Page 43 of Studious
He shrugs. “I want someone who’ll spend time with me. Who won’t mind that I still live at home,” he adds. “I want to be with someone who likes to be quiet sometimes. I don’t know. I just want to experience all the things I’ve put off.”
“While you and I have talked about this, let’s tell the viewers. What do you think about dancing?”
“I’ll try it.”
“I’m assuming you’ve never downloaded a hookup app?”
“I’m scared the moment I do, I’m going to get dick pics. It’d be like racing at the Nürburgring, only instead of having a Bugatti Veyron so I’m competitive… I have a horse. I wouldn’t be able to keep up.”
I squeeze his knee. “I think you’d be able to keep up just fine.” And he likes cars? I make a mental note.
He’s fidgeting, looking uncomfortable. But we might as well keep talking about this, because it’s not going to get any easier if we avoid it.
“Do you think you’re up for all kinds of sex… eventually? Oral, frotting, anal?”
He turns this delicious shade of pink. “Yeah. I think so. I wonder what it’ll be like to have someone else touch me, though. How will they know what to do? And how will I know what to do to them?”
“Ah, see, you don’t normally do ittothem. You do itwiththem. That’s the secret. You’re both in it together. That’s the fun part.”
“Oh. I hadn’t thought about it that way.”
We talk about his awkward experience with the Loki worshipper, and that seems like a good place to end. I grin at the camera. “Until next time.”
After I turn off the camera, I give Alden a high five. “How was that?”
“Um, it was okay. You did most of the work.”
“But I think viewers are going to love to hear from you. If they can’t see you, that will just up the intrigue factor. They’re going to want to know everything about you.”
“Okay, if you say so.”
“I’m sure of it. Let me process the video, and I’ll show it to you. Then, if you’re happy with it, we can upload it.”
“Sounds good.”
As I tinker with the video, we talk about how much we both love Formula1 and cars in general. Eventually, with his approval, I manage to post the video, but it doesn’t get many responses.
How come I’m not going viral immediately? What am I going to have to do?
* * *
The next morning, after court, I stride into Alden’s office and sit down in his wooden guest chair. I whistle. “Wow, this place looks so much better than it did a week ago.”
Alden grins. “It was a mess. But that’s no problem for me.” His face drops. “Unlike talking with men.”
I gesture to myself. “What am I, a cat?”
He gives me a little wave. “You don’t count, because you’re my teacher. Not a prospect.”
Why does that sound bad? It’s exactly right, yet my chest aches with this prickly pang. But I laugh it off. “Thanks a lot.”
“You know what I mean. You’re doing this to teach me how to hook someone else.”
“Yes, and soon you’ll have plenty of experience talking with guys.” Alden waits expectantly. He’s so sweet. How can someone not have picked him up yet? “So your next homework assignment is to get a makeover.”
He swallows, and for a moment I’m mesmerized by his Adam’s apple going up and down. Then I recover. “Don’t feel bad. You’re beautiful just as you are. But to help with upping your mojo, I think you should have a few new outfits.” I pause. “And maybe a haircut.”
“Going to turn the squashed cabbage leaf into coleslaw?”
