Chapter Six #2
“Don’t look at me, it’s not my compliment to give,” I said, glancing at his desk chair in the corner.
He followed my eyes. “You can sit,” he said.
I sat down and huffed. “The point is, I want to know if I’m doing something wrong.
Maybe I’m with the wrong guys or maybe I don’t know what I’m doing.
Given your speech about honesty, I think you’d tell me the truth.
And you certainly have enough practice to know what you’re talking about and provide a positive experience for me. ”
Leo raised his eyebrows. Apparently, that stupid smirk that made him look so sexy was stuck on his face now. This awkward encounter was probably highly amusing to someone like him. “You want to hook up with me once and you want me to give you feedback?”
“Yes, please.”
He laughed heartily, nearly doubling over as he pushed off his hands and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
“Well, there it is,” I said. “If you’re laughing at me before we even start, then I suppose we can just forget this whole ridiculous encounter.”
He attempted to catch his breath and pulled himself together. “I’m sorry, okay. I’m not laughing at you. This is an entirely new experience for me. I’m just surprised, that’s all. You’re so matter of fact about what you want.”
“You’ve never been propositioned before?” I folded my arms across my chest. “I find that hard to believe.”
“No, I’ve never been asked to grade the sexual performance of someone I barely know,” he said, still smirking and making me wonder what exactly I could do to get him to stop. “I knew you were different than most girls, but this is not what I expected.”
“You barely know half the girls you sleep with—or so I assume.”
“You assume correct. It’s the feedback part that’s unique to you.” His smirk faded into an endearing smile and my cheeks warmed again.
“Okay, forget it. When you say it back to me, I feel even more ridiculous than when I said it out loud the first time,” I said, standing up. “I got the impression we were attracted to each other, and this seemed like a viable solution.”
“Wait,” he said, shooting to his feet and looking sincere. He stepped toward me, our chests nearly touching. “You’re attracted to me, Hawaii?”
“God, you are insufferable.”
“Look, Sophia, I like you. I’ll pretty much settle for any excuse to get you to keep talking to me, and sleeping with you sounds fantastic. This is just unexpected.”
“You’re interested in this?” I asked skeptically.
He leaned in closer, speaking directly into my ear. “I’m interested in you. If giving you minute-by-minute feedback on our encounter will give me a chance to please you, I’ll take it.”
A shiver ran down my spine. I might not need the sex to prove something deeper than what I’d experienced before was possible. Nobody had ever activated the nerve endings in my body the way I felt now with Leo’s breath on my neck.
He backed up a fraction of an inch, still standing close enough that I could feel his breath on me. “You’re not with this guy, right?”
“What?” I asked, having completely lost track of this conversation.
“The one you mentioned before. From high school?”
“No, we broke up after freshman year. He still texts me and wants to restart things since we’ll both be back in Hawaii after graduation.
Falling back into old patterns with him would be comfortable but I’m too hung up on the fact that there should be more spark and chemistry.
” I took a deep breath. “I know it sounds na?ve, but both of my parents are desperately in love with their partners, their chemistry is palpable, and their love looks like they have fireworks going off in their eyes. I just want to have a sexual experience that shows me I’m capable of something like that someday. ”
Leo looked down at my lips and back at my eyes.
“My parents are like that too, so I know what you mean. I’ve had plenty of sex that feels good, but I’ve never felt the emotional connection that goes with what you’re describing.
I can promise you one hell of a satisfying night but love that feels like fireworks might be setting your expectations a bit high for the evening. ”
I looked at his lips and glanced down at the body he’d covered up, wishing he hadn’t.
“No, I don’t imagine it will be that. But I’m hoping sex with an attractive male will at least feel like waving a sparkler in the air.
Then I’ll know there’s something worth waiting for and I won’t settle for my ex when I go home. ”
“First of all, never settle,” he said, pointing to the tattoo on his arm.
I swallowed at the intensity in his gaze. Is that what his tattoo means to him? Never settle in love?
I didn’t have a chance to ask before Leo’s eyes darkened as he moved back to my ear. His voice came out like a growl. “And I’ll give you more than a fucking sparkler, Hawaii.”
I shuddered, nearly melting into a puddle on his floor.
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow at seven,” he said.
“For sex? Can’t we just strip down and do it now?” I asked, afraid I’d lose my nerve by tomorrow.
“No,” he said curtly. “I need you to be sure you want to do this. And you won’t get an answer to the question you’re asking if you just throw yourself into it. Let me take you out first.”
“I didn’t sign up for a date,” I said.
“Yeah, well, as of two days ago you also insisted you wouldn’t be sleeping with me, and yet here you are. Do you want the full Leo experience or not?”
“Does the full experience usually come with dinner from the fuckboy?”
He winced and shook his head. “Please don’t call me that.”
“Why not? Isn’t that what you’re known as?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe it’s what I’ve been, but it’s not how I want you to think of me.”
I searched his face. He looked regretful and a little hurt.
“I’m sorry, Leo,” I said, feeling bad. “I shouldn’t have said that. I have no right to judge your actions.”
“It’s okay,” he said. “I know what I’ve done to earn the title.”
“Maybe,” I shrugged. “But you also seem like there’s more to you than that title presumes. So, I’m genuinely sorry. You can take me to dinner tomorrow.”
He smiled like he’d won something. “Calm down, Hawaii. No one said anything about dinner. I’m taking you for a drink.”
I chuckled and rolled my eyes, leaving his bedroom and heading for the front door before I got myself in more trouble. “Such a gentleman, Mr. Harrison.”
He followed me. “Careful. Talk sexy to me like that tomorrow and we might not make it through the drink. You know you don’t get school credit for this right? Even if there is a report card involved?”
I snorted and pulled open the door. “Good night, Leo.”