by Nella Tyler
The fact that she was so worried about her academic future—even if I hated the fact that it was causing her stress—was actually something that made me love Nicole even more. I hadn’t told her yet; I hadn’t said those three magic words, not really. But I knew it in my heart: I was in love with her. I loved her.
Things with Nicole were as different as they could possibly be from my relationship with Kelsey; I respected her determination to do well, I admired her, I felt like I was a better person when I was around her. I wanted her to know all of those things, and whenever I could, I tried to show them to her. I wanted Nicole to never—ever—doubt me.
As I turned back to my books, checking the time and telling myself that I would make a coffee run at six-thirty so that I could get that last caffeine rush in while still obeying Dad’s suggestion, I thought that maybe, if she wanted to meet my parents, that would be a good time to actually admit to her how much she meant to me, and how much I hoped we would find a way to still be together after I graduated.
See if there’s money in the budget for a piece of jewelry, I told myself. Maybe if Dad likes her enough he can loan you some cash to buy her a necklace or something. I grinned to myself and dove back into my test prep feeling more confident than I had in weeks.
Chapter Three
The dining hall was more crowded than I could ever remember seeing it in the early morning; but it was also, weirdly, quieter. I had agreed to meet with Ty for breakfast before my first final exam of the semester, and in spite of how groggy I felt from going to bed earlier than usual, I was glad to see him waiting for me at the entrance. “You make sleep-deprived look like a fashion choice,” he said, leaning in and kissing me on the lips as soon as I arrived. I laughed as quietly as I could.
“My brain feels weird. I don’t think I’ve gone to bed earlier than midnight in like, six months. Maybe a year.” In spite of going to bed early, I didn’t feel like I’d gotten very much sleep; I probably should have followed Ashley’s advice and tried going to bed a little bit earlier each night for a few nights leading up to my exams, and waking up earlier each morning.
I had very nearly decided to get out of bed at ten when I had wasted maybe thirty minutes waiting to fall asleep; but after that the Benadryl she’d given me as a sleep aid finally began to kick in.
From the looks on the faces in the dining hall line, most of the people who were off to exams that morning had taken the opposite tactic; more than a few of them were slurping down coffee, and some of them had the look in their eyes of people who were tweaking—I’d seen it a few times in high school.
They had probably taken at least one dose of Ritalin or Adderall the day before, or maybe even the night before, and they would go in, take their exam, and probably go straight to their rooms after and crash, only to repeat the process several times over the next few days.
One of the upperclassmen repeating American History had told me that her roommate planned to stay awake for 72 hours—to just keep her system going with Adderall and caffeine the whole time, knock all of her exams out, and then finally let herself crash at the end of it, sleep a few days and go home for break.
“I think I would have been better off going up to your dorm,” I told Ty as I scooped eggs and grits onto my plate. My stomach churned and twisted and lurched inside of my body; I had my Psych final first, as if I needed the worst possible exam to set the tone for everything else I was going to have to go through that week.
On the other hand, the rest of the tests can’t possibly be any worse than that one, I thought, trying for a little optimism. So really you should be glad you have to get this done first. Everything else will be a cakewalk after it.
“I don’t know about that,” Ty said, shooting me a wicked grin. “Do you really think we could have finished up by ten? I’m pretty sure if we’d really gotten going we’d still be having sex by three in the morning.” I blushed, grinning in spite of myself.
“If we’d started at, like, seven or something, I’d at least have gone to sleep by midnight. And slept really well,” I pointed out. “And so would you. You keep telling me you sleep best when we screw each other’s brains out and then fall asleep together.”
“That is true,” Ty said, nodding. “So the night before your next final, let me know when you want to come over.”
I finished up loading my plate with some whole-wheat toast and some fruit, and Ty and I went into the dining area to find somewhere to sit. It was eerie as hell, walking past everyone else; there was a kind of unspoken rule that if someone had a book in front of them, the seats on either side and across from them should remain empty.
