he Alpha Men's Secret Club 2(3)

He said gently, “Trust me, Kate, when you are exclusive to me, none of that will happen.”

None of what would happen? she wondered. That he would catch something and pass it on to her? Or that he would wear a condom when he was fucking someone else and then do it bare with her? Or that he would be exclusive to her?

So many questions! He was turning her topsy-turvy again.

He said, “Do you have a gynecologist you go to?”

“Yes,” she lied. She had never gone to a gynecologist in her entire life. She didn’t have the money.

“Because I can recommend one if you don’t.”

“I do.”

“So . . . you can go on the pill?”

She nodded as she swallowed the lump in her throat.

“I can go on the pill.”

So long as I get to have you and keep on having you.

It was a psychological game. If she went on the pill, she convinced herself, he would still be with her because he would be convinced she was exclusive to him . . . and he would get to fuck her without a condom.

One month. All it took was one month of being on the pill . . . and then he could do it bare without the risk of pregnancy.

She was at that impasse now.

She looked down at the oblong pillbox of oral contraceptives.

The one month had passed. Now they would move to the next level.

She wondered what he had in store for her.

Or maybe he should wonder what she had in store for him.





3



The lecture was over. The usual suspects scrambled to talk to Professor Rust O’Brien. Carlo Estez, who gave her a knowing look. The slutty Fiona Montgomery, still wearing ‘my boobs are so big they’re gonna fall out’ tight tees in front of the Professor.

Maybe you should be exclusive to him, Fiona, thought Kate viciously. Then maybe he’d take a second look at you.

Kate waited patiently at the periphery until the students had exhausted the Professor with their questions. He glanced at her significantly, but continued to field answers to increasingly repetitive and stupid questions.

To Fiona Montgomery: (politely) “No. I don’t think penis envy could be attributed to every problem in the world. I wouldn’t put that in a thesis, if I were you.”

Then, in his usual manner, he grabbed his laptop bag. “I’ll see you the next time. Don’t forget to hand in your assignments.”

He walked off to calls of “Professor, wait!”

It stung a little. Was he walking away from her? Was he running away from her? She knew she shouldn’t be reading anything into it, but damn it . . . it still hurt. His strides were long and swift as he exited the lecture hall.

Her cheeks burned. She wanted to tell him something important.

It’s time. I’m exclusive to you.

But he was out of the lecture hall and out of her sight. She was probably out of his mind too.

She felt a nudge at her elbow.

“Want a grab a coffee?” Carlo Estes was behind her, uncomfortably close. So close she could feel his breath on her neck.

Since she was still stinging all over from the (perceived) rebuke, she hesitated. Her first instinct was to say ‘no’. But exclusivity – which Rust O’Brien did not seem to be real interested in at the moment – did not mean she couldn’t drink coffee with a fellow student.

So she said, “Yes.”

Carlo grinned.

“I know a place,” he said.



*



“Why are you mooning over him like a mad cow?” Carlo said as he nursed his cappuccino at ‘Betty’s Home Made Creams’ in the street outside campus.

“Excuse me?” she bridled. “Who are you calling a mad cow? I’m not the animal here.”

He laughed. “Sorry. But it’s obvious . . . that thing you got for him. It’s written all over your face.”

She blushed again. He was right. She didn’t have anything to say about that.

Carlo leaned back in his chair. He was really handsome, she thought. Before she met Rust O’Brien, she would have been very flattered by this attention from a good-looking student. In fact, she was still flattered.

He said, “The good thing is it was obvious before – ”

He let it trail significantly. He meant ‘before that night you presented yourself to THE ALPHA MEN’S CLUB. The night I touched you and almost forced myself down on you’.

“ – but it’s more obvious now. There’s a BEFORE and AFTER. Get it?” He waved his right hand and said, “Before.” He waved his left hand and said, “After.” Then he made a ‘mooing’ sound.

She couldn’t help laughing.

“I’m really that obvious, aren’t I?”

“Yes.”

She sobered. “I can’t help it. He’s just so . . . ” She shook her head.