by Hughes, Maya
I cleared my throat. “No, I didn’t mean how long did you date the woman. I meant, how long was the sex?”
The steady drumming on the table stopped. “Are you serious?”
I licked my Sahara-dry lips. “It’s a reasonable question. How long did it last?”
“I didn’t exactly set a timer, but let’s just say we both got our reward.”
“Interesting.” I made another note on the card.
“These are the types of questions I’m going to be asked for the draft?” He took the lid off the bottled water.
The draft? Pushing ahead, I went to the next line one my card and cringed a bit. “Okay, this might seem a little invasive.” I cleared my throat again. “But how big is your penis? Length is fine. I don’t need to know the circumference, you know—the girth.”
A fine spray of water from his mouth washed over me. “What the hell kind of question is that? I know you’re trying to throw me off my game, but holy shit, lady.”
4
Reece
I’d heard the expression ‘swallowed my tongue’ and thought it wasn’t possible, but mine just about jumped out of my throat when the words “How big is your penis?” came out of her mouth. The water burned in my lungs as I coughed, slamming my hand against the table. Her bottles of water rattled and the spoon in her mug clinked against the edge. Her follow-up comment about not needing to know the girth sent me gasping for air.
“I’m sure this is not the usual way you go about having sex, but I thought given the ad, you’d want to give me some idea of what sex with you might be like.”
The evil burn trying to suffocate my lungs evaporated in an instant as her words registered in my brain. “You think I’m here for some kind of sex ad? What sex ad? Who puts out an ad for sex?” Those were only the first three questions I could force out of my burning lungs from the mountain of inquiries piling up in my mind.
Seph looked like the head librarian at a library convention. The crown braid, button-down shirt, and blazer didn’t exactly scream, I’m looking to get so much strange I need to put out an ad.
She slid a folded piece of paper across the table to me. I stared at it, slightly afraid of what I’d find. When I opened it up, my eyes raced along the page, devouring the words as my brain whirred and teetered on the edge of frying. I looked from the paper up to her and back to the paper.
“Are you out of your goddamn mind?” I looked back at her, really looked. She was young. The Heidi braid thing she had wrapped around her head aside, she couldn’t have been more than twenty.
“Are you even legal?”
She pursed her lips then pulled them in, biting them. “I’ll turn nineteen in three months.”
Now that I knew she wasn’t underage, I checked her out. She was cute. Light brown hair. Light brown eyes. They darted down at her cards and back up at me. Nice body. There was no reason she’d need to take out an ad for sex. “Are you trying to harvest guys’ organs or something? You can walk into any party on campus and get laid if that’s what you want.”
She tugged on the buttons at the front of her shirt, which only drew my attention to that area. I added great rack to my mental list of her positive attributes. I couldn’t tell how tall she was, but she looked like she was average from where I was sitting.
“I’m not very involved in the party scene. I felt this was the best way to find suitable candidates for this job.”
“What job?”
Her fingers ran along the top of the stack of notecards in front of her and she said the words so quietly I barely heard them. “Losing my virginity.”
Fuck me. A virgin. I didn’t think those were still out in the wild once college started. “You want to lose your virginity to a guy who’s willing to answer an ad like this?” I slapped the folded paper down on the table. “You’re going to get hurt. Or killed. Only a psycho would answer this ad.” Or someone so desperate they’d have no issues taking advantage of someone like her.
She peered up at me. “You answered it.”
“No, I thought I was coming here to meet with a media specialist. There’s no one else here who looks stuffy enough other than you, so I figured you were who I was meeting.”
“Oh.” Disappointment oozed from her voice. “Sorry, I didn’t realize. I asked people to arrive at three. I thought you were exceptionally punctual. That earned you an extra point.” She pointed to the little hash marks at the top of my card.
“You’re completely serious about this.” I couldn’t piece together why someone like her would be doing this. It wasn’t just stupid—it was dangerous. It wasn’t that I was the upstanding picture of morality, but she was setting herself up for trouble beyond what someone who looked like her could handle.
“I wouldn’t joke about something this serious. I have a lot to accomplish and only until May to do it.”
The door to the coffee shop opened again and I glanced over my shoulder. A harried-looking woman wearing a suit came in with binders and folders tucked under her arm. Now, that made more sense. I’d thought Seph looked too young, but who else rocked a blazer on a college campus when they weren’t headed to an interview? Everyone else in Uncommon Grounds had rolled out of bed either five minutes or twenty-two hours ago and parked themselves here. The forty-something woman at the door’s gaze bounced from table to table.
I leaned in close to Seph, a terrible thought invading my mind. “Are you dying or something?” She was only eighteen, looked perfectly fine and healthy. Shit!
The woman who’d rushed in appeared at the end of the booth. “Reece?”
I nodded.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Rebecca.” She held out her hand. “Your coach set up the meeting. My car broke down, sorry about that. Let’s grab a table when you’re finished here.” Her wide smile dimmed a little when she glanced over at Seph with her notecards and business attire. “Were you in the middle of something?”
I shook her hand. “Just give me a minute.”
Rebecca stood there, bouncing from foot to foot.