For a nearly overcrowded dining room it was almost as quiet as the grave, and everyone was either getting in last-minute studying, or they were focused intently on their plates, barely talking to anyone around them.
Ty and I found a two-person table off to the side in the dining hall, and we sat down at it together, looking around us; we weren’t as likely to disturb anyone where we had chosen to sit, which made me feel a little more comfortable—even if I was still on the verge of a panic attack about the exam I was going to take in an hour.
I looked down at my plate for a moment and wondered if it had really been that smart to load it up so much; my stomach was already unsteady as it had ever been in my life—even worse than when I had ridden the most intense and thrilling rollercoaster that the State Fair boasted on a dare. But every test-taking guide I had ever looked at had said that a hearty breakfast with lots of carbs and protein was a great strategy for doing well on a test. Ty had gone a similar route with his own plate, and he was without a doubt one of the smartest people I knew, so I had to believe there was some kind of merit in the advice.
“How nervous are you?” Ty kept his voice low even though the closest table was a few yards away from us. I shrugged.
“I’m on the verge of a panic attack,” I admitted. “But at least after this first test is done, I have easier ones ahead of me.” Not all of them would be exactly easy—in fact, I didn’t think any of them would be like the tests I had taken in high school—but at least they wouldn’t be quite so torturous as the Psych one, except maybe for my Math class.
“It’s best to get your worst subject out of the way right off the bat,” Ty told me with a nod.
For a few moments we ate in silence, and I tried to convince my stomach that what I was feeding it really was a good idea. It slowly—slowly—began to calm down a little bit, and by the time I’d had a few bites of everything on my plate, I at least thought that I wasn’t going to throw it all up right there at the table. “I have a great idea,” Ty said, his voice cutting through my thoughts.
“Huh?” I looked up from my plate, confused.
“The best way to settle nerves before a test,” he said, grinning slowly. “Normally I’d say that it’s getting yourself off…but considering we’re both free for the next twenty minutes…”
“You want to have sex with me right before an exam?” I stared at him in shock, not quite sure of what I was feeling. “You—do we even have twenty minutes?” I checked my phone; I’d gotten up early for the exam, and Ty was right. If we left the dining hall right away, we’d have fifteen minutes to have sex before we both absolutely had to leave to be in our exam classrooms on time.
“Only if you want to,” Ty said, holding up his hands. “But I’m telling you, Nic—it’s great for the nerves.” I giggled, unable to help myself. In spite of how much Ty’s idea surprised me, I had to admit that once my shock started to wear off, I actually felt a little excited at the idea.
“Okay,” I said quickly. “Let’s do it.”
We gathered up our plates and cups on our trays, and hurried to the tray return at the opposite end of the dining hall. Ty’s hand slid along my back, coming to rest just above my ass, and he steered me out of the dining hall as I blushed and tried to act natural.
Ty’s building was closer to the dining hall than mine; without even saying anyt
hing, we both walked toward it, and my heart started beating faster and faster in my chest in a way that had nothing at all to do with nerves.
Ty swiped his card and opened the door for me, and we made for the stairs at the same time. I tingled all over, already starting to get turned on at the thought of a quickie with the guy I loved right before my exam; there was something so forbidden, so naughty about it, though I couldn’t really think of why.
In minutes we were stepping into Ty’s part of the dorm room, and as he closed the door behind us he pushed me up against the wall, his mouth descending on mine, his lips pressing against my lips. His hands started moving over my body in fast, devastating caresses as I began to kiss back, exploring his long, lean body with my own hands at the same time.
I squirmed against him, able to feel the hardening ridge of his erection pressing against my hip, and all I wanted was to get him naked, to feel him inside of me. Ty’s hands slipped up underneath my sweater, barely grazing my breasts through the fabric of my bra, teasing my nipples to firm little nubs. He broke away from my lips and began kissing along the column of my throat, nipping and nibbling playfully as I moaned.
