“Good morning,” he said, looking nervous.
“Morning,” I replied, smiling out of habit.
His shoulders relaxed, ever so slightly. As the day passed, it became clear we weren’t going to acknowledge the letter. If he wasn’t going to bring it up, then I wasn’t either.
By the end of the day, the lingering awkwardness had disappeared, and after a week, things were back to normal. We were even…friends, almost. We went grocery shopping together.He cooked dinner while I emptied the dishwasher. I dusted the living room while he took out the rubbish. We sat on the couch together, watching space documentaries.
One morning, we had coffee together like we did most days, and he talked about what he was learning in class, his eyes going wide as he explained something about rocket ships.
And…it was really fucking cute. But also strange. Because looking at him — tall and lanky, with his black-framed glasses and hair that desperately needed a haircut — it was hard to image him being so horny, he’d steal my underwear. It was hard to reconcile the nerdy boy in front of me with the man who sat on his bed, stroking his monster of a cock, with my panties in his mouth.
“What is it?” he said.
“Huh?”
“You’re staring.”
“Oh.” I felt my cheeks grow warm. “Nothing.”
He gave me a suspicious look before starting to talk about thermal protection systems.
Life continued on, as normal. I tried not to notice how good Ben looked when he walked out of the bathroom after a shower, his hair still wet. I tried not to pay attention to the flex of his arms when he reached for something in the top shelf of the pantry.
Ben never looked at me when I wore something even slightly revealing. Which was polite of him. But also…annoying. I hated how annoyed I got.
“What are you doing tonight?” Ben asked, one Friday evening.
“Having dinner with my sister,” I replied. Willow was my younger sister, and a freshman. I hadn’t caught up with her in ages, and so we were getting dinner tonight at a nice Italian restaurant. “I won’t be back until late. Probably midnight.”Willow talked a lot, and I knew our conversation would last for hours, over dinner and dessert.
“Okay. Cool.”
I didn’t think much of the conversation until that evening, when Willow had to cancel last minute because she’d come down with the flu — probably from all the partying she’d been doing. I couldn’t judge — I’d also partied like a crazy person in my freshman year of college.
So I unlocked the apartment door, ready to collapse on the couch and watch yet another space documentary with Ben.
That’s when I saw he was already on the couch. With a girl next to him.
I froze, staring. The girl had dark red hair, and also wore glasses, though hers had round tortoise-shell frames with thick lenses that made her green eyes look even bigger. Ben had his arm around her shoulders, and she had her head on one of his shoulders.
When he saw me, he jumped up to his feet. “Shit. Juliet. I wasn’t expecting you to be back so soon.”
The girl gazed at me. “That’syour roommate?” she said.
I frowned at her tone. What was she trying to imply?
“Sorry,” I murmured, closing the front door behind me. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”
I walked to my bedroom as quickly as I could, but it meant I had to walk in front of the TV. I ignored their gaze on me. Once in my bedroom, the door shut, I slumped onto my bed.
Oh my god. Ben had a girl over.
To be honest, I was kind of surprised he had it in him. But he was hot. Any girl with eyes could see that — they just had to look past his hair and glasses and mumbling words.
Through the door, I could hear Ben and the girl whispering. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, and I didn’t want to.
I wanted to…
I kind of wanted to kick something. Instead, I lay down on my bed and closed my eyes.
