"One," he said, raised the hand, and kissed the inside of her wrist. She was definitely a redhead; he followed the freckles up her sleeve to the inside of her elbow and kissed her there. "Two." She jumped almost exactly the way she had when he'd stroked her ankle that first night.
"Three" turned out to be her lips again.
Now it was his turn to read her a question. "If you found out your significant other was cheating on you, what would you do?"
"That actually happened," Sara said. "I was a senior, and we were going together, and I saw him kissing this guy. I told him I'd caught him and we broke up. We were still friends after that, though."
"So what would you do if it happened now?"
"You mean, if, like, we were going together and you cheated on me?"
He almost snapped, We are going together, but managed to restrain himself in time. "Yes."
She wrinkled her nose. "I can't really see it. Harrison, have you ever cheated on a girl before?"
"Not that I remember." He thought hard. "I might have kissed someone when I was going out with someone else. Does that count?"
"Yeah, I guess. I could see that, now that you mention it. Like you being swept away in an elevator in a weak moment. I could even understand it. I mean, if the elevator were stuck for hours and things were totally tense and she came up to you and just planted one on you, I could see it. You'd tell me all about it, and I'd slug you, and we'd be good."
"But what if I made out with her for real or fucked her on that elevator?"
"You wouldn't!" She looked at him as though betrayed. "You would?"
"I don't know," he said, exasperated. "It's all hypothetical."
"Don't ever do that," she said. "Promise. If we ever go together. Just promise me."
Oh, God. He wanted to pull down her jeans right now and thrust inside her and tell her, "Stop being an idiot. Why do you think you're here in my room right now?" But that was exactly what he was trying to avoid. There was too much up in the air right now.
"I take that back," Sara said, gazing into his eyes, her own very big. "That's not really a cool thing to ask a…a buddy, is it?"
He sighed. "I'd try to be faithful if we were…if we were. But who knows what might happen in life? The same thing could be said of you. For anyone to swear they'll never cheat no matter what comes is just ridiculous."
"I'd never cheat on you. Ever, ever. Even if you were a paraplegic, I'd let you get off watching me do myself rather than sneak around."
Her impassioned vow, which was nonsense, suddenly made every kind of sense to him. She won't ever cheat. Not much room for doubt there. No beating around the bush when it comes to making promises, not Sara.
As irrational as it was, her words sent his intentions not to have sex with her tonight flying out the window. He barely stopped himself from reaching for her breast. "Are we done with this game?" he said impatiently.
"No," she sniffed. "I'm learning some very interesting things about you."
Damn it all to hell. Reluctantly, he said, "Sara, you're everything I've ever dreamed of. Why would I cheat on you? I can't imagine. But people do all kinds of things that just don't make sense. Take us, playing this game when I already know all that's important, like you're loyal and smart about people and too impulsive."
And I know exactly how you're going to mess up my life. Look at the shambles in his room. Snot rags all over the place, it was like her suitcase had exploded, and she hadn't even been here two hours….
"Harrison, did you just tell me I'm everything you've ever dreamed of?"
"Uh-huh." He kissed her forehead and then he did go ahead and grab her tit. Being able to just reach out and do that without even asking her made his dick enormously stiff.
"And that I'm smart about people? Even after the Challenge disaster?"
He rolled her nipple through her thin sweater, liking the way he could see her flesh pucker. "You seem to have a clue about some things, at least. Take off everything below the waist."
She was looking aroused and startled. "Did a card say to do that?"
"No, I did."
"Oh, Harrison." As she wiggled out of her jeans and panties, he was torn between gazing at her happy face and her copper-tufted sex. He slid onto the bed.
"I think we should start playing again now with the cards," she said, rubbing her nose with her sleeve. "This is where the game can really get good."
"I'm about done with the game."
"No, I'm serious." She evaded him and plucked two cards and read one of them to him. "What would you do if you found out you had only two hours to live?" she asked. "Darn. I was hoping for a superkinky sexy one. Well?"
