“It’s not such a bad thing to have two loving parents, you know,” I say, smirking a little.
She grins. “Okay, yeah, fair enough.”
“Tell me more about growing up. Did you play any sports?”
“Of course that’s what you want to know. You’re just a jock, right?”
“Not just a jock,” I say. “I read science fiction novels and love Star Wars.”
“Everyone loves Star Wars,” she says, rolling her eyes. “They’re not even that good.”
I gasp. “Take it back.”
“I’m just saying. Luke’s supposed to be all powerful and stuff, but he looks like such a goober the whole time. Like, what’s with that stupid black outfit in the third movie?”
“He’s a Jedi and he totally pulls it off.” I wave at her dismissively. “You just don’t get his fashion sense.”
She laughs and shakes a fork at me. “I think you’re too taken in with its hype.”
I grin and we fall into a conversation about favorite movies, TV shows, that sort of thing. She tells me a little about playing softball as a kid, but mostly we stick to hobbies and things we do for fun. We have a lot in common, it turns out, and the conversation flows naturally. She likes to jokes around like I do, and we seem to have a similar sense of conversation. After a few minutes, I forget that she’s a student at the school and ten years younger than me.
She becomes just another beautiful girl in my apartment.
Dinner winds down. I offer her more wine, but she declines. I get out some chocolate cake I got for dessert, which she also turns down. “Well, you won’t mind if I just go ahead and help myself here,” I say, cutting a slice.
She grins at me. “You don’t need to watch your girlish figure like I do.”
“Please, you don’t get a bod like this without counting a few calories.”
I gesture down at myself.
She laughs as I sit back down. I glance at the clock and am totally shocked to see that two hours have passed. I thought she just arrived, but time melted away and I didn’t even realize it.
“Look, we should talk about Erik,” I say, shoving a fork into the cake and breaking off a piece. “Not that I want to.”
“I’m pretty sick of it too.”
“I know. But I confronted him about those papers today.”
She blinks at me. “You did what?”
“I didn’t want to go to Coach about it,” I say. “I have a feeling Hardy’s not going to do anything more than make the kid run no matter what I tell him.”
“Oh, god,” she groans.
“I didn’t make it worse, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“But that’s what he wants,” she says. “He wants you to confront him.”
I frown at her. “How do you know?”
“I’ve met guys like him before,” she says, shaking her head. “He thrives on confrontation. Can’t handle it in the moment, but he’ll think about it constantly, always wondering how he can get one over on you, always comparing himself like he’s so amazing and so much better than everyone else. Confronting him just makes it worse.”
“So I’m supposed to, what, just ignore the fact that he’s harassing you?”
“I don’t know,” she says, sounding frustrated.
“Look, he won’t do it again, okay?”
“I think you’re wrong.”
She crosses her arms over her chest and I can feel the good vibes of the night deflating. I kick myself for doing anything without talking to her first. I was just too angry and I didn’t think about it, but from now on, I need to include her in whatever decisions I make, even if that decision is to beat that asshole down.
“I’m not going to let this go any further,” I say, keeping my voice low. “We’ll take care of him ourselves, okay?”
“Yeah,” she says with a sigh.
“And next time, I’ll talk to you first.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Right.” I lean back in my chair, cake uneaten on my plate. I look at her and let out a breath. “Guess I fucked this one up.”
She smiles a little bit. “No, you didn’t. This was really nice, actually. Kind of refreshing to be with an actual man, you know?”
“Instead of a bunch of dorm morons.”
“Pretty much.” She laughs. “Dorm morons. I like that.”
“Every college kid is a dorm moron until they get older. Just the nature of things.”
She leans toward me, pulling on a strand of her hair. I stare at her lips, parted ever so slightly, and her breasts pressed together between her elbows. I feel my cock stir with delight as my eyes roam her body, and I lean closer to her, my heart beating fast. “Walk me home?” she asks.
I nod and stand up. I take her hand and help her up. I walk her to the door and think about keeping her here, think about pushing her against the wall and kissing her, feeling her tight body against mine, but not yet. Not right now. I open the door for her and we head down the steps and out onto the sidewalk.