Page 41 of Studious
“What is?”
“Your assumptions. I’m not a psychologist, but I think you don’t believe that people truly want to hang out with you.”
“I never said that.”
“But that’s how you behaved. Like there was no way I’d be interested in spending time with you.” He frowns. “Do I have that wrong?”
“No,” I say. “You have it right.”
“Then come to my house tonight. We’ll work on it.”
I swallow and nod. Spending time alone with Danny feels like a date. Even though I know it’s just because of our deal and so he can have content for his social media.
Still. Part of me swoons.
CHAPTER10
Danny
Alden is perched on the edge of my couch like he’s ready to bolt for the door.
Standing in front of him, I cluck my tongue and shake my head. “Is it okay if I do something?”
“Wh-what?”
I put my hands on my hips. “I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”
“I’m not afraid. I just get nervous.”
“What if we do this?” I sit my ass down in the middle of the couch and drag him over so he’s sitting closer to me. Not on my lap or anything. He’s just three inches away instead of three feet.
“Okay,” he whispers.
“Okay.” I settle back into the cushions. “Look. I’m not going to force you to talk. But it’ll be easier for me to help you if I know a little more about you. And some of the stuff I want to talk about might be uncomfortable. Is that okay?”
“You can stop asking me if it’s okay.” Alden takes a deep breath. “You know what? You have my consent. Ask away. If I don’t want to answer, I’ll tell you.”
I nod. “Thanks for trusting me. I want to ask you about sex. Because maybe we’re barking up the wrong tree here. Is sex something you’re even interested in? It’s okay if you’re not. Don’t feel like you need to be anything other than who you are.”
His chest rises and falls. “For a while I wondered if I was maybe on the ace spectrum, but I don’t think I am. I’m interested in sex. I imagine it, sometimes. I watch porn, and I like it.”
“Me, too.” I smirk at the mental image of Alden watching porn. It’s an appealing thought. But I’m here to help him, not fantasize about him.
“I readThe Joy of Gay Sex, and I could picture myself doing those things.” He coughs. “Some of them, anyway.”
I raise an eyebrow. “I haven’t read that. I wonder if I could learn something.”
“I bet you could have written it.”
I grin. “Likely so. Okay. I just wanted to make sure we weren’t setting you on a path for failure. There’s nothing that says you have to have sex or have a relationship—or have to have sextohave a relationship. We could work on your self-assurance without getting into the sexual side of things.”
Alden’s eyes get big. “But I want to have sex. And I want a relationship.”
“Fair enough. You understand, though. If you were ace/aro, I didn’t want to be pushing you into something that wasn’t ever going to be right for you.”
“I have romantic feelings toward people. I get crushes. I just get too mortified to talk to the people I’m crushing on.”
“Then we can focus on that.” I scrub my face. “Look, I’ll tell you anything you want to know about me or about sex. So please don’t feel like I’m prying. I’m simply trying to figure out who my student is. Do you masturbate?”