"Right now the only answer that comes to mind is that I'd call my family, say goodbye, and then fuck you. I want to see your clit, Sara. It's been two hellish weeks." He pushed her down and spread her legs, but he'd only just opened her up when she broke away and plucked another tissue, then snorted out a not-very-come-hither noseblow.
"We phone-sexed last week," she reminded him.
"Yeah, sorry, not the same." Single-minded now, he put her back where he wanted her and parted her sex. It glistened and pouted adorably. And now he was desperate for a condom.
While he got busy, she read the other card in her hand. "Oh, this one's important. Listen, Harrison. How many times have you been in love?"
It was a race to get his pants down. He was going to explode before he got the damn condom on. "Once."
"Just once? That's all?"
Finally he was ready. But he wasn't sure she was. She was even tighter than he remembered. Only two fingers fit. He tried to wiggle a third inside.
"Harrison, wait—oh friggin'—did she break your heart, the girl you were in love with?"
"No," he said thickly. "I have to be in there, Sara." And abruptly he was, fully implanted in a single stroke. "Thank God," he groaned.
"Move," she said. "Hurry. Do something."
"It doesn't hurt you?" He still couldn't believe that.
Her legs hooked around him and she dragged on his arm and suddenly he found himself on the bottom, Sara on top, thrusting with her hips and frantic.
She made an assortment of pitiful snotty nasal noises, but aside from vaguely feeling it implied he was a marauding bastard, he really didn't care. His cock was in bliss. This was what he'd wanted last week in the hotel, when he'd had her on the phone in one hand and his dick in the other and it hadn't been close to enough. The only thing that would make it more perfect was if she was naked.
"You were made to do this to me, Sara," he said, and watched her go unhinged, her face darkening in one of those sexy flushes and the rest of her writhing around his shaft in the sweetest massage it had ever been blessed to receive. She grabbed his hand at her hip and brought his thumb to the dark patch of her sex and guided it with such abandon that her orgasm came right away. Fuck, she was cute. "Harrison!"
Her using his hand that way made him go a little batshit, himself. It was like she'd given him license to use her back.
So Harrison really let himself go. Sara was a small person and her body had lots of grippy parts, making it easy to manipulate. He seized her hips and rolled around with her on the bed, moving her up and down and around however he liked so her exquisite tightness did its magic along his full length. Each time he heard and felt her coming was like a loosening of the leash he'd been keeping on himself with her. He knew he was bruising her hips; he just didn't care until after the explosion, and then he was in paradise and it still didn't bother him much. What did was having to disengage and get rid of the damn condom. At least the box of tissues was right there.
"Oh, God. Oh God oh God oh God," she gurgled.
"Is that your subtle way of telling me you liked that?" He kissed her nose, knowing he was grinning like an idiot.
"Harrison, you have to promise me. Don't you ever, ever say anything bad about your studliness in bed ever again. You are a freakin' god."
"I didn't hurt you to
o much?"
"I'm going to be so sore," she said. "Do you think I care? Tissue!"
She chain-sneezed, and a mound of tissues piled up around her. Afterward, she grabbed the deck of cards and put it on the bed. "We can't ever let anyone use this again," she sniffled. "It's got all our sex stuff and snot all over it now."
"Not the stupid game," he groaned, flopping back, but automatically read the card she picked. "What is your political opinion? Oh, geez."
"That's boring," she said. "Let's skip that one. Do another one."
Oh, what the hell. If she's going to torture you with inane questions, you might as well find out what you really want to know.
He took hold of her hand.
"Sara, forget this stupid quiz game. I have a real question for you."
"Ooh, what?"
He squeezed her hand to let her know he was serious. "Let's say we're on a date."
"A date? You mean like the Challenge?"
"Yeah, and let's say I have to work all day, like last time, and let's say I completely ignored you. Forgot you were there, even, and you got bored and you'd already clipped your toenails and now you wanted my attention."
