Who knew?
Not me, and the anticipation is slowly killing me inside. I jacked off again last night to thoughts of Jade. Her soft, plump lips. The sounds she made when I kissed her neck, when I touched her…fucking hell. She makes me insane.
“You walking around like a lovesick puppy. At least now you look satisfied. Like you got that girl out of your system once and for all.” Tristan grabs a mug out of the cupboard above him and pours himself a cup of coffee, dumping a pile of sugar and a gob of vanilla creamer into the mug before he stirs it. “So how was she?”
“What do you mean?” I ask warily, knowing exactly what he means.
“In bed. Is she any good? Is she a natural redhead? Come on, I need deets.”
I scowl at him. Fucker. I can’t answer that question because I don’t know. Though I’d bet big money on it that she is a natural redhead. “I’m not going to answer that question.” And I used to, all the time. I had no problem telling Tristan and Gabe all about my hookups. We swapped stories. It’s what we do.
Now, I can’t imagine giving Tristan or Gabe any details about Jade and the way she tastes or the sounds she makes. And once I see her in her full, naked glory—because I will, you can count on that—I’m not going to tell them shit about that either.
She’s like my little secret. And I’m not willing to share. She belongs to me.
Tristan makes a noise and approaches the counter I’m sitting at, standing across from me, clutching his coffee close. “Redheads usually aren’t your thing.”
“You’ve said that before.” And he’s right. There’s always an exception to the rule though. Jade is my exception.
“Well, I’m saying it again. Though you two didn’t seem to last long in your room. I’m guessing it really was a one and done? Please tell me you’ve moved on. Got her out of your system.”
I clench my hands into fists. I’m pissed. I hate how he’s talking about Jade. But what the fuck do I say? I’m in a no win situation. He’ll mock me no matter what. “I haven’t got her out of my system,” I mutter, hanging my head, staring at my phone. Which isn’t lit up. Meaning I’m staring at a black screen.
“What did you say?” Tristan doesn’t wait for my answer. “Are you serious right now? Wait a minute…you didn’t fuck her last night, did you? What the hell are you waiting for?”
“I’m not waiting for anything.” I look up so I can glare at him only to find he’s glaring at me too. “We were interrupted last night.”
“And when has that ever stopped you before?” Tristan asks incredulously.
It hasn’t. But I never actually respected another girl’s opinion before either. “Jade didn’t want to stick around. So I drove her back to her dorm,” I admit, feeling like an idiot because I didn’t close the deal, as Tristan so fondly likes to put it.
“She didn’t want to stick around? More like she didn’t want you to stick it in her. What the hell is wrong with this chick anyway? Is she a lesbian?”
“Aw, fuck you Tristan.” I snatch my phone off the counter and slide off the stool I was sitting on, making my escape. But he’s right behind me, carrying on like the dick he is.
“I’m serious, man. What’s her prob? More like, what’s your prob? Why are you pursuing this chick so hot and heavy when she’s clearly not interested in you? If she’s not a lesbian, then what’s the deal? Is she a virgin?”
I stop in my tracks, dread filling me. Holy shit. What if she is? Yeah, she had that weenie boyfriend of hers, Noel or Joel or whatever the fuck, but that didn’t mean shit.
She didn’t kiss like a virgin. But how does a virgin kiss? There are a lot of virgins out there who are saving it for Jesus—I swear, that line has been used on me before—but they’ll do everything else. And when I say everything else, I mean everything else.
“That’s it, huh. She must be a virgin.”
I turn to stare at Tristan, who’s sipping on his coffee, looking like he doesn’t have a care in the world. And he doesn’t. He’s a rich fuck who skates through life and uses women like they were Kleenex. Just like I used to be until I met Jade.
It’s really hard for me to believe I’ve known Jade for only a few days. It feels like an eternity. And not in a bad way either.
“I don’t think she’s a virgin,” I say slowly.
“Aha! And that’s the problem.” He points a finger at me. “You don’t know if she’s a virgin or not. Meaning you don’t know anything. She’s stringing you along and she’s eventually going to give you a major case of blue balls for your trouble.”
Sighing, I toss my head back and stare at the ceiling, struggling for patience. If he weren’t my cousin, I would’ve kicked him out of the house a long time ago. Guy never knows when to shut up.
“I’m serious dude. Stop wasting your time on that ice queen. One and done, remember? Those are the rules,” Tristan stresses.
“Who came up with these so called rules anyway, huh?” I look at him again, ignoring my buzzing phone, wanting to hear Tristan’s answer. “Because they are seriously fucked up.”
“You’re the one who came up with them, asshole,” Tristan reminds me just before he turns and stalks back toward the kitchen, muttering the entire way.
I run a hand through my hair, tamping down the frustration that’s rolling through me. I’m so sick of everyone telling me what I’m supposed to do. It’s been that way my entire life. My sisters bossed me around. My parents. Hell, now even my freaking cousin and my best friend are supposedly offering me advice about my sex life.