Seph still hadn’t answered my question. “Are you dying?” I ducked my head and tried to catch her eye.
She nibbled on her lip, the plump fullness of it clenched between her teeth.
“Do you mean literally or metaphorically, like due to embarrassment?”
“The first one.” I covered her hand with mine. A slight tremble went through her. She was scared shitless like a rookie running out of the tunnel for the first time. I wanted to pull her in close and whisper into her ear that it would be okay. Whoa! Talk about blindsided. This was what I got for not getting laid since the season began. It was turning me into a chick.
She peered up at me. “No more than any of us. I’m sorry for the mix-up. Go ahead to your meeting.” She slid her hands out from under my grip and off of the table, and held them in her lap.
I wanted to get her out of there, wanted to grab her stuff and take her out of that booth where she was going to be interviewing guys to lose her virginity to. That was a sentence I’d never thought I’d say before. She sat still, trying to put on a brave face.
“Seph…” The words died in my throat. I didn’t know her. Why did I feel like I needed to protect her from this massive mistake?
“I’ll be fine.”
I could only imagine what had gone around campus when she’d posted that ad. It would be equal parts people showing up to gawk, maybe make fun of her, and people who were interested. I shuddered at the thought of the guys who might actually try to take her up on the offer. My fingers tightened around the table’s edge. My knuckles were white. Shaking my head, I loosened my grip and slid out of the booth.
“Are you sure you’re okay? Just because you put up the ad doesn’t mean you have to go through with this. You don’t have to do it.”
She straightened her shoulders and stared at me. This time her gaze didn’t waver. Her entire body transformed from trying to fold in on itself to I mean business. “Yes, I do. I apologize
again. Enjoy your meeting.” That was some scary-ass determination, and she was in way over her head.
Rebecca had grabbed a table on the other side of the coffee shop, but I motioned toward the one directly behind Seph’s. I sat facing the door, and Rebecca sat facing the direction I’d been facing before.
“Is everything all right?” She opened one of her many folders.
“It’s fine. There was just a mix-up with who I was meeting.”
A couple minutes after three, the first guy strolled into the shop. Dude couldn’t even show up on time? Rebecca handed over a couple packets of information and I half listened to what she was saying about them. She dug around in her bag, looking for more papers.
I made eye contact with the guy who’d walked in. He spotted me and froze.
Maybe he was admiring my shiny white kicks.
Maybe it was the way my hands balled up the piece of paper in my grip.
Or maybe it was the face-melting glare I gave him.
We’ll never be sure, but his gaze darted from me to Seph in the booth in front of me. I gave him one hard head shake and jabbed my finger toward the door. His eyes got wide and he took a stutter step closer.
I rose halfway out of my seat and his sneakers squeaked on the floor as he spun around and bolted for the front door. A parade of guys made their approach toward Seph, but I headed all of them off at the pass. At one point, I excused myself, got up, and went outside to the line of douchebags that had formed.
“Listen, under no circumstances are you to enter this shop looking for the girl from the ad, do you hear me? She’s the sister of one of my teammates. She put it up to give him a hard time. If anyone touches her, you’ll be answering to the whole football team. Do you understand?” I crossed my arms over my chest. My word was law.
The mouth-breathers who stood outside looked at me and back at the door. “Why would anyone even answer an ad like that? It sounded too good to be true and was probably a one-way ticket to ending up in a sting operation with your face plastered all over the news.”
The frightened little bunnies nodded before running away. I went back inside.
Seph’s hopeful look devolved into pink-cheeked disappointment when her gaze landed on me. Should I have been offended?
I stopped by her table. “No takers?”
“There’s still time. I thought there might be a few, but most guys have come in, taken a look at me, and rushed right back out.” She folded her hands in her lap, pursing her lips like a Sunday School teacher.
“Maybe it’s for the best.” I dropped my hand onto her shoulder. My fingers brushed along the exposed skin on her neck, and her pulse jumped under the tips.
She stared up at me, her pink lips glistening in the setting evening sun coming in through the windows.
“Reece.” Rebecca’s voice sliced through the connection. “We have a few more things to go over.”
I went back to my table and glanced over the papers she gave me while also keeping an eye on the door. The bell jingled over and over. Every time, my blood pressure shot through the roof. A guy strolled in. He’d been in my freshman seminar my first semester. His name danced on the edges of my memory, but I’d never forget his face, mainly because of the smug-ass grin he’d given me when our first papers were handed back out, his with a nice, big, circled 98 and mine with a 75. We’d never hung in the same circles, and his feelings toward student athletes had been loud and clear back then. Graham.
He walked in and didn’t even glance in my direction. His face lit up like a kid on Christmas when he spotted Seph. I slammed my hands on the table.
Rebecca jumped and stared at me, wide-eyed. “We’re almost finished. I’ll give a full report to your coach about how great you’ve been about all this.”
I sat back in the seat while trying to x-ray vision my way through her body and the seat across from her to see what exactly they were talking about.
“…and once you’re able to give a good response to these basic questions, it will really help you with handling the press in the future.” She stared back at me expectantly.
