I felt like a complete idiot telling that story, but there was no harm in it, and at least I wouldn't look like a complete fool.
“So are you gonna keep banging her?”
I paused, and thought about Natalie. I thought about how much I really did want to sleep with her, and stay with her as long as she would let me. “I don't know,” I said slowly.
“Hey, why not? If she's good, take a few more rounds out of her before you move on.”
“Maybe.”
“Unless you think she's getting attached. Then it might not be the best idea to keep her around.”
Attached? I almost laughed. I had gotten her to kiss me before she sent me packing, and that was about it. I wasn’t even sure she would ever let me get that close to her again. She couldn't be less attached to me. Despite her reaction to my kiss, I couldn't even tell if she liked me. She could despise me. No matter what I did, I couldn't get that girl to warm up to me. It was heartbreaking, really. For me, at least, she didn't seem to care one way or another. What was I going to do about Natalie? The puzzle was still driving me mad, and I didn't know whether to drop her or keep trying.
“Yeah, she might be getting a little attached. She got a good taste of me, ya know. She may not be able to let me go.”
“You're kidding me? She did that? You lucky guy! She must be hooked on you. Usually a girl won't go down on me the first time. It always takes them time to warm up to the idea.”
I went around to the couch, grabbed one of his beers out of the refrigerator, and cracked it open. I took a long pull on the can and sat down beside Kyle. I had just lied through my teeth, and I didn't feel awesome about it.
“She's actually pretty great. Maybe I will see her again.”
Kyle helped himself to another beer. He laughed. “I probably would, too, if she did that to me. But maybe not; I like my variety. You should probably just move on.”
“Maybe you're right. We'll see.”
“Hey man, you wanna play some games?”
“In a bit. I'm going to jump in the shower first, and wash her off of me.”
“Okay, you know where to find me when you're done.”
I took my beer with me into the bathroom and closed the door behind me. I undressed and got the shower started. I chugged the beer, feeling the cool liquid pour down my throat. I hadn't had a beer in a while, and it tasted glorious. It definitely had that relaxing quality to it that helped you feel better after the burn of rejection. I stepped into the shower and rinsed myself off. I quickly shampooed my hair, rinsing it just as quickly. I took the bar of soap and massaged my entire body, making sure I soaped up good everywhere before getting under the torrent of water and rinsing off.
I thought of Natalie, and felt a dull throb in my dick. Yeah, I wish more would have happened between us tonight. I had to get that girl out of my head. If nothing was going to happen between us, then I needed to stop obsessing about her.
I turned the tap off and drew the shower curtain aside. I stepped out of the shower and towelled myself off. I slung the towel over the shower rod, and got dressed in some flannel pajama pants. As I did that, I remembered Natalie's elephant pants, and I broke out into a smile. She really was something else. How I would have loved to have taken those pants off for her.
I walked back into the living room and sat on the couch with Kyle, who was in the middle of playing a video game. I cracked open another beer and said, “Okay man, let's get some gaming on.”
Kyle ended his game and tossed me a gaming remote. I decided right then and there to stop thinking so much about Natalie. Maybe it was time to move on to the next one.
Chapter Eleven
Natalie
Class had dragged on that day. I wasn't sure if it was the teaching, or if it was that I was still tired from the night before. It had taken me forever to get to sleep after Jet left, and I knew why. That kiss had moved like electricity through my body; in fact, it had such an effect on me that I had a hard time getting Jet off my mind the entire morning. Maybe that's why class seemed boring in comparison to thinking about Jet and that kiss. Shockingly enough, I even had the crazy notion that I might like to kiss him again. Imagine that. Maybe I had been too hard on him this whole time; maybe he did deserve the benefit of the doubt. There was no need to mistrust him until he gave me a reason to. And the fact of the matter was I kind of wanted to see what was behind that kiss; to see if there was more than lust there.
Once class ended, I decided to take out some of my stress and frustration at the gym. I hadn't been there in a few days, due to my course load and assignments. However, I had a few free hours, so why the hell not? It might actually help me to fall asleep that night. I usually preferred to work out early in the morning, as I was usually too tired later on to get in there, but that day was an exception.
The campus gym was pretty exquisite. It was one of those state-of-the-art facilities that had everything you could possibly need to work out with, all in one place, with numerous makes and models. Although there were times where you still had to wait for a machine, it was a rare thing. Usually there was more than enough available for everyone.
One of the other reasons why I enjoyed working out early was because there was typically no one there that early. Most students were either hungover from the night before, or in class, and didn’t bother with early morning workout sessions. By mid-morning, the gym was a lot busier than it was when I generally came in.
I headed to the treadmills and stepped onto one. I entered all the requirements, and set the speed to allow for a slow jog at first, and then I would increase the speed as I went. I put my headphones on, and got my iPod rolling with some good jams.
I spent those 40 minutes in my own world; this was the time for me to fix all the problems that had been plaguing me lately. I felt at that point that I had my art project under control, and the first month was already complete. At the moment, I didn't have any other big projects coming up, so I could probably spend some time on my own art to get ready for a new show. I wasn't sure when the next one was coming, but it was always good to have a solid collection ready to go at the drop of a hat.
Now, what to do about Jet? The thought of letting him into my world gave me a touch of anxiety. I wasn't entirely sure I could trust him, but that kiss had sparked something inside of me that I wasn't sure I could continue to deny much longer. I was curious about why the kiss had moved me so much. Maybe there was more there to examine between us than I had realized. I didn't want to miss out on something spectacular if it was there for the taking.