He nodded. “Do you need a minute or is this just a no-go?”
God, every inch of my body wanted to say, let’s go! My brain - which was always the more dominant of the two, guided me to a more logical decision. “No-go.”
Weston stood up and removed his hands from my waist. As he stepped away, I instantly felt cold air rushing across the parts of my body he’d touched.
“No worries,” Weston said as he went to retrieve our bags. His tone was so casual that you’d think I was turning down a drink. “Maybe another time.”
I nodded and shyly took my bag from his hand. “Thanks… for the offer, and for being so understanding.”
He smiled. “I don’t need a thank-you, Covee.”
I shrugged. “Still. It was nice of you. You were trying to help.”
Weston studied me for a moment and then asked: “Did you lie about being a virgin earlier? Not that you can’t deny sex without being one… it’s just, you seemed kind of anxious about my touching.”
There was a pause before I mustered up the courage to reply, “I don’t think so.”
“You don’t think so?” His eyebrows furrowed.
“Virginity is a concept.”
“Yeah, but one that we buy into.” Weston dug into the front pocket of his bag to retrieve his phone. I watched him type something on the screen.
“True,” I agreed while running my fingers through my braids. They’d become slightly tangled from our brief make out session. “But, it’s still a complicated slash cringy story I don’t like thinking about.”
“I get it.” He nodded and offered me his phone. “Mind giving me your number?”
I took it without really thinking but held it between my hands without moving. The bright screen glowed in the darkness while I debated sharing my number. Knowing me, I’d definitely wanted to crawl in a hole and never revisit this odd fumbling, almost sexual encounter. I couldn’t do that very well if his name popped on my screen now and then.
“Please?” he added with a laugh. “It would be convenient if we didn’t have to wait until class to schedule meetings.”
“Oh, of course.” I started typing while silently scolding myself for stressing about nothing. “You meant for studying and whatnot.”
“Right,” he said while nodding as if he just remembered something. “Studying. Sorry I derailed us tonight. I thought this might be more productive in a weird way. Personally, I’m more creative after I’ve...”
He paused not because he was nervous, but because I audibly inhaled. The idea of him orgasming now was all I could think about as I typed my number into his phone. I handed him back his phone, treating it like a hot potato that I couldn't wait to get rid of.
“I promise, offering to go down on you wasn’t my original intention for tonight,” he continued. “It just felt… right. At least to me.”
“Really?” I chewed on the inside of my cheek and dared to voice a question begging to be released, “What made you offer? I’m just… I’ve never had anyone offer to do that for me.”
He frowned. “Never?”
“Never.”
“Unbelievable-” he started, but abruptly cut himself short when a white light flashed from the bookshelves behind us.
“Shit,” Weston whispered.
A man called out, “Hey, who’s in here?”
Without hesitation, Weston grabbed my hand and tugged me further into the shelves. The flashlight from who I’m assuming was the security guard faded -but I could still hear the guy’s heavy footsteps chasing our trail.
“Weston,” I whispered while struggling to keep up with his wide stride. “What are we doing?”
“Hiding,” he explained before he tugged me behind a half-stocked bookshelf.
We huddled behind a metal shelf, finding a section that hosted a row of thick books to shield our bodies. Our shoulders pressed against one another, and I felt Weston pushed up more against me when the flashlight shone on the wall closest to us.