I nodded and plastered on a smile. “Thanks a lot for your help. I’ll go over everything as soon as I get home.”
“Perfect.” She gathered up all her stuff and tucked the folders back into her bag. I flashed her a tight smile and got up from the seat. As I rounded the edge of the table, Graham got up and shook Seph’s hand. She looked up at him like he’d just invented notecards. Not that guy. He’s a pompous asshole. The door closed after him and that stupid jingling bell finally stopped.
“How’d it end up going?”
She jumped and her head snapped up when my shadow fell over her.
“It went okay. Not the reception I expected, but I’m new to all this.”
“Do you think you found your person?”
Her eyebrows scrunched down a little and she nodded. “I think so, but I need final confirmation and my pro-con list.”
She was going to sleep with Graham. Why did that piss me off? I barely knew the guy. I didn’t know her, but she might have been covering for the fact that she was dying like in that movie my little sister had made me watch a few summers ago. She’d cried for about two days straight afterward.
Graham wasn’t the kind of guy Seph’s first time should be with. He’d probably pull out a protractor to make sure they got the angles right—though actually, from what I’d seen of her, maybe that was her thing.
Just drop it. It’s not your business. I shoved my hands into my pockets. “Have a good one, then. And I hope you get exactly what you’re looking for.”
“I think I might.” She smiled at me, the first real one I’d seen in the little bit of time I’d spent in her presence. It was the kind that came from way deep down, like Christmas morning or scoring your first touchdown.
Flicking my hand in her direction with a half-wave, I strolled out of the coffee shop. The Uncommon Grounds sign with two cups of coffee overflowing with beans shone overhead.
Standing outside, I waited to see if there were any stragglers lurking. None, but I still watched her leave. She tucked her gray scarf into the collar of her beige coat and pulled a red hat down over her ears.
What the hell was I doing? I’d tried to save her from herself, but she could always put up another ad, or maybe take my advice and just go to a party to get laid. Not your business, Reece. These were the types of entanglements that kept me far away from anything resembling a relationship. Getting wrapped up in someone else was a one-way ticket to killing your dreams, and that wasn’t for me. Not by a long shot.
5
Seph
Things had not gone as planned. For some reason I’d envisioned a line of guys down the block and had thought it would be a nightmare to sort through. Instead it had been worse. Two hours of me throwing back marshmallowy hot chocolates with one accidental interviewee and only one other candidate, the only real one.
Graham was nice. I’d seen him in the math building but never stopped to talk, just like I never stopped to talk to anyone. He had an easy smile, soft hands, and a gentle yet firm handshake. Light brown hair like my own and honey-colored eyes made him the best-looking guy in the department for sure. He’d probably be a great first partner, would take his time, wouldn’t rush things, but I kept coming back to my accidental show-up.
Reece. He’d walked into the room and the whole place had lit up for him. He wasn’t the type to sit back and let things come to him; he went after the things he wanted. His confidence radiated off him. When he put his hand on my shoulder, my insides went crazy. My dopamine levels must have been off the charts. Those weren’t feelings you had every day—well, not me, anyway. The closest I’d come was when I’d gotten my acceptance letter to Fulton. It made it that much worse that he didn’t seem at all interested in what I’d offered.
Graham was the safe choice. He’d answered the ad. He had kind eyes and a pleasant personality. He’d even said he’d be moving back to Boston aft
er he graduated, so if anything did progress beyond a one-time thing, I could still see him when I moved. He was the logical choice.
But Reece…that was where my thoughts kept drifting as I stood outside the library after once again being sex-iled from my apartment. Being sex-iled with him would put a much different spin on things. Don’t get ahead of yourself. He’s not interested. Focus on the issue at hand. Why couldn’t I just say something to Alexa? For the same reason I couldn’t say something to my parents.
Baby steps. It hadn’t been a total bust. Blowing into my hands, I looked for a place to get some food. My stomach had been a mess all day. Now that I’d ripped the Band-Aid off and survived, I was starving. The heavy scent of deliciously seasoned meat wafted past my nose. My mouth watered. Whatever that was, I needed it in my belly immediately.
There was a narrow stone staircase leading to the restaurant with a hanging sign decorated with oars overhead. The Vault. I’d heard students mention it before, but I’d never gone looking for it. I pushed the heavy wooden door open and stepped into the barely-off-campus bar-slash-restaurant Inside, a big guy in a tight thermal with his arms crossed over his chest stared me down. Refusing to shrink back, I met his gaze and smiled.
“Hi. I wanted to get something to eat.”
“Let me see your ID.” He flicked his fingers back and forth with his palm up.
I scrambled to get my wallet out of my bag and pulled out my driver’s license. It had taken me until I was finally eighteen to convince my dad I should get it. I’d reasoned I might need to rent a car for any conferences I attended so it would come in handy.
“You’ve got to be out by nine. That’s when we start serving alcohol.” He stepped back to let me pass. The narrow brick-lined hallway led into the restaurant.
I checked my watch. It was only six. “Okay, I’ve got plenty of time.” The shoulder of my coat scraped against the rough stone blocks as I pressed myself against the wall.