I tugged his hoodie off, barely taking the time to unzip the zipper before I pulled it along the length of his body and along his arms. I pressed myself against his body, writhing, pushing my hips down against his, as I fumbled with the hem of his t-shirt. Ty broke away from my neck and pulled my sweater off, bringing my t-shirt underneath with it. He buried his face against the tops of my breasts, nuzzling against me, reaching around to my back to find the clasp of my bra. “Do me a favor and look at the alarm clock,” Ty murmured against my skin, his hands dropping down to the fly of my jeans.
I looked around the room until I finally spotted the digital alarm clock on Ty’s desk; it showed the time was nine-thirty. We had another fifteen minutes before we needed to leave the dorms to get across campus for our exams. “Fifteen minutes,” I told him, gasping and shivering as Ty slid one hand down the front of my jeans, underneath my panties.
I was shocked but somehow not surprised to discover that I was already soaking wet, my fluids already gathering along my slick folds. Ty found my clit with his fingertips in an instant, rubbing against the bead of nerves, and I cried out, grabbing at his shoulders, at his head.
Ty tugged my jeans and my panties down quickly, pulling them down to my knees. “This would have been so much easier if you had worn a skirt today,” Ty told me, his hand slipping between my legs again, his fingers sliding between my drenched labia.
“Too—mm—too cold,” I pointed out absently. I reached down and after a moment of struggling, found the fly of Ty’s jeans. “Y-you could wear a s-skirt, too,” I murmured, as Ty claimed one of my nipples with his lips and tongue, sucking and licking, sending jolts of pleasure through my body that seemed to go straight to my pussy.
Ty broke away from me with a snicker, looking at me with an amused gleam in his eyes before he started on my other breast, even as his fingers continued to work me, turning me on more and more.
I struggled with Ty’s zipper, trying to go by feel since I couldn’t see what I was doing. After a few moments, I finally got his fly open, and tugged his pants and his boxers down. I found the hot, hard length of his cock and started to stroke him slowly, rubbing the tip of Ty’s erection with my thumb, feeling the precum starting to flow.
Ty moaned against my skin, his lips tightening on my nipple. For a moment I lost all track of time as we teased each other; it felt so good, his fingers slipping and sliding and rubbing against my pleasure center, the feeling of his hard cock in my hand, his mouth on my breasts.
“Come on, babe,” Nick said, breaking away from my nipple. He gave me a quick kiss on the lips and then led me over to his bed. He pushed me gently down onto my stomach on the bed, kissing the nape of my neck, cupping and squeezing my breasts in his hands. “We have ten minutes. Think we can make it?”
“I’m already—already more than halfway there,” I said, pushing my hips back. I could feel Ty’s cock brushing against the curve of my ass, against the backs of my thighs. I wanted him inside of me more than anything in the world at that moment.
“Fuck, babe…you are so fucking hot like this,” Ty murmured. I felt his fingers brush against me, and then felt the tip of his cock sliding along my slick folds.
I spread my legs as wide as my jeans would allow and stood on the balls of my feet, holding myself up. Ty thrust into me slowly, filling me up from behind, inch by inch as I moaned out. I pushed my hips back, taking him deeper, and when I felt Ty’s hips pressed against the curve of my ass, we both stopped—just for a moment.
“God…” I let my forehead fall against the bed. “God, you feel so good, Ty.” He mumbled something I couldn’t quite make out and started to move inside of me, rocking his hips, sliding in and out of me by inches.
“We have…six…minutes,” Ty said, panting slightly as he began to pick up his pace. “Think you can come that fast?” I laughed, even as tingling jolts of pleasure crackled through my nerves.
“Harder…faster,” I suggested, breathless, moving in reaction to Ty’s thrusts. I twisted and writhed, holding myself up on my forearms, pushing my hips back to meet Ty’s, taking him deeper and deeper.
