Love 101: Box Set (Love 101 #1-4)

by J. Nichole

  We sit across from each other at the dining room table and begin eating. “Before we get carried away. Tell me how you knew my name.”

  A mischievous grin spreads across his face and he defensively raises his hands in front of him. “I owe you an explanation. I’m sure it seemed a bit stalker-ish. Tonight isn’t the first night I’ve seen you. I’ve seen you on several different occasions, including this week at the mall. On about the second time I saw you on campus, I started asking around about you. A young cat was finally able to tell me your name, but nothing about you.”

  “Interesting.”

  “Woman of few words. Maybe that is why I wasn’t able to get much information on you.”

  We both laugh. I feel like I need to set his expectations. I don’t want him to think that he can get it. Not tonight anyway. Before I can speak, almost as if he reads my mind, he gives me a little assurance that he may be a decent guy.

  “You look a little worried.” He looks deep into my eyes. “Trust me, I’m not trying to sex you tonight. This is not the time, although it might be the place.”

  A slow smile crosses his face and I can’t hold back, I blush. “I've had my share of one night stands, but I can tell you aren't one of those girls. You could have easily been out there with your ass out tonight but you look like you have more respect for yourself.” He pauses for a response.

  “Thank you.”

  “These chicks don't get it; the only way we men will respect them is if they respect themselves first. Don't get me wrong. I want to fuck the shit out of you, but right now I just want to get to know you.”

  Very direct. “You’ve said a mouthful. I appreciate your honesty and the compliment. I’m glad you realize I’m not the one for a one-night stand. I didn’t have any expectations or assumptions about this visit. The only thing I knew for sure was that you wouldn’t be getting any.” I probably sound like a prude. I didn’t even return any compliments. Before he responds, I make sure he knows I am equally attracted to him. I reach out and grab his hand. “You are very attractive. I would like to get to know you better, but it’s late and I’m tired. This food has given me the ‘itis.”

  His smile is warm and inviting. He gets up and throws our trash away. He then returns to grab my hand and lead me into a bedroom, his bedroom I assume.

  “Like I said, I won’t keep you awake too long. Are you comfortable in your sweats or do you want a shirt?”

  “My sweats are fine. Is this your room? I like the decor in this apartment. It has a lady’s touch.” I wink.

  He laughs, taking a seat on his bed, and I sit beside him. “Yes, this is my room. I have two roommates, but don’t worry. They stay in their rooms. You are almost correct. It doesn’t have just one woman’s touch it has three. Our mothers decorated when we first moved in three years ago.”

  “Nice.” I yawn as he explains the relationship between his roommates. They are all from the same town in Tennessee. Childhood friends.

  “You can lay down. Make yourself comfortable.”

  Chapter 13

  I wake up and look around. I’m slightly disoriented. I see Chris’ gold boots beside the bed and remember where I am. I flip over and realize I’m in the bed alone. Thank God, I’m sure I snored last night. That was the best sleep I’ve had since being on the Hill. Unlike my bed in the dorm, this mattress isn’t as hard as concrete. I’m almost tempted to pull the sheets back to admire the mattress. I could get used to this. I see why Nicole finds it difficult to come back to the dorms.

  I stay quiet for a while and enjoy the comfort of the bed in peace. Unfortunately, I need to use the bathroom. Luckily, it’s connected to his room. I slide off the bed and tiptoe in. I return to the room and I’m pleasantly surprised to see Chris sitting on the bed. I don’t even know what time it is, the dark curtains hide any glimmer of sunshine that could brighten the room.

  He turns to look at me with an excited grin. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

  “Yes, I must say I didn’t realize how horrible my bed was until now. Where’d you sleep?” I sit beside him on the bed. “Have you been awake long?”

  He laughs. “I guess you haven’t checked the time yet? And I slept on the couch.”

  “I haven’t, but it seems early. What time is it?”

  “It’s about noon.”

  Shit! I’m sure there are about a million messages on my phone. I wasn’t expecting to stay away this long. Damn comfortable bed!

  “Sorry.” I grimace. “You didn’t have to sleep on the couch.”

  “No need to apologize.” His boyish grin dances across his face. “I’m glad you slept well. I was patiently waiting for you to wake up.”

  My eyes crinkle. “I hope I haven’t screwed up your day. I should really get back to the dorm.”

  “I don’t have plans.” Chris shrugs. “It’s Sunday. Do you have somewhere to be?” His head tilts to the side and he raises his left brow, looking at me skeptically.

