Take Me Away: A College Romance Story

by J. R. Simmons

  Chapter Twelve

  Even though it was such a small thing, I was excited to tell Alex about the kiss when she finally made it back home that night. Of course, the more I thought about my excitement, the stupider it seemed—there hadn't even been tongue involved or anything, it had just been a quick peck on the lips. We might as well have been friends, at that rate. Not that I went around kissing my friends, but you know, there just wasn't anything all too intimate about what we'd done.

  And then there was the fact that he hadn't really responded to it. I don't know, I guess I'd somehow had this thought in the back of my head that if I kissed him, he would realize that I was okay with it all and really wanted him to kiss me, and then he would kiss me back and…

  Instead, he had almost acted as though it had never happened. I didn't know what to make of that.

  I was starting to wonder again if maybe he had friend-zoned me without telling me. But I didn't think he would go so out of his way to help a friend who was hungover. Then again, I hadn't known him for all that long; who knew what he was like with his friends.

  So by the time Alex got home, I was practically bursting with the news, ready to get her opinion about it. Not that I really thought that she would be able to enlighten me as to what was going on in Ben's head, but maybe she'd have some sort of insight. And if not, at least we could commiserate about it together.

  If anything, though, she looked entirely nonplussed to hear about it. “So, two guys in the span of 24 hours?” she asked. “I wouldn't have known you had it in you. But I guess maybe last night was just a trial run for today?”

  I stared at her, wondering where the hostile tone was coming from. “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  She raised an eyebrow at me. “Dan? Last night at the party?”

  “Yeah, we talked about French literature and stuff,” I said. “I mean, we probably sounded like totally pretentious assholes to anyone who might have overheard us, but...”

  “You don't remember kissing him?” Alex asked. She had her hands on her hips, and she looked every bit like a scolding mother.

  I laughed a little. “Of course I didn't kiss him,” I said, rolling my eyes a little. I frowned, remembering all the hazy parts at the end of the night, though. “Oh god, I didn't kiss him, did I?” I didn't have any clear memories of it, but I did remember getting closer and closer on the porch swing, underneath the blankets. “Wait, did I kiss him or did he make a move on me?”

  “You kissed him,” Alex told me, a little grimly. “It was...pretty obvious. And it was with tongue and everything. So you'll forgive me if I'm not totally excited to hear that you've managed to press your lips against your boyfriend's finally...”

  I blushed and ducked my head a little. Still… “I mean, it's not like it's any of your business if that's what I want to do,” I told her. “You don't need to act all high and mighty about it and judge me or whatever.”

  “True,” Alex said. “Just… I mean, we both know this relationship with Ben is really weird, Rachael. The fact is, he doesn't call you for days at a time and then just shows up and wants you to go to lunch with him or whatever. If that's not the kind of relationship that you want—and you want to do more things like go to a party and flirt with guys like Dan or whatever it is that you want to do… Well, I just hope you see that you could actually do that. You don't have to go out with Ben just because he's the first guy who wanted to date you this year.”

  I scowled at her. “That's not why I'm with Ben,” I told her.

  “You also don't have to date him just because he's super attractive,” Alex said. “Seriously, Rachael, you're attractive. You could get any guy that you wanted. You don't have to put up with-”

  “Okay, yeah,” I said, cutting her off, feeling a bit angry. “Look, I'm not selling myself short or whatever. I shouldn't have kissed Dan. I was just...really drunk and I guess kind of frustrated at Ben. That doesn't make things better, but it doesn't mean that I don't want to be with Ben.” I bit my lower lip. “Do you think I should tell Ben that I kissed Dan?”

  Alex stared incredulously at me. “Are you stupid?” she asked. “If you really want to stay with Ben, that's great, but you don't want to tell him that, oh yeah, you accidentally kissed someone else while you were drunk at a frat party. That's not the way to get the guy to call you back any sooner...”

  I sighed and shook my head. “I feel bad lying to him, though,” I admitted.

  “You probably should have thought about that before you kissed Dan,” Alex said snidely, and even though I hated the way that she said it, I couldn't deny that I had done something really stupid. “Anyway, you think Ben isn't going to feel bad if you tell him about it? If it comes down to who is going to be hurt, you or him, well—you're the one who screwed up...”

  I ducked my head, picking at the edge of my comforter. “Yeah,” I said. “You're right.” I looked up. “So how did things go for you, anyway? I didn't think you were planning on coming back home last night...”

  “I wasn't,” Alex said, rolling her eyes. “I just came to check up on you and make sure that you were going to be able to get yourself home all right, but then after I assessed the situation, I had a feeling that, no, you probably weren't going to be able to get yourself home on your own. So I cancelled my own plans for the night to bring you out for pizza and then back here.”

  “Oh,” I said. I ran a hand over my face. “Well, thanks for that. I really appreciate it.”

  “You owe me one,” Alex said simply, shrugging at me.

  “Does that mean you're going to drag me to another frat party at some point?” I asked worriedly.

