“This is perfect, Andy,” she whispers.
And it is.
After we finish, I roll off her, lying on my back and staring up at the ceiling.
Holy shit. That may have just been the best sex of my life. No, it was the best sex of my life. It was more than just fucking it was... Hell, I don’t know what it was, but I want more. Need more.
Ava stirs beside me and I lace my fingers with hers, still not trusting my body to move.
“You okay?” I ask.
No answer.
Alarm bells ring in my head.
I shift up on my elbow and look down at her. Her cheeks are still pink from exertion, her lips swollen from my kisses, but her eyes have turned guarded.
“Did I hurt you?” Fear stirs in my chest.
She gives a small shake of her head. “No. That was... It was amazing.”
“It really was.” A smile tugs at my lips and I lean down and kiss her, but damn if it isn’t different. It’s like she’s tensed up, already pulled away, even though she’s still right here.
“Almost too perfect,” she adds, her words instantly changing the mood.
Hell if I’m going to let her think this was a mistake. But then she did just give her v-Card to one of Oak Ridge’s infamous bad boys, so I understand her trepidation.
What she doesn’t realize is, that this wasn’t just sex for me. It was more. She’s mine. And I’m going to make sure everyone on campus knows it.
“I should go.” She starts to stir, but I stop her.
Running my knuckles down her bare shoulder, I feel her tremble under my touch. “Stay.”
“I think... I think this... this was a mistake... I...” She’s moving away from me, rolling out of bed and searching frantically for her clothes.
“Ava, stop.” I find my own pants and slip my legs into them.
She’s at the door, looking thoroughly fucked and ready to bolt. I step in front of her.
“This wasn’t a mistake.”
A small hysterical laugh leaves her lips. “For you maybe, but you’re used to screwing half the campus.”
“Ouch.”
“Sorry.” She blinks away tears, and won’t meet my gaze. “I shouldn’t have said that. And I shouldn’t have done... this. Can we just forget that it happened?”
“Not possible even if I wanted to, Ava.” I wrap my arms around her waist. “Go out with me.”
“What? No.”
“Tomorrow night. Dinner and a movie. A real date.”
She looks up at me then. “I can’t... date you.”
“Why not?”
“Because... so many things.”
“Name one.”
“Because you’re you.”
I chuckle. “Not really a reason. But I will tell you my ego is getting a little bruised.”
“Pretty sure your ego is just fine.” She pulls back, still flustered, eyes darting around the room. When they land on the window, I don’t doubt she may just jump out to escape me. “I have to go.”
With a sigh, I step away from the door, but as she flies out of the room and down the stairs I call after her, “This isn’t over.”
In fact, if I have my way, it’s only just the beginning.AvaIn the car ride to the party supply shop, I try to ignore Casey’s questions. They haven’t really stopped for the last few days. She’s as confused as I am over the entire Andy Stafford debacle.
Because yes, that is what it is now. An actual debacle. Because apparently, when you sleep with a guy like Andy, in his frat house, and scream his name not once, but twice, mid-orgasm, people hear.
And people talk.
“Look, can we just drop it?” I say. She leaves the topic alone as she pulls into the coffee shop drive-thru. We need pumpkin spice lattes if we’re going to buy Halloween decorations.
After the barista hands us our drinks, Casey gets right back to it though. “Look, I just don’t get it. You said the sex was amazing. You both wanted it. He even asked you out. So, why are you giving him the cold shoulder?” How do I explain to Casey that I have daddy issues without her rolling her eyes? But there’s a reason I don’t want to be in a relationship.
“I don’t exactly believe in happily-ever-afters, Casey,” I say as we drive toward the party supply store. “Why would I? My own father walked out on me when I was a little girl, never looking back.”
“I know.” She frowns, looking over at me. “I know, sweetie, but Andy... he’s so hot.”
She isn’t wrong there.
But it isn’t his sex appeal that has me all strung out. It’s more than that.
Sleeping with Andy was one thing -- one amazing, life-altering thing -- but when I was in his arms, looking up at him, I felt something. Something that terrified me. I could fall for that man. Hard and fast and deep and forever.
And no one falls without getting hurt. I don’t want a broken heart, and I certainly don’t want to forget my priorities. Mainly, graduating with honors, getting into a top-notch graduate program, and becoming a professor myself one day. There aren’t a ton of gigs for Russian Lit majors, and so the competition is fierce. I can’t let a manwhore like Andy come between me and my future.