36. king
CHAPTER 36
KING
VAGINA CHRISTMAS
From a little taste with that lacy number to…nothing. Complete avoidance.
Willow would hold my gaze for a beat too long across the training center and take off in the opposite direction. When our group had lunch together, and I tried to talk to her, she dodged the most innocent questions like a gymnast. Every time she passed out papers in class, she did everything to avoid touching my hand.
Willow was doing exactly what she promised.
It was all part of her plan to play mind games and it worked so fucking well.
Every second of every day I was on edge.
Not just on edge. On the fence. And slipping off of it.
With a pounding headache, I headed to the tutoring hall in the training center. Athletes were required to clock in a certain amount of hours a week while we did classes, but on a Saturday morning, there were only the paid TAs and graduate students who could help with any subject.
And… June?
"Mr. King?" One of the tutors approached me. "Lovely to see you putting your education first?—"
"I need to talk to a pre-med."
"Pre-med?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "I’ll be over there. Thank you."
I strode to June’s table, and she gave a double take. " King? What happened to you?"
I knew what she meant. The last of the bachelor party’s bruises were fading but taking Willow’s shows away didn’t mean I got my eight hours back. Melatonin gummies could only do so much.
Confused, I motioned towards her setup.
"Uh…I’m doing homework."
That didn’t make sense for her, especially with all of her obligations. I took the seat next to hers and waited.
"What are you doing here?" she said, clearly avoiding the question.
I purposely glanced away and the two of us were silent. Which was weird. I couldn’t remember the last time we kept something from each other.
"You’re not going to tell me? " she asked.
With a shrug, I posed her same question without saying a word.
"Can you keep this a secret?" she finally asked.
I nodded. We had plenty between us, of course I could.
She sighed. "I failed all my classes last semester. Why do you think I’m working with the Gladiators?"
There was no way that was true. June Basil, the homecoming queen, the college girl who ran half of campus, failed her classes?
"June. Why didn’t you tell me? We could’ve?—"
"I don’t want to talk about it."
"I can help, we can?—"
"You of all people should not be helping me out."
I frowned. What was that supposed to mean?
"You’re my best friend," she said softly. "I can’t count how many times you picked me up from a party or held my hand during a pregnancy scare. I can’t put this on you too?—"
"It’s not one-sided, June. You’ve done a lot more for my family than I?—"
"Freshman year. That’s a lifetime ago! You have to stop holding on to that, and that wasn’t even me, that was my family!" She took a deep breath and tore up a piece of paper. "I told you now you tell me. What’re you here for?"
I ran my tongue over the back of my teeth. "I do…need help."
"What is it?"
"Do you know that girl I tried getting with?"
"Um, the only girl? Somehow, she rings a bell."
"She has vaginismus."
"What?" June paused. "Vagina Christmas?"
"No, vaginismus. It’s a medical condition." I struggled to think of how to phrase it. "She has a really tight pussy."
"Is that, like, a pickup line she told you?"
"No, she can’t have normal sex. Nothing will go in and look at me. Fucking look at me, June." I motioned towards myself. "I’m a huge fucking dude, I could fuck her up for life."
"You’re serious?"
"Yeah."
"Has she tried…using lube?"
"Yes. Still won’t work."
"This is the kind of curse they dole out in fairytales." June stared at the table. "Dammit, King. Why couldn’t you come up with an easier problem?"
"King, right?" A guy walked up to us. "You want a pre-med student?"
I gestured for him to take a seat. "Do you know what vaginismus is?"
"Uh…yeah."
"Is it a real thing?"
"Yes?"
"Can you answer questions about it?"
"No. I’m going into biochem."
Goddammit .
"I need someone who knows about vaginismus and can answer questions."
He sucked on his teeth. "What class do you need this for?"
I didn’t say anything, just stared back at him until he got the message. Technically, I could go into the tutoring hall for anything I wanted. My major was communications, but they didn’t stop me from talking to an art history professor for Kassie’s birthday present. Why was this any different?
I didn’t want to search online. With my mom’s medical stuff, I developed a bad habit of scrolling through worse and worse articles until I made myself panic. All I wanted was for someone to give it to me straight.
"I’ll go find somebody," he mumbled.
"What about non penetration stuff?" June asked. "You don’t have to go all the way."
"You don’t get it. If I’m trying to kiss this girl’s cheek, I have to mentally prepare for it and I’m fine. But then, she has these beautiful brown eyes that stare into my soul and she’s like— why don’t we try it— and all my preparation goes to shit. I can’t say no to her. When she’s on my lap, she could ask me to buy a house, and I’d find a pen to sign the deed."
"Ooo. Yikes."
"We were this close to having sex. I ripped her panties. Left them in pieces. Who does that?"
"But…you stopped yourself."
"No. A security guard stopped me."
"A what? "
"I don’t think thoughts when I’m around her." I put my head in my hands. "Now she’s playing this sick game where she’s dodging me at every turn because she wants me to chase after her and it’s working."
"Let’s think about solutions." June took out a blank sheet of paper but hovered over it. "Um…give me a second. I’ll think of something. Give me a minute. Two minutes. An hour."
"You want to talk to someone about pelvic floor disorders?"
June and I glanced up at a girl in a white jacket, her eyebrows raised.
I held out the chair.
"Are you transferring into pre-med?"
"I’m trying to—" I stopped myself. June and I were in a fake relationship again. I needed to tread carefully. "Uh, a friend of mine is trying to have sex with someone who has vaginismus."
"Uh…okay. I guess that’s…nice?" She started to laugh in disbelief and stopped herself. "Sorry, I don’t talk to athletes. Not a lot of them are becoming doctors. I usually take a nap on the beanbags."
"I’m asking the same question he’s asking," June added. "I want to help. Not help have sex with the girl, but help our mutual friend have sex with this girl."
The pre-med student rubbed the back of her neck. "Um…patience is good?"
"Patience," I repeated. "Okay."
Strike one off the bat.
"Often, vaginismus is tied to psychological reasons," she explained slowly. "To be clear, I’m not someone who works with vaginismus. You should have her talk to a professional. There is treatment. What about comfort level?"
"My friend has literally never been comfortable around her since he met her. Have you ever met someone and you’re like—got it—it’s their world and I’m just lucky to be in it?"
June leaned towards me. "She’s talking about her comfort level."
"Oh. Yeah. Right. Uh…she’s five-foot-eight. My friend looks exactly like me. How comfortable can she really be?"
The pre-med blew out a long breath with that look on her face.
I stared at her helplessly.
"Sorry—uh—good luck to your friend."
"I’m checking to see if they sell lube at Costco," June muttered. "They might have a bucket bulk deal."
I turned back to the pre-med student. "She told my friend they need to shove. That doesn't sound right."
"Because that’s not right."
"I knew it." I nodded, smacking the table. "I knew that shit, I knew she wasn’t right. There’s no way that’s what you’re supposed to do."
"That’ll just prolong the issue. There isn’t a simple fix."
"What do you mean? Like…if it works one time, I—he—could still mess her up later?"
"Sex is sex." The pre-med student shrugged. "This might not ever work between you and her."
"My friend and her."
"Sure."
The pre-med student wasn’t saying anything I didn’t already know. It was the same argument I pushed to Willow. But to hear someone else confirm it, fucking sucked.
"And don’t shove," she urged. "Vaginismus can be linked to sexual assault. This can exacerbate the issue."
Her words carried without me really hearing them.
June tried to get my attention, but I stared at the pre-med student. A sick feeling spread in my gut. "Someone hurt her?"