I turned off the light, threw my phone on the mattress, and covered my face with my hands. Unfortunately I knew what he was talking about.
Don’t answer him, don’t answer him, don’t— I reached for my phone.
I wrote it and sent it so fast that I didn’t give it any thought. Nothing.
I was expecting his usual jab or teasing, but the notification startled me.
A photo.
It was almost four in the morning. I shouldn’t’ve opened it.Breathe, June. You can do it. You can overcome this curiosity.
I stared at the ceiling, not just because I’d gotten a second wind but also because the hellish heat was back. Who was I kidding?
I clicked the notification, afraid of what would appear in front of me. A languid sigh escaped my lips as my hungry eyes met James’s, which were so blue that they could be put in a showcase. He was shirtless, with his head on a pillow, a chain that glided on his smooth skin, and his tongue goofily sticking out. My gaze sculped the deep grooves highlighting his cheeks. I smiled. I caressed his dimples with my thumb, but the smile vanished when I felt a hot tingling rush down my legs.
Hunter:What’s the deal with your hair?
June:What the fuck do you want? I just took a shower
I can’t look . . . forget it.
No, I would’ve never sent him a photo of me. Absolutely not.
I scrolled up again. The more I looked at his face, the weirder I felt. I bit my lip and closed my eyes. I tried taking deep breaths to relax, but it didn’t work. I was too tense. Gingerly, I stretched my legs out. My limbs seemed sluggish, numb from the alcohol, but one part of me was fully alive and full of tension.
No. I can’t do it, especially not looking at a picture of him. That was what guys did, not me.
I shifted positions and huffed for the umpteenth time. But the frustration didn’t pass. Instead it was growing so much that I squeezed my thighs. I tried to alleviate the sensation by rubbing my fingers on the edge of my underwear, but it only got worse. I felt like I was burning up.
Another notification startled me. This time I clicked it lightning quick.
Hunter:I’d like to propose something
Adrenaline coursed through my veins.
June:I’m listening, James
Hunter:I can help you, just for tonight
Scandalized, my eyes widened. Who gave him the balls to do that?
June:You deserve an insult, so consider yourself lucky that all I’m saying is GOOD NIGHT
I found myself laughing at the thought that he would laugh reading that.
Hunter:You might not know it, but I pay attention to so many things when we’re together
June:Meaning?
I started to massage my lower lip, waiting for him to respond.
Hunter:I’m much more sexually experienced than you, and I know how to recognize the needs of Goody Two-shoes
James was drunk; otherwise he wouldn’t have kept going down that dangerous road. And so was I, seeing as I knew perfectly well what an asshole he was but right then didn’t care at all. The situation was really straightforward: The cotton underwear was starting to irritate my inner thighs.
June:So, Mr. Expert? What would you like to do?
I put my head between my hands in despair at what I had written. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t.
