai places in University City aren't that fancy." She taps out a text on her cell. "You nervous?"
I cross my legs and lean back on my bed, resting my weight on my hands. "No." I shrug. "I want to get it over with. I waited too long." I grimace. "That sounds awful, doesn't it? Poor Mike."
Jean snorts. "Poor little college boy. Hot virgins sacrificing themselves on his cock."
I laugh as my phone alerts me I have a new message. Glancing at it, I get to my feet. "Mike's downstairs waiting for me. I'll see you tomorrow." I grab a jacket before taking the elevator to the ground floor of my dorm, Jacobsen Hall.
I'm expecting to see Mike waiting for me with one of his big, happy smiles that make the dimples on his cheeks stand out. Instead I find him talking to Paige Gladson. I don't know her very well. She's a fellow business major and I know she lives somewhere in Jacobsen, but I'm not sure which floor. She's wearing loose Juicy Couture sweatpants with Juicy stamped across the ass and a gray tee shirt. No makeup and her blonde hair is bundled on top of her head in a messy knot.
She's pointing a finger in Mike's face as she talks to him. Mike's response is a shrug. He looks bored. My heeled boots click across the tile floor, announcing my arrival. Paige drops her hand and takes a step back.
"Hey, Paige." I smile at her and slip an arm around Mike's waist. He's in dark jeans, a button-front blue plaid shirt and Converse. It's a huge change from his normal classroom attire of jogging pants and Philadelphia Eagles tee shirts. He looks really good and I'm suddenly more enthusiastic about tonight than I was a few minutes ago.
Paige crosses her arms across her chest, but her posture isn't defensive. It's… leery? "Hey, Sophie." She glances at Mike and back to me. "I didn't know you two were together."
"Yeah," I reply, confused. Did Paige once date Mike? He's never lacked female companionship, but I don't recall him with Paige. She doesn't seem jealous, just weird.
"I'll see you next week in Professor Tetrev's class, Paige," Mike tells her. He grabs my hand and tugs me after him towards the door.
His car is parked out front in fifteen-minute parking. He unlocks the car with a remote but stops on the passenger side and pulls open the door for me, slamming it closed after I'm safely tucked inside.
A moment later he's sliding into the driver's seat and starting the engine of the new Camaro. His dad owns a Chevy dealership in suburban Exton and Mike drives a constant stream of new cars.
"What was Paige so animated about? Something in Professor Tetrev's class?"
Mike doesn't take his eyes off the road. "Yeah. You look beautiful, babe." Mike winds our fingers together and brings our joined hands to his lips, kissing the back of mine.
"So do you." I squeeze his hand, Paige forgotten about.
We walk hand in hand down Chestnut after Mike parks in a nearby garage. I'm laughing over something he just said. I really like Mike. I'm happy I'm with him tonight.
University City is bustling with people. It's a gorgeous Saturday night in Philadelphia. The sun has already set and it's cool outside. The darkness and temperature provide a cloak of romance to the evening.