Page 34 of Drama Queen

“This next hour is going to be torture,” he groans.

“You don’t know the half of it,” I say, stepping past him to pick up my bag and move to the dining table off the lounge. At his questioning gaze, I remove the baggy T-shirt to reveal the very tight and very low-cut tank top, propping my hip against the table.

“I don’t know how I will keep my hands to myself, all worked up like this,” I purr, sauntering back over to where he’s still standing by the door watching me. “Especially in these very silly little lace panties. Every time I move, they rub against me.”

I run my hand over his chest and down to his taut stomach as I circle him. I grab my hair tie out of his hand and sweep my hair back up, giving him an eyeful of those lace panties when I lift my arms. The motion pulls my tank top up, and I know full well my very low-slung jeans have shown him the evidence, his eyes tracking the movements like a hawk.

“I’m not sure how I will ever make it through.” I sigh, dramatically.

He lifts his eyes to mine when I lower my arms, and I can feel the heat of them burning into me. He takes a step towards me, and I swear he is about to take me right here on the floor, but a knock on the front door pulls us both back to the here and now.

He sucks in a deep breath and turns back to answer the door, adjusting his pants in the few strides it takes to get there.

I take a steadying breath and head back to the table to get my books out as the rest of the group pile in. Oh, yes. The next hour will be torture indeed.

Ten

Complete defences against criminal defences.It seemed like a safe topic—there really aren’t that many. Anders and I used this reasoning for our plan. Most of our study group sessions have been an hour and a half in length. Two hours at most for a really in-depth subject. Complete defences is not that. We were so confident the workshop could be done in an hour, tops.

Enter, Todd.

Now, dear Todd is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he gets an A+ for effort. His daddy is a famous barrister, and his mummy is a judge. One would be forgiven for thinking this would mean Todd would have half a clue about the law generally. But I’m sure as shit glad I didn’t put any money on it. Tonight, of all nights, Todd is in the finest form yet.

Within the first thirty minutes, I want to strangle him.

At the hour mark, I’m not the only person around the dining table getting frustrated with his inability to grasp even the simplest of concepts.

By the time two hours rolls around, I’m just about ready to flip the table into stupid Todd’s stupid face. Fucking Todd.

I cannot fathom how Anders manages to keep his cool the whole time. Not a single eye twitch or clenched jaw in sight! The man has the patience of a damn saint. Thankfully, by the two-and-a-half-hour mark, Todd starts to catch on, and we breeze through from there.

It’s nearing the time I would usually head home, having normally had a good hour of alone time with Anders first, so I get the gang to join me in a video call to my mother. May as well milk the extra-long session and buy me the time I need. With that many chaperones, it isn’t a hard sell.

Twenty minutes later, we all pack our bags, thank Anders for giving so much of his time to us, and leave. Including me.

This is the routine: I leave with the others, never the last out the door, and drive away when they all do. I will then sit around the corner in my car for ten minutes, just enough time to make sure they are all gone. I have been leaving the car there and walking down the alley behind the houses on Anders’s street, then re-entering his property through the rear garage that has been unlocked for me.

Tonight, I use the whole of that ten-minute wait, re-applying my deodorant, another swipe of mascara, and a light spritz of perfume. Nothing too overpowering or obvious, but a girl really does need to look and smell her best if she is giving up her V-card.

Anders, to his credit, has not pressured me at all since he found out I’m still a virgin. He told me how much of an honour it was when I said I wanted him to be my first, but that we didn’t need to rush. Of course, that just made me want to jump his bones then and there.

I quickly send Mum the picture I took of us all around the dining table with pizza earlier in the night, saying we’ll still be at it for a couple more hours, but I’ll be home by midnight. Thatshould give me enough time, right? I have no idea how long this sort of thing takes.

If I’m to go by the girls I knew in high school, it could be over in five minutes. If I go by the books I have hidden in the back of my wardrobe—in a plain box markedmemoriesunder a stack of old school uniforms and framed pictures—then it could be hours, plural. I’m kind of hoping for something in between, but either way, tonight is going to be one I remember for the rest of my life.

Anders is waiting for me at the back door with a soft smile.

“Are you sure this is still what you want, Aria? There is no shame in waiting a little longer if tonight’s events have put you off. You know I won’t think less of you or get mad.”

I look up into his eyes, searching for any sign he doesn’t mean what he’s saying, but I only see honesty and non-judgement. He really would just let me call it off. We could probably just watch a movie and snuggle on the couch a little, share some heated kisses, and I could go back home to masturbate like every other night. He must sense my hesitation because he pulls me into his body, wrapping his arms around my back and rubbing soothing circles.

“I mean it, Aria. There is no judgement here. Let’s just relax on the lounge for a little while, and I will walk you back to your car in plenty of time to get home before your mum gets suspicious.”

I’ve confessed everything to Anders over the past couple of months. He was the first person not to look at me differently when he heard about my unusual upbringing and my excessively overprotective mother. Hell, he defended her position more than once regarding my safety.

I lean back a little to get his grip on me to loosen enough so I can get up on my tippy toes and look him in the eyes.

“I want you. Now. No more waiting.”

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