"Because I was all steamed up from watching you work?"
He had no idea what she was talking about. "Yeah, whatever. So what would you do then?"
"I'd probably try to jump on you," she said.
She would, too. "Right. So what if I was too busy?"
"Well, that would suck. Let's see…I could probably wait for you to finish what you were doing. But if I was just too berserk with lust, I'd get out my little purple friend."
"Your what?"
"My vibrator thingy. Darn. I didn't pack it or I'd show it to you. I'd get it out and fire it up and then I'd be okay for a while."
"Ah. You mean the thing you used last week. Damn, I'd drop everything to watch you…" Then he realized she'd distracted him from his agenda. "No, hold on a minute. I'm not actually talking about sex here. What about the attention you wanted?"
"What attention?"
"When I was busy working."
"What did I want you for?" she said.
"I don't know. What women want. Attention. Because we're on a date."
"Oh, I getcha." She blushed. "We're on a date for a whole day?"
"Whatever. A few hours. The point is, I had to work during the date. How would you deal with that?"
"Deal with what?"
"My working."
She looked bemused. "You'd want my help?"
"No. Sara, pay attention. You want me to focus on you because it's a date, and I'm too busy. What do you do?"
"Focus? Harrison, you're losing me here. You know the kind of thing I do, right? I go hiking. I cook. I talk to people. I watch movies. I've got lots of stuff to do. But what does it matter? If you want to work and you have a date, you just cancel it and reschedule, right? No big deal. Is this something you're worried about?"
"Yeah." Well, it was, anyway. Now it seems pretty foolish. He plugged on. "Okay, another question. I have a cocktail party to go to for scholar recipients. It's an obligation and I have to go."
"You do? When?"
"No, it's pretend. Let's say I have this party to go to. Or a lecture or something else to do with work and you think it's boring. Dull. So what do you do?"
"About what?"
"Sara, if we're in a relationship and I have a social obligation, then it's inevitable that you're going to have to—"
"In a relationship?" she interrupted. "A relationship?" She blew her nose so loudly it hurt his ears. "Is that what this is about? You're asking what I would do if we're going together in a girlfriend-boyfriend way?"
"Yes. So what's your answer?"
"I don't know. I forgot the question. My nasal passages are burning."
"What do you do when I have to go socialize with people you don't want to socialize with?"
"I have no idea. I guess I'd go with you, right? Maybe it wouldn't be that bad."
"Yes, it would. It's awful."
"Well, then, don't do it."
"I'd need to."
"Harrison, this is stupid. Does it really matter? Isn't this hypothetical?"
"No, it's not, because we're going to have to deal with this at some point. I mean, I'm graduating soon. And—"
"Oh!" She flung her arms around him and nose tissues went flying. Though he'd zipped himself back up, squishing against her now made his dick feel like it was plunging into an exquisitely soft, warm haven. "Is that why I'm here tonight? Are we in a relationship?"
"We're in a relationship," he muttered. "All right? I can't believe it's even a point at issue after everything that's happened. You knew what would happen if we fucked."
"But you're a lamebrain when it comes to that stuff. How do I know you know? I'm so happy. I've wanted to be with you for so long."
"I'm happy, too, Sara." He hesitated. Opened his mouth. Almost said it. Closed it.
"Harrison?"
He tensed. "What?"
"Do you have any decongestants?"
That's relief you're feeling. Things are rushing along like whitewater now, and the timing is all wrong. "With all that brandy in your system, no. I have a better idea."
He peered out the door first to make sure the coast was clear, washed up in the bathroom, then moved the broken-down cardboard box gating Pencil into the kitchen. The dog bounced around like a billiard ball while Harrison did his thing in the kitchen.
Sara came out a few minutes later, took her turn in the bathroom, sat down at the table. "Whoa, what's all this?"
"Hot toddy. Chicken soup from a can." He joined her at the table. They could both hear the music coming from Matt's room.
"Do you think he's okay?" she whispered.
