Page 26 of For Emery

Most of them laughed. Emery look terrified I’d do something to embarrass her.

I looked to the professor. Same salt-and-pepper bun. Same she’s-definitely-a-dominatrix-in-her-other-life glint in her eyes.

“Come in,” Professor Reyes said, holding out her hand to the table in the front of the room where she stowed books and folders.

“I can wait outside.”

“Sit down, Mr. Grady,” she directed.

“In front of the class?” I asked, knowing there was no way I was getting out of it.

“If I remember correctly, you love being the center of attention.”

I couldn’t argue with that.

I walked inside and dropped down on the table, looking regrettably to Emery.

“So, we were about to get into a little game of true or false,” Professor Reyes said, pacing the front of the room slow and purposefully. “You remember this game, don’t you, Mr. Grady?”

I nodded, wishing I’d paid more attention to her lectures than the brunette who sat beside me last semester. I also wished I hadn’t passed the class solely because Reyes wanted my ass out of her hair.

She picked up a stack of cards from her desk. “Since it’s the first week of school, and I never like to put anyone on the spot, you’re the perfect person for this job.” She glanced down at her first card before pinning me with her eyes. “True or false? According to John Baldwin, sexuality specialist at the University of California Santa Barbara, women want multiple orgasms.”

The class burst out laughing. I glanced to Emery who covered her mouth, holding back her own laughter

“Quiet everyone,” Professor Reyes waved her cards at them. “Let him think.”

“Nothing to think about. Obviously, they do,” I said confidently.

“So, you’re saying true?” she clarified.

“True.”

“False. Women in their early twenties are satisfied with only one, and are usually incapable of more than one due to both their partner and their own lack of knowledge of each other’s bodies.”

“I don’t believe it,” I said.

“Am I hurting your ego, Mr. Grady? Because I hate to break it to you, but girls know how to fake it.”

The girls in the class, including Emery, broke into laughter, while the guys seemed to be considering the notion.

“True or false?” Professor Reyes continued, seeming to like making me look like a fool. “The ‘pull out method’ works.”

“Hasn’t failed me yet,” I said with a smug grin.

The class burst into laughter again, as Professor Reyes cocked her head at me. “Do you need a refresher on STDs, Mr. Grady?”

“Haven’t gotten one of those either.”

She shook her head. “So, are you going with true or false?”

“True,” I said.

“False. Though it’s not as bad as no contraceptive, there’s a high risk of getting a woman pregnant given that sperm is released in the vagina before orgasm.” Professor Reyes forged on as if she had something to prove—some personal vendetta against me. “True or false? Penis size matters?”

The class broke into hysterics, some laughing so hard they cried.

I looked to Emery who rolled her eyes. I shrugged, hoping she knew it was my apology for showing up to her class. “True,” I said to Professor Reyes, knowing I had that one in the bag.

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