Ty thrusted into me harder and faster, his hot, hard cock sliding along my inner walls, and somehow, every third or fourth thrust brought the tip of his erection up against my g-spot, sending a white-hot jolt of pleasure through my body. I felt myself getting hotter and hotter, wetter and wetter, more and more turned on by the moment.
Ty reached around the curve of my hip, and his fingers slipped along my labia even as he continued to pound into me from behind. I cried out in pleasure as he started to stroke and rub my clit in counterpoint to his thrusts. He kissed along the nape of my neck, down between my shoulders, and we both moved as fast as we possibly could. All at once, the tension deep down between my hips snapped, and wave after wave of pleasure washed through me. I cried out over and over again as I came, barely even aware of Ty’s body tensing against mine, of the feeling of his cock twitching inside of my body. I lost all track of time for a little while—I don’t know how long—and finally we both sagged against the bed, panting and gasping for breath.
All at once, I came back to myself. “Shit! What time is it?” I felt Ty slide out of me, felt his weight lift off of my body in a quick movement.
“Nine forty-five,” he said, sighing in satisfaction. “How do you feel?” For a moment I was confused—and then I remembered that we’d had our quickie as a way to help my nerves. I laughed, almost collapsing against the bed once more.
“Better,” I told him when I could breathe again. “Shit, I need to get across campus. So do you.”
“Pull your clothes on,” Ty suggested, giving the spot right in between my shoulder blades a quick kiss. “I’ll walk you to your classroom.”
I smiled, taking a deep breath to gather my strength. My legs and arms felt like my bones had turned to jelly, but I was definitely more relaxed, and definitely in a much better mood. Whether I was going to do any better on the exam than I would have otherwise was a different matter, but I at least wasn’t consumed with anxiety anymore.
Chapter Four
“You don’t have to do this, you know,” I told Nicole as we walked out of her dorm building and toward my car.
“You’re acting like you’re taking me to go sacrifice myself,” she said, smiling slightly. “I’m meeting your parents, not a firing squad.” I gave her a weak smile in return.
“I just know you’ve been stressed out by finals,” I told her, brushing my sweaty palms against my jeans once more. “If you were too tired, or needed to pack your stuff before break…” Nicole stopped in her tracks and turned to face me.
“Do you want me to meet your parents?” Her big, dark eyes stared up into mine. “If you don’t want me to, then you can just say so.”
“I want you to meet them,” I told her qu
ickly. “I just don’t want you to feel like you have to meet them if you don’t want to.” Nicole took a quick breath and licked her lips.
“You’re nervous,” she said. After a moment she started to smile. “That’s kind of cute, actually.”
“Cute?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” Nicole replied, her grin broadening. “It’s cute. Normally I’m the one who’s nervous.”
“You’re not nervous?” Nicole shrugged.
“Either your parents will like me, or they won’t,” she said. “And if they don’t like me, either you’ll stay with me in spite of it, or you won’t.” For a moment, something that looked a lot like doubt flashed through her eyes. “I’m going to be as charming as possible, but if it all goes wrong, there’s not much I can do about it, right?” I chuckled.
“I’m glad you’re so calm about this,” I told her. I took her hand in mine and we continued toward my car in the student parking lot. I reminded myself that the few women in my life that my parents had objected to—including Kelsey—they’d had good reasons for not liking.
I couldn’t imagine anyone not liking Nicole. It helped too that she was dressed to the nines; when I’d gone up to meet her at her dorm she was putting the finishing touches on her makeup. Somehow she managed to look absolutely natural and completely unreal at the same time. The dress she’d chosen to wear was made out of some kind of sweater material, and went down to almost her knees, with a V-neck. It clung to her curves without looking sexual, which was just perfect.
Under it she was wearing tights that looked like they were made of some kind of sweater material too—along with a nice pair of boots that came up to her ankles. Her dark hair had a little bit of a curl to it, without looking overdone. “Did I mention you look perfect?” Nicole looked up at me and blushed, grinning.