Page 29 of Captured Heart

“I figured. Thought you might need a break.”

“From studying?” She sounds almost...offended. “Are you kidding? This shit is like a dopamine rush for me. It’s like injecting pure heroin directly into my bloodstream. I neverneeda break.”

“You don’t?”

“No. I’m like the Chuck Norris of studying. Do you know how much studying I do?”

“Tell me. How much?”

“Allof it. I doallof it.”

I suppress a chuckle. This is precisely why my craving for her company is insatiable. She’s just this weird, goofy nerd with a side order of sweet, untainted vulnerability. For a guy who’s only ever known the worst kind of people, she is a beacon of light in the darkness. And that light keeps drawing me to it. Like a moth to a flame, I can’t resist the pull.

“You’re ridiculous. Endearingly so, but still ridiculous. What are you working on, anyway?”

“Oh, my gosh! It’s so exciting!” She’s not even lying. The increased pitch in her voice shows her unmitigated glee, and she dives headfirst into an explanation. “I’m studying the impact of oxidative stress on mitochondrial function. We’re looking at how free radicals damage cellular respiration pathways...”

Information pours out of her at a rapid pace, just a stream of technical terms and detailed processes. I don’t understand a damn thing she’s saying, but I don’t care. I like the sound of her voice, the enthusiasm that lights up her tone when she talks about something she’s passionate about.

She goes on for about three minutes before she abruptly stops herself mid-sentence. “Sorry. I’m rambling again. It’s a bad habit.”

“Why do you do that?” I scoff. “No, scratch that. I know why. It’s because of what your asshole ex said to you. But don’t let his opinion of you hold any weight, okay? You’renotboring. I could listen to you all day, so stop apologizing for just being you.”

There’s a pause on the other end, and then her voice softens. “Thanks, Alex.”

I’m so annoyed I barely register her gratitude and steamroll ahead. “What made you date a douche like that in the first place?”

She hesitates. “I don’t know. At first, he seemed...nice. He said all the right things, did all the right things. He was so sweet. Like, he was constantly buying me gifts and showering me withcompliments. I subsequently learned that it was just a tactic. Love bombing or something, they call it. Anyway, that was only for the first few weeks, and after a while...” She trails off, and I can hear the hurt in her voice.

“What happened?”

“He just...changed. He started taking these little jabs at me, and it made me feel so small.” She sighs as if there’s a heavy weight on her chest. “Like I wasn’t enough. He’d always point out every minuscule thing I did wrong or tell me how I wasn’t as exciting as other people.”

“And this lasted...how long?”

“Ugh! Like fourteen months. I probably would’ve ended it sooner if he wasn’t such a good kisser.”

It’s so sudden. My hand clutches the phone so tight it feels like it might crack under the pressure. This shouldn’t be bugging me, but just thinking about her kissing this fucking asshole is grinding my nerves raw. I don’t trust what might come out of my mouth, so I remain silent and let her continue.

“He obviously didn’t feel the same way because he thought I was boring ineveryway...if you get what I’m saying.” She pauses, and I can almost hear the cogs turning in her head. “Hey, can I ask you something...from a guy’s point of view? I’ve tried to ask Corey and Zayn, but they’re not the kinda guys who...have...a lot of...sex.”

I’m not sure I like where this is going. “And you think I’m the kinda guy who does?”

“Well...yeah. You look like someone who goes through women faster than you change your underwear.”

“I’m gonna caution you not to make assumptions about me.”

She accepts that without hesitation. “Okay, fine. But even if you’re not a full-blown manwhore, I’m sure you’ll be able to answer my question.”

“Which is?”

“I swear I wouldn’t be able to even get this out if we were in person, but...here goes.” She releases a long, slow breath as she musters up the courage. “How important are...positions?” There’s only crackling static from my side, so she tries to elaborate. “Okay, imagine you and I were...having sex...”

Fuck, I just got done imagining that. Now she’s gone and replanted that thought right back in my head. Visions of her naked body are swirling around in my mind, and I press my fingers into my forehead as if that will erase them.

“...would it bother you if I...always wanted to be...on top?”

“Uh...always?” Between the images of her tits bouncing as she rides my dick, I try to find the words to formulate a halfway coherent sentence. “You haven’t, um, you haven’t triedanythingelse?”

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