"Matt? Yeah. Jasmine's in there with him. You don't have to talk quietly. The walls muffle sound fairly well."
She picked up her spoon. "She's in there even though the Challenge is over? What do you think they're doing in there together?"
"Do you really need to ask, given what we've been doing out here?"
Her smile shone. "Maybe I didn't totally and utterly screw up by suggesting the Challenge. This is yummy. What's in it?"
"Whiskey, lemon, and orange blossom honey. It's a tradition in my family."
"You have four brothers, right?"
"And you have three," he said. "And your parents were divorced but they've gotten back together twice."
"I'm amazed you can recall all that. I thought it all went in one ear and out the other."
"I'm not always all there," he acknowledged. "But you're pretty memorable, Sara. I….I'll get the game," he said abruptly.
Her jaw dropped. "What? You want to play it again? Out here?"
"Yeah, why not? Minus the green cards, naturally." Maybe it'll distract me from where I keep trying to go.
When the altered deck sat in the middle of the table, Sara slurped her soup and asked, "Whose turn is it?"
"I have no idea." He picked a card randomly and handed it to her.
She looked at him oddly, but took it. "If you found a thousand dollars in a wallet somewhere without any identifying information, what would you do with it?" she read.
"I don't know. The police? Social media? Lost and found if it's on campus."
"Or maybe leave a note," she suggested. "Strange question. I wonder what the right answer is."
He picked another card and kept it this time. "What social activity do you dislike doing the most? Never mind, skip that. I'm not twiddling my thumbs while you try to come up with an answer. Okay, here's a two-parter. Do you have children? No. Do you want children? Yes." He picked another card. This wasn't working. All the questions stank and were doing a shit job of distracting him. One more try, then he'd hurry her up to finish her tonic and then take her back into the bedroom and maybe fuck her again.
"How do you define love?" he read before he realized what he was reading. Damn. Not the kind of distraction he needed right now.
He sighed. "No, I'll wait."
"Sure? It's gonna take a while. I mean, there are a thousand things I could say off the tip of my tongue, but this is a biggie." She drummed her fingers on the table and sipped her hot toddy. The freckles on her face and her red, chapped nose made her look about twelve.
Finally, she said, "Got it. Love is when you need someone to be happy."
"That's it?"
"I think so. Well, there are other parts, too. But unless you have that, it's not love."
He asked thoughtfully, "Do you mean you need someone in order to be happy, or you need for them to be happy?"
"The second."
"That's interesting," he said.
"What's love to you, then?" she said, resting her chin on her hand.
"Love is what you feel when someone loves you back."
She snorted. "What a copout. That's—that's —"
"Recursive, yes. You love her because she loves you. She loves you because you love her. I think that's about as basic as you can get."
"Nah, it doesn't work at all. What if you hate the person who happens to love you? Think how awful that would be."
"I guess love isn't necessarily a good feeling."
"I think love should make you happy," Sara said. "Otherwise, what good is it? Only the good stuff should count." Her expression became wistful. "Harrison, the one time you were in love…was it the good stuff?"
"Yes, Sara."
"She made you happy?"
"Yes."
"Did you want to marry her?"
He sighed and leaned back in his chair. It was obvious where this was going. Oh, well. It was inevitable, anyway, like trying to block Niagara Falls with an umbrella. "Yes, I wanted to marry her."
Sara blinked a few times. "And she said no?"
"I didn't ask her."
"Why not?"
He regarded her with irritation. "Because my office is uninhabitable, graduation is imminent, and she's perpetually got some crazy scheme up her sleeve, all of which doesn't exactly give me a settled feeling. Then there's my family prodding me like it's my job to carry on the lineage, which to be frank has the opposite of its intended effect. But now that her roommate's leaving, things are up in the air. So it makes sense to just go ahead. Only she's throwing snot rags and dog toys everywhere and I'm having second thoughts."
Leakage: A Friends-to-Lovers Romance Page 23