We pile into a restaurant that has practically let us take over. I end up at a round table with Dr. Weaver, Sarabeth, Alexander, and an empty chair. I’m so cold that I can’t convince myself to take my gloves and stuff off for a few minutes. Thankfully, before we even order, hot beverages are delivered to the table.
“It’s like they know we’re not built for this weather,” Dr. Weaver says as he happily chooses one of the steaming mugs. I choose the one that’s most likely hot chocolate and take a greedy sip. It feels as though the heat from my beverage is trackable as I swallow. I feel it settle in my belly.
Alexander watches us with amusement as he sips on what I think might be tea, as there’s a string hanging out the side of his mug. My thought is confirmed when he sets it down a minute later and pulls the teabag out.
My stomach dances when Kendrick joins us a few minutes later.
“Aren’t you from Wisconsin?” Alexander asks me as he continues to look at us. “I thought that was a cold place.”
“It is. But it’s not an island battered by icy wind, and Iceland is certainly further north on the globe,” I tell him.
“You’re fortunate to be gorgeous in many layers as you are in normal indoor clothes,” he says, continuing to appear amused since I’m still fully bundled.
“Thanks,” I say with a smile. “I guess not everyone can pull off a red nose, huh?”
Sarabeth laughs, shaking her head.
“True enough,” Alexander agrees. “So, did you all like the beach—other than the cold?”
“It was stunning,” Sarabeth says. “You hear about white sand beaches all the time, and people make them sound as if they’re the most stunning things, but the diamond in the rough is a black sand beach. There’s nothing like it. It looks almost dystopian or apocalyptic.”
“The basalt towers add to that impression,” Dr. Weaver says. “There’s something cataclysmic when you look at them. As if something magnificent once stood there, but because of how they’re stacked at different heights, they appear torn down, and that’s all that remains.”
“Exactly,” Sarabeth agrees.
“Doesn’t Hawaii have black sand beaches?” Alexander asks, tilting his head. “They’re a volcanic island chain.”
We look at each other. Dr. Weaver chuckles. “I don’t think any of us have been to Hawaii.”
Alexander appears perplexed. “Why?”
“Believe it or not, for a lot of people, traveling to foreign countries is often cheaper than traveling to Hawaii.”
“Huh,” Alexander says. “You don’t get a lot of snow where you are, then.”
“No. It generally doesn’t get cold enough to snow at RDU,” Sarabeth says.
“I wouldn’t know how to act if I lived in a place without snow,” Alexander says, laughing. “What do you do in the winter?”
“Enjoy the sun!”
I listen to them talk, though my gaze continues to search out Kendrick’s. It feels as if he’s always looking at me. Maybe he’s remembering the same thing I am—last night, our shared orgasms… his dick in my ass.
My cheeks feel like they’re heating up as I remember the second time, when I rode him. It lasted much, much longer for both of us. I think it was necessary to get that first orgasm out of the way to make the second one even better.
To be clear, I don’t mind the quick ones. Sometimes the quick orgasms are the most intense because they’ve been building for so long. When you’re so turned on that the pleasure you share simply can’t be contained.
It was nice. I enjoyed our night together. We talked about the ambassador program and þórðargleði University between orgasms. Even when we lay together intimately, our conversation stayed on light topics. His hands still moved over me while we talked. I kissed down his torso while we talked. We explored each other in the most sensual ways, all while having a conversation. A productive conversation, even.
I wonder if all older men are as wonderful as Kendrick. He has such a calm, soothing voice. It’s masculine and sexy. The kind of voice that would be perfect for an audiobook. I could listen to him speak all damn day.
He’s attentive, too. I can’t recall a single person in my entire life who has engaged in conversations with me like he does. He’s never distracted and doesn’t appear uninterested. I feel like he genuinely wants to get to know me.
Every little thing about him is fascinating, too. He’s already lived an entire lifetime longer than I have. He’s done so much. He has such a long list of admirable accomplishments. But Kendrick is humble, too. The number of times he’s told me that there are so many things he wants to do for the school is mesmerizing.
Not once has he named something that he wants for himself. I’ve never heard him speak of a selfish wish. I’m over here wanting to be a professional football player and then open a library. Not a library because I want to serve a greater good, butbecause I desperately want the kind of library I can’t find. And since I can’t find it, I want to build it.
For me. Yes, I’ll share it with the world, but ultimately, I want to build it for myself.
