Page 2 of Lust

“What’s that guy’s fucking problem?” I survey the crowd, lingering on the rowdy athletes in the middle of the room. “Wait, don’t tell me, let me guess.”

Taking a bite of my food, I suppress the urge to spit it right back out. Instead, I chew slowly while I watch the girls giggle and laugh and primp across the table from the football players. Every few seconds, they turn toward one another in feigned conversation, but they always end up looking at the boys, checking to see whether they’re being watched. Clearly wanting to be wanted.

Suddenly, the quarterback reaches out and tugs a dark brown lock of hair on the prettiest and most popular girl: Emma Lawson. Emma yanks her hair out of the quarterback’s grasp, flipping him her middle finger, which he grabs, then slides his closed fist up and down her extended digit, flicking his tongue at her.

Fucking juvenile.

“Everyone wants to feel like they’re hot, that’s all.” Ruby slowly peels back the lid of her pudding, then licks the lingering chocolate off the foil lid, her tongue caressing a lump of chocolate. Against every shred of discipline, my body responds to the enticing image, dick stiffening between my legs. I clear my throat and turn back toward the jocks.

“And they feel hot when someone else wants them.” Ruby drags her spoon across the top of her pudding repeatedly until it’s full, then sucks the pudding off the spoon like a lollipop. I fight the image that comes to mind. Blood rushes to my erection and it throbs against my leg.

“At least I don’t have to worry about that kind of bullshit.” With a smirk, Ruby rolls her eyes. “No one wants the big girl.”

My dick twitches, and I try not to look at the smooth white skin of her neck, try not to imagine how it would feel between my lips and how easily the little blood vessels under the skin would break under the pressure of my tongue and teeth, leaving a beautiful red mark behind, a mark that would show everyone exactly how much Ruby is wanted.

A blush creeps up my neck, and I pull my hood further over my face to hide my embarrassment. It’s ludicrous enough that this gorgeous senior with the amazing voice is my friend. But for some reason that my teenage brain cannot comprehend, Ruby thinks she’s as much of a loser and outcast as I am. When it became obvious that our schoolmates enjoyed tormenting the tall, skinny, quiet freshman nerd, she took me under her wing.

“How can we make money off their desire?” I point my fork toward the table of popular kids.

“Sell them condoms?” Ruby laughs, and the sound sends a warm wave along my spine.

I duck my head further into my hood to hide my smile. “People want to be wanted, so how can we give them that feeling over and over again?”

She turns to me with a gleam in her bright blue eyes. “You mean let them lust after each other while we laugh all the way to the bank?”

“Precisely.” The wheels start turning in my mind. There has to be an algorithm that could help with this idea. Numbers fall into place, like a story writing itself.

“Aaron?” Ruby calls me back to reality. Her fingers wiggle in my face. “You zoned out again.” She winks.

“Sorry, just thinking.” Pushing back the hood of my sweatshirt, I run my fingers through my thick tangle of curls.

“There’s always so much going on in that head of yours.” Ruby reaches over and ruffles my hair, her fingernails scraping against my scalp.

I suppress a gasp. Images flood my mind: my head between her legs, her fingers in my hair. Even though I don’t know what to do, I’d figure it out. I’d focus solely on her pleasure and keep working until I got it right, just like everything else in life.

The sharp clang of a warning bell slices into my fantasy.

“Just one more week of this hellhole.” Ruby gathers the remains of her lunch into her tray. “And then Broadway, here I come!”

“You’re going to be huge.” I can’t contain the wistful tone in my voice.

Ruby turns to me, laughing her magnificent laugh.

“Aren’t I already huge?” She grins.

“No, Ruby.” I shake my head. “You’re perfect.” It’s the closest I’ve ever come to expressing my feelings, and my jackhammering heart insists it’s about to burst right through my chest.

Her blue eyes narrow and her lips curl upward.

“And you, Aaron, are the nicest friend a girl could possibly wish for.” She leans over for a quick hug. Her chest presses into my face for two incredible seconds before she saunters away from the table. As the crowd thins out, I watch her move, watch the only person who’s been kind to me all year disappear from my day the same way she’s about to disappear from my life.

Once my raging erection has finally died down, I discard my tray and head out of the lunchroom, still lost in fantasies about my friend. Nevermind the fact that I’ve never even kissed a girl.

The first blow is a left hook to my jaw from one of the linebackers. I don’t know his name, but he’s a real neanderthal, who also happens to be about six foot two and twice my scrawny freshman weight. The impact of his thick fist spins my head around before he grabs my arm and drags me into the boys’ locker room.

“Well, well, well, what have we here?” Brent Michelson spits in my face, a gooey glob that lands just above my left eye, then dangles into my field of vision. I want to wipe the disgusting slime off my skin, but Devonte White, a wiry wide receiver, twists my arms behind my back.

The quarterback stands behind Brent, a little to his left, arms crossed over his muscular chest. Watching. My mistake, he explains calmly, was helping Emma Lawson with her math homework. I had no business spending time alone with the star cheerleader.

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