Page 49 of More Than Chemical
“Have you been tested for STDs lately?”
I could feel my face go hot. I hadn’t even thought about getting tested. Probably because no doctor had ever suggested it. Not when I’d never had sex before.
“I’m negative, and always use condoms,” he said.
“Me too.” I swallowed hard.
His eyes gleamed. “STD test results weren’t part of your selection process, were they?”
“Yes. No.” I covered my face with my hands and then dragged them down until the tips of my fingers were just below my eyes. “STDs are an important topic. I’m glad you brought it up. But also, and to get less procedural, I’m attracted to you. I think you’re attracted to me. It can also just be that simple.”
He tilted his head. “You know I’m not going to be able to say no to you.”
A rush of adrenaline shot straight to my heart.Then he’s saying yes. Omigod, I think he’s saying yes.
“But I can’t exactly say, ‘Okay, let’s have sex,’ right now either.”
Suddenly, I was an airplane signaling Mayday. My engines had died, and I was spiraling back to earth. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Having sex should be…” A corner of his mouth tucked in, showing off his dimple. “Well, it should be spontaneous. But more importantly, I think my reputation will have a better chance of getting fixed if we don’t hook up right away, don’t you?”
“I was planning on making sure no one finds out what we’re doing.”
“So we’d just be good friends who like to sleep over in each other’s room?”
“No.” I rolled my eyes. “We would be so secretive that no one would ever see us together.”
“We’re together here.”
“This is different. We’re outside of the dorm. You don’t have that same reputation in engineering classes. It’s inside the dorm that’s the problem.”
I reached into my bag for my phone and woke it up. “How about next weekend?”
“That sounds like the complete opposite of spontaneous.”
I resisted entering my password so I could schedule him into my calendar. “Oh.”
“Besides,” he said, “I’m busy next weekend.”
“With what?” I asked.
“I thought you wanted no-strings sex?”
My throat went dry.God, Ade. Get a grip.
“Sorry.” I put my phone back in my bag.
“No need to apologize.” He shrugged. “I’m just taking your stipulations seriously.”
“Fine,” I said. “I get it. Impulsive. Impromptu. But what if this elusive moment never happens?”
“Don’t worry.” He spun his paper in a circle, his gaze slowly moving from my cleavage to my eyes, and he smiled. “It will happen.”
Eighteen
The Floozy
We started on the homework, and it didn’t take us long to finish the problem, which was a miracle. Usually, it took me forever, and I never knew if I had it right until I compared my answer to Jay’s or found out in class that I’d done it all wrong.
