he lifted me on to the bed. His body covered mine and I took the opportunity to explore every inch of his body until he grabbed my hand and held it in his as he continued to kiss me.
Slowly, the kisses became less hungry and more tender as he once again regained control of the situation. He pulled me up to the sitting position, still tenderly kissing my lips and helped me put my sweatshirt back on.
I sighed when he suggested we go watch some TV and followed him out of the room. He continued to keep me close the rest of the night and didn’t say a word about our study session until he walked me to the car.
I unlocked the door and turned to say goodbye when I felt his hungry lips capture mine. He backed me against the car and I felt my whole body catch on fire. After just a minute, he pulled back, but the look of desire in his eyes was startling.
“I’m not perfect, Avery, so don’t think that wasn’t the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. But…you’re worth waiting for. And today, especially, it just felt wrong,” he said softly with a rasp in his voice.
I knew he was right. I was trying to avoid the emotional intimacy I was still unwilling to give him. It wasn’t fair to either one of us.
“You’re right,” I agreed as I kissed him one last time before getting in my car. He watched until I was out of sight and then I took advantage of the next stop sign to text Jake to let him know I didn’t need him to stay over anymore now that Issy was ok. He replied with a sad face and an “ok.”
I felt relieved as I drove home, but the feeling was short-lived because Jake was already situated on the couch when I walked in my apartment. He stood up defensively when he saw the look on my face and explained, “I was already here when I got your text, so I just wanted to see you before I left.”
I turned and locked the door and set my backpack on the table, trying my best to avoid eye contact with him. “Jake, what happened the other night can’t...”
“Cant happen again. I understand,” he said quickly interrupting me mid sentence. “We both had a little too much to drink, and it crossed the line, I know. Just friends…I haven’t forgotten.”
I walked into the kitchen to get a drink, and he leaned on the counter to ask about my day. I filled him in on the mad dash to the lab that morning and made fun of both my engineering professors. He shared his day with me too, and it was nice to just relax and laugh with him without all the usual tension between us. He made Issy’s absence seem less staggering, and by the time he left I was actually grateful he had come by.
The next day I made sure to be five minutes early to the lab, and Russell was there again, mostly to check up on me I think. He seemed pleased by my punctuality and didn’t stay too long. My three classes for the day were easy enough, and I didn’t even feel tired when I found Parker in the library that afternoon.
“Hey!” he said with a smile when I sat down. He leaned across the table and gave me a kiss hello. “How was your day?”
“It was good. Nothing really to report.” I hadn’t told him that I was late to the lab on Monday, so it seemed stupid to mention that I was on time today. “My Technical Writing class is going to be a breeze. What about you?”
“Ugh…and that doesn’t even begin to describe it. My Tuesday, Thursday classes are miserable this semester. What’s worse, they both include one-hour labs,” he answered wrinkling up his nose. He seemed to be a little more relaxed with me today, which was good.
“Well, you know how much I love lab work. Sounds fun.” The sarcasm was dripping from my voice, and he laughed, knowing my hatred for it.
When he stopped, he finally noticed I hadn’t pulled out any of my books. “Aren’t you going to study?” he asked confused.
“Not really. I got everything done in the lab this morning. I just wanted to come by and say hi.”
He seemed disappointed and surprised. Last semester I always stayed with him even if I was