  I think before responding. I don’t want to give him too much of my time this early. But I’ve been spending nights dreaming about this guy and now that I’m here, am I really ready to leave this soon? I did sleep till noon, I wasted most of the time we could have spent together. He doesn’t seem desperate to get me out of here, though.

  “I take your long pause as a no. Let’s grab something to eat. We didn’t really have much time to talk last night before you dozed off … snoring.” He chuckles.

  I smile shyly. Guess that was obvious. “Sounds good, but give me a minute to touch base with my friends.” Gaping, I add, “And snoring?” If he heard me from the couch, I was way too comfortable. “Clearly, I don’t snore.”

  “Do what you need to do. I’m going to use the bathroom.”

  I look down at my clothes, very wrinkled. Crap, I can’t go out for food looking like this. I need fresh clothes. At least I brought my toothbrush.

  I check my phone and as expected, I have about fifteen text messages and five missed calls. Most are from Jennifer and a few from Tanya. Both wanting more details and to know where I am. I send them both a text message to let them know I’m okay and I’ll catch up with them later this afternoon.

  “Are you ready to go?”

  I give him a weary look. “Ugh, Chris I don’t have a change of clothes. These sweats were cool for my late night mission, but not cool for a daytime rendezvous.”

  “What? You are cool. I told you last night the sweats look good on you. Now, that ponytail. You might want to check that.”

  I don’t want to seem vain. Besides, I’m with the one guy who I would want to impress. I go brush my teeth and push my ponytail back with my fingers. “Okay, let’s go.”

  Leaving out, he introduces me to his roommates, who are both in the living room. They are attractive and seem very nice. Note to self, Jennifer and Nicole wouldn’t mind meeting them. As Chris introduces me, they stare at Chris with shocked looks on their faces. I look over at Chris, who just shrugs and pulls me out of the door.

  We head to Cracker Barrel. I’m not a huge fan, but I haven’t had anything besides cafe food in a while.

  While we eat, Chris starts telling me about his family, the frat, and his classes. “Enough of me, what about you? Woman of few words.”

  Half-way through my story, I begin to tell him about Tanya. “She lost her virginity this summer and got pregnant. She would have been my roommate.” I definitely didn’t mean to go that deep into my life.

  He looks concerned. “Sorry to hear that your best friend got pregnant. But I’m sure you don’t mind having your matchbox room to yourself.”

  I smile. “I guess there is a bright side to everything.”

  Chris raises his eyebrows and leans in. “Laila, are you a virgin?” Awkward.

  “Actually —” My voice trails off. “I am.” I try to read his reaction. “Does that bother you?”

  He gives me a refreshing smile. “Of course not. Surely doesn’t change the fact that I want to fuck the shit ou
t of you... maybe even more than last night.”

  My heart begins to pound, and on beat, my vagina begins to pulsate. Damn, if we weren’t in public he might just be able to fuck the shit out of me right here on this table.

  I take the last bite of my food, and without realizing, I slowly suck on the fork. Chris stares at my mouth. “Damn, let’s go before I explode.”

  On the way back to his apartment, Chris gives me a couple of looks ... as if he is undressing me with his eyes. I’ve never had a guy this blatantly attracted to me. I try to ease the sexual tension. “How often do you go back to Tennessee?”

  As he begins to tell me, I focus in on his lips and the words coming from his mouth are suddenly unrecognizable. I can only imagine what his lips would feel like against my body.

  I lag behind Chris a few steps as we walk into the apartment. With each step, I feel my engorged clit throb. When Chris opens the door, he heads straight to his room. I hesitate before following. I am loving every minute of my time with him, but I should really get back to the dorm. I slowly walk into his room. He gently pulls me in close to him, then closes the door.

  As he tilts my chin towards him, he asks, “Can I kiss you?”

  I stare at him with no response, and as his soft lips connect with mine, I close my eyes and enjoy the moment. Our tongues tangle and weave as if they’d known each other forever. I really need to leave. I reluctantly pull away from his lips and brush my hand across his cheek. “I should get back to the dorm.”

  On our way back, we don’t say much. Pulling up to the dorm, he breaks our thoughts. “Promise you will call me later tonight?” He gives me a pitiful look.

  Again, I just smile. “I’ll talk to you later.”

  Instead of heading to my room, I beeline straight to Jennifer’s room. Nicole answers the door. “Damn ho! Where have you been? Jennifer has been blowing you up all day.”

