Chapter 1
Aria
This was my fifth attempt to pay attention in class. The professor was babbling something about regression models, there were numbers on the board, and I think I was in Statistics II. Maybe. Honestly, I wouldn’t have noticed if I had walked into the wrong class right now; my mind was far, far away from this classroom, in a whole other room altogether. All the chatter, people talking in the hallways, the professor being obnoxious – things that usually bothered me to no end – now sounded like a mildly pleasant distraction coming from another dimension in space and time. It had been like this all week. Nothing in the whole world could faze me.
I still couldn’t believe what had happened. And how perfect it was. My mind once again drifted back to that night in Zayden’s office one week ago.
Right after we had made love – no, no not made love, done it, had sex, any other term for what had happened – we both collapsed onto the couch, locked in an embrace. It felt like forever when we were both able to function again, and the first thing he said was, “God dammit, Aria, why did you lie?”
“Wow, you sure know how to flatter a woman after sex,” I rolled my eyes.
He got up and looked at me with his head resting on his elbow. There was real concern in his face. “I’m serious. Why did you lie about your virginity?”
“What?” I snapped. “I wasn’t a virgin, and it’s not like that stopped you from trying to get into my pants when you thought I was! I’ve only had sex once and it lasted a whole minute. Why the sudden concern? Did I really suck that bad?”
“It’s not like that,” he said, running his index finger over the contours of my face. “I just… it would have gone differently if I had known the truth. If I knew you were a virgin or even that you had only been fucked once, I would have been more… gentle. I should have known better, but I was overwhelmed with you. If I had just kept my head straight, I would have gone much slower, done much better, made this better. Hell, we weren’t even in a real bed! You will always have to remember your first and second time being shitty.”
He looked angry with himself before he finally added: “You’re a smart and young girl; so sorry it had to be this way.”
I gently caressed the stubble on his cheek and said, “Believe me when I say this, it was perfect, Zayden. I had a great time.” I looked down coyly for a few minutes. “The pleasure…” I finished in a barely audible voice.
He laughed. “I love how bashful you get. It’s really cute, considering the way I just fucked you.”
I looked away from him, trying not to focus on the fact that he had used the word “love”. It wasn’t like he was saying he loved me; this was the equivalent of saying he loves the taste of ice-cream, yet I couldn’t help but feel a tingle of excitement.
“I am not bashful.” I looked at him again. “I can talk dirty and everything.”
He started chuckling. “Oh, really? Let’s hear it then.”
I could feel my face turning a shade of deep red. “Huh?” I looked at him as though I had no idea what he was saying. I was trapped.