  Alex laughed. “Oh no,” she said. “I'm pretty sure we learned that lesson already...”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Later that week, Ben surprised me by showing up one morning as I was getting ready to go for my run. I groaned. “You're not going to make me run up a giant hill again, are you?”

  Ben laughed. “Nah, I thought that maybe we'd just take it easy through the arboretum today,” he said. “I know it's not much to look at this time of year, but I really just wanted to spend some time with you.”

  I shrugged. “Sure.” Then, I looked at him with a challenge glinting in my eye. “Think you can keep up?” It was a pretty stupid thing to challenge him with since I knew that he could outrun me already. But it was fun that he gave me the illusion of leading the way up through campus and out into the arboretum.

  We had a good long run, and eventually we ended up back at my dorm. I laughed as he sped past me right at the end, looking back at me and sticking out his tongue. “I win!”

  I shook my head and shoved him a little before beginning to do my cool-down stretches. Ben paused, watching me for a moment, and I laughed again. “What?” I asked. “Are you going to join in or are you going to run off for work or…?”

  “I was kind of hoping that maybe I could take a shower,” Ben said. “I have to get to work, and I don't particularly want to show up like this. And...” he trailed off.

  I frowned at him. “I mean, yeah, I don't think that'll be a problem,” I said. “There's three showers on our floor, and it's pretty early in the morning for your average college student, so I doubt they'll all be in use.”

  “That's not quite what I'm asking,” Ben said, cocking his head to the side.

  “So what are you asking?” I asked, standing up putting my hands on my hips as I tried to read something from his posture or his expression.

  Ben finally rolled his eyes and caught me around the waist, tugging me towards him and then giving me a heated kiss. I practically melted against him, my knees going weak as his tongue explored my mouth. It was everything that I might have wanted it to be and then some, and I couldn't help moaning softly, pressing infinitely closer against him.

  When we pulled breathlessly apart, Ben's thumb came up to light stroke across my jawline and then across my lower lip, making my nerves practically sing with desire. “You're
going to need to take a shower,” Ben pointed out. “And I'm going to need to take a shower. And I just thought...”

  I laughed a little incredulously. “You've hardly kissed me, and now you suddenly want to hop in the shower together?” I asked.

  “Am I moving too quickly?” Ben asked, his brow furrowing. “I'm not trying to make you nervous or anything like that. Just, I've been practically dying to get you out of your clothes but I didn't want you to think that I didn't respect you or anything like that. And I also had to...think some things through. But I...” He trailed off, shaking his head. “I'm not asking you to have sex with me or anything like that, but maybe we could...explore a little.”

  I frowned up at him. “You wanted to make sure I knew that you respected me,” I said. I shook my head. “What kind of a guy are you, anyway?”

  Ben laughed a little and kissed me again, this time even more tenderly, his tongue slipping sensually alongside mine and his hands coming up to cup my cheeks.

  “Okay,” I said as we pulled apart. I shook my head, unable to keep a grin off my face. “Okay.” I led the way into the dorm and up to our floor. “Let me just go grab a towel,” I said, pushing him towards one of the showers.

  “Sure,” he said.

  In the shower stall, we both stripped down naked, and I couldn't help staring at his tanned and toned skin. “I thought English people were a lot paler than that,” I teased, reaching hesitantly out to stroke a curious hand down through the soft, curly hair that led towards his…

  I blushed, gaze jumping away to anywhere other than his penis, which wasn't hard yet, as far as I could tell, but it was definitely interested.

  “My mother's Italian,” Ben said. “And my father's French. I grew up at a boarding school in England, and my brother grew up at a boarding school in Switzerland. To this day, I have no idea why.”

  I laughed a little, even though I was honestly still totally distracted by the fact that I was here naked with Ben.

  He reached out to lightly cup one of my breasts in his palm, rolling his thumb against the nipple until it stood pert and perky. Then, he bent his mouth down towards the other one, asking with his eyes if it was okay. I didn't stop him, but I did gasp a little as his warm lips closed around the nub, and I couldn't help arching against him.

  “You like that, hmm?” he asked, a devilish smirk on his face. He traced hot trails of kisses along my skin, finally ending up back at my mouth for another kiss. He had me pressed back against the wall, and even though I should have been shocked by how cool the tiles were, that was of secondary importance to the way he was currently plumbing the depths of my mouth, drawing needy little moans and whimpers out of me. Meanwhile, his deft fingers continued to play along my sides, giving me goosebumps and making me shiver with desire.

  Suddenly, he pulled back and flicked one of my nipples, a sharp little note of pain-pleasure that had me rocking down against the legs that he had, at some point, slotted between mine. “We're never going to get you to your class on time if we don't hurry up,” he said.

  I blushed a little and stepped into the actual shower area, turning on the spray and yelping at how cold it was.

  Ben laughed and tugged me back into his arms, so my back was pressed firmly against his warm chest. “Have you ever had sex in the shower before?” he asked.

  I bit my lower lip. “You said we'd just fool around...” I said uncertainly. Not that I didn't want to, necessarily, but… Stupidly enough, now that the time might actually be here to have sex, I kind of wanted it to be...special. It wasn't that I didn't want it to be with Ben or anything like that, but I didn't know if I wanted it to be in the dormitory showers, of all places.

  “Shh,” Ben said, kissing me lightly on the temple. “That's what I said, and that's what I meant. If we have sex, I'm going to do things right, with a proper bed for our first time. Trust me. I was just asking. But you can forget the question; I'm sorry. I don't really have any right to ask that, anyway.”

  “I've never had sex before,” I blurted out.

  I expected him to pull away, but instead, Ben seemed to hold me even tighter. “Okay,” he said. “Have you fooled around at all?”

  “A little,” I said, turning to look up at him through my lashes. “Sorry, I know that's probably not what you want to hear—that I don't know what I'm doing and that I might get clingy or whatever it is that females are supposed to get after having sex for the first time. If you don't want to-”

  Ben shut me up with a chaste but lingering kiss. “Calm down,” he said gently. “What kind of an asshole would I be if I told you that I wasn't interested in you because you weren't experienced?” he asked. “I'm glad that you told me, though, before we actually...did anything. I want you to feel comfortable with what we're doing. If you want me to leave-”

  “No,” I said quickly.

  “Okay, then,” Ben said, smiling easily at me. He stepped forwards, backing me up until I was leaning against the wall beneath the spray. Then he ran his hands over me, and oh wow.

  I mewled, practically melting into a puddle, and Ben laughed. “So delightfully easy...” he said.

  I blushed. “Is that a bad thing?”

  Ben shook his head, leaning in to nibble against my earlobe. “Oh no,” he said, his breath hot against my ear. “In fact, it's incredibly sexy.”

  He played his hands down along my curves, and I could feel how interested he was in the way that his member pressed insistently against my hip. I brought a hand down towards it and slowly tugged it, surprised to feel how he rocked into my touch. “Bollocks,” he groaned, dropping his forehead down against my collarbone.

  I laughed a little. “Something tells me we're both going to come pretty easily,” I said.

  Ben raised an eyebrow at me, smirking. “Oh really?” he asked, as though that weren't obvious. But I realized what the smirk was for as he suddenly slid his hands the length of my body and then slipped one of them in between my legs, fingering the soft, sensitive skin there.

  I gasped and arched against him. “Please,” I whimpered.

  “Yeah?” Ben asked.

  “I need it,” I whimpered, not caring how wanton I sounded in that moment.

  It was worth it, anyway, to see Ben's expression when he heard those words. His eyes went even darker, if possible, pupils totally blown out. He bit his lower lip, and his eyes fluttered closed. “Can you give me...just a little more pressure?” he asked, one hand coming down to guide mine, to tighten around it.

  I felt a blush spread across my face, but Ben shook his head. “No, don't be embarrassed,” he said, his voice breathless as I twisted my hand a little on the upstroke. “Do that again,” he groaned, and I readily complied, even though focusing on setting a rhythm was difficult when his fingers were suddenly slipping back into my entrance, crooking there and plying my slick skin. He thrust a few times, and with my free hand, I clung to his strong bicep to keep myself upright. The hand that I had on his penis faltered, until he brought his other hand down, guiding me.

  We both climaxed at the same time, but where I breathlessly gasped out his name, he came with only a soft groan, his seed spilling hot and sticky over our fingers.

  We slumped dazedly against the wall of the shower for a long moment, and then Ben finally pulled away, grabbing my loofa and beginning to wipe me down.

  I giggled. “You don't have to do that,” I finally managed to say, the words difficult to string together.

  “I know I don't have to,” Ben said, rolling his eyes a little. “But I want to.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Okay.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  I was getting used to Ben calling me late in the evenings, usually just as I was getting into bed. He didn't call every night, but he managed to call at least a couple nights a week over the next few weeks, so even though we hadn't had a chance to meet up in person since the shower incident, I at least knew that he was still thinking of me. I liked that, even though I was desperate to see him
again in person, and maybe to do a little more...fooling around.

  “Hey,” I said sleepily, smiling up at the ceiling. Normally, I would take the call out in the hallway, but Alex wasn't home yet, which meant I could lie there comfortably while we talked.

  “Hey,” Ben echoed. “You sound sleepy.”

  “I am sleepy,” I told him. “Too many late nights and too many early mornings lately...”

  “Yeah, I can imagine,” he said. “Midterms are coming up, aren't they?”

  “Just finished them, actually,” I said. “Hoping things will calm down a little bit now...”

  “Ah, nice,” he said. “Sorry, I do listen when you're talking about things like midterms, I just-”

  “You're busy too,” I said with a shrug. “And I definitely don't remember when all of your meetings are or anything like that.” I frowned. “Where are you right now, anyway?”