  Jennifer jumps off her bed and runs over to me. She inspects my face. “I’m glad you’re okay, what the hell happened? You said you were leaving but didn’t say you were staying the night.” She looks me up and down. “By the looks of it I assume you had a good night with Mr. Sexy?”

  I back away from her and laugh. “Last night was unbelievable. We ate, talked, ate some more.”

  “You have so much to tell us.” She gives me a stern look. “By the way, don’t ever leave such a generic text message. I read the message and was so mad I almost called you. But I knew you would have probably ignored the call.”

  “Skip all that.” Nicole interrupts and looks at me confused. “Did you have sex with him?”

  “No, we didn’t have sex. We talked all night. He even told me about his family. He seems to be a good dude.”

  Jennifer looks at me with a worried look on her face. “Don’t let him fool you; good dudes can do bad things. Just be careful.”

  I completely understand where Jennifer is coming from. “You’re right, Jennifer. I’ll be more careful. I’m sorry I worried you.”

  “Wait.” Jennifer puts her hand in the air. “What about how he knew your name. Do we need to be worried about this dude?”

  “I thought I was the only one looking for him on campus. Turns out he was asking around about me, and someone finally told him my name.”

  Nicole looks at me with a confused look. “Someone?”

  “I’m not sure who. He said some young cat. Maybe someone in one of my classes.”

  Jennifer turns her lip up. “I don’t know about that. I think it still sounds suspect. Tell us more about him. Do you like him?”

  I feel butterflies in my stomach as I respond. “I do. The little time we spent together, he didn’t do anything that turned me off. And of course, I think he is sexy as hell.”

  Nicole rolls her neck. “You got that right.”

  “Hold up chick. Go ahead and get him out of your head. He does have two roommates that are cute? They seem nice too. They grew up together. I’ll have to introduce you to them.”

  “You know I don’t mind meeting them.” Nicole winks. “I’ll let you know which one I like best.” She looks at Jennifer and grins.

  “What about Mark and Jody. Have y’all talked to them today?”

  Nicole gets off the bed and rolls her hips. “Don’t think I can’t handle all the men.” She smiles. “We have plans to meet up with them sometime this week.”

  Jennifer claps. “For once this semester I may have plans of my own. I won’t be in this room waiting for Nicole to return from her sexcapades.” I look at Jennifer, waiting for her to break out into a full cheer, she looks so excited.

  I stand and start walking to the door. “I better get to my room and get ready for class tomorrow.”

  They both groan. “Yeah, we’ll see you tomorrow.” Jennifer closes the door behind me.

  I dial Tanya’s phone as I walk back to my room. She yells, “Please tell me you kept your promise.”

  “Of course, Tanya. Sorry my message was delayed. I’m sure you were worried, but Chris really seems like a decent guy. He didn’t try anything at all.”

  “Okay, I want to hear all about this guy that took my girl away for almost an entire day.”

  I repeat the details of the night for Tanya. The more I think about the details, the more excited I get about spending time with Chris. I just hope and pray he isn’t a playboy. I need to do a check on him around campus and Facebook. I will be sure to keep my guard up until he proves worthy. I still can’t believe he had someone checking on me.

  After we finish talking, I power up my computer. I login to Facebook and do a search on Chris.

  Christopher Clark-single.

  But there are a ton of messages from chicks all over his wall. I scan through a few of them, nothing too alarming.

  I change into my robe and head into the bathroom for a shower. There are a couple of girls standing around talking about Frat Night. “Those Ques were off the chain. I spotted a couple that I’d definitely go for.”

  My ears perk up and I listen intently while one girl describes the Ques. “That tall, dark skinned Que. I’m pretty sure he is the tail. He had me laughing so hard. I wouldn’t really be into a guy that tall but his personality won me over.”

  Definitely not talking about Chris. Thankfully, the water is warm tonight. Although a cold shower would have been better for me right now. My lady parts are still steamy from that passionate kiss earlier today. Although I’m a virgin, I’ve kissed enough guys to know a good kiss from a sloppy one, the one that has left me wiping my face and wanting to run from the guy. My kiss with Chris was none of that. The kiss wasn’t too moist, our tongues didn’t collide, and our faces weren’t awkwardly positioned... it was just right.

  After getting dressed, I text Jennifer to ask her if she is ready to go to the cafe. She said she was on her way to my room. Odd, she hardly ever meets me in my room.

  A few minutes later, she is knocking at the door. I open the door and she looks like she needs to talk. “Do you want to come in?”

  “A little obvious, right?” She comes in the room and sits at my desk. “I wanted to talk to you without Nicole around.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