I look at my phone and realize I’ve been memorizing every inch of her body for almost five whole minutes. I go back to our messages, making sure to get screenshots of every single one. Just in case. I get hard reading through them again, thinking of the sounds coming from Mia’s bed. Her breathy moans, the wet sounds of her fingers on her pussy. The way she screamed my name when she came. I realize the girl I’ve known my entire life has…sex noises.
I scrub my face. The lines are all blurred. But I kept my promise. The promise to who, though? To Leo? Hell no. To myself? I didn’t lay a hand on her. We didn’t get physical.
All I want, though, looking at Mia in the light of the early morning shining through the cracks of the curtains, is to climb into bed next to her and pull her into my arms. In the last seven, eight days of the… 365 days times 29 years I’ve known her? It’s a math problem I’m not willing to solve.
I don’t have the time to process that, because she wakes up, her eyes finding mine immediately, like she knew exactly where I was, even in her sleep. And there’s no way in hell I can even begin to untangle the feelings that come out from that.
I expect her to realize that her tits are out, get embarrassed, get flushed, cover herself immediately. Her body does get flushed, and I watch the gorgeous color move up her chest, up to her neck, but she doesn’t cover herself. Inexplicably, she smiles. I have the sudden urge to kiss her. She stretches then, arms above her head, back arched, tits in the air, and it’s the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.
“You look like you want to cuddle,” she tells me, after laying back down on her side, facing me.
I think about lying, then realize I can’t. “I do,” I reply, having no idea why, knowing I’ve never felt this affectionate towards any sexual partner in my entire life.
She lifts up the sheet, giving me a brief glimpse of her lower half. “Then get in.”
My brain becomes static, a jumbled stream of consciousness. I try to think about it for a good thirty seconds, about the fraying threads of the rope. About the promises I made to Leo, to myself. Considering this new and bizarre rush of… affection? Absolutely not. Flirting lessons? Dating lessons? Fine. Touching… Cuddling?! No fucking way. Right? I’ve gone into explicit detail about how I would eat her pussy, but it’s not like I touched it. Right?! Besides, her entire family thinks I’m some sort of man-whore, and they’re not wrong. It wouldn’t be okay for someone like me to be with someone like her.
“I… can’t,” I finally manage.
A twinge of hurt cuts across her face for a short second, slicing through my chest. But then she rolls her eyes. “Of course,” she says sarcastically. “No cuddling if I’m a new card-carrying member of the Blonde Brigade. Don’t worry. I know what to do next.” She doesn’t wait for a response, and I don’t have one. I don’t have the heart to tell her that’s not it at all. She climbs out of bed, rifles through her suitcase, pulls out some clothes, then pads into the bathroom. I watch her ass jiggle the entire way, my mouth watering.
The door slams shut, waking me up for real. I blink. I blow out a breath. This is a good thing. This is for the best. I get out of bed and get dressed.
There are two situations that make my morning exceedingly difficult.
The first is the way Mia bounces out of the bathroom, fully dressed and ready and gorgeous, and… smiling. The entire way down to the continental breakfast. While I load her plate with the last of the pancakes or when she wordlessly pours milk into my weak-ass coffee for me after she finishes with it, like she does at home. As if nothing happened. As if there wasn’t a text burning a hole in both of our pockets right now, one that saysI want to milk you dry id swallow it all.I guess it’s easier this way, but something about it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
The second is that I am itching to touch her. Every time she’s within reach. Rest my hand on the small of her back. Squeeze her hip. Pull on her hair. My fingers literally twitch every time she walks by, and it’s driving me fucking insane.
“—my eyes are up here, Elias,” she grins at me, and it’s condescending as hell.
I realize I’ve been staring at her mouth shaping words without actually listening to them. “What did you say?”
She smirks. “Wake up, Romeo. We have a conference to get to. Last night was nothing, remember? I’m just another card-carrying member of the Blonde Brigade, right?”No.“Get your shit together. We have shit to learn, talks to attend, notes to take! And then after, we’re going out on a Friday night in New Orleans, and you’re going to teach me how to be a man-eater.”
Wait. “What?”
“Yep,” she says cheerfully. “I remember the terms of our agreement. You’re going to help me flirt, date, whatever. Thanks for last night’s lesson, by the way. But hands off. No touchy. We’re still abiding by the laws,” she winks at me.
“…Right.” I manage.Get your shit together, buddy.
Mia pulls a folder out of her backpack. “I made you a copy of the schedule. I want to go to these workshops today.” She points to the ones that she’s circled.
I pull it towards me.
Student-Centered Learning: Empowering Students to Take Charge of Their Education
Cultivating a Love for Learning: Alternatives to Test-Centric Education
Differentiation in Practice: Tailoring Instruction to Meet Diverse Learner Needs
She looks at me, waiting for my reaction.
I sigh. “I told you that I wanted to explore the city today?—”
She frowns. “And I told you that’s incredibly unethical. Besides, I made sure to pick ones that could apply to P.E., too.” She shoves pancake in her mouth, already knowing she has me wrapped around her finger. “Don’t forget, you promised that I could help you become a better teacher. I need to pay you back somehow,” she says through a mouthful of pancake.
“Mia—” I make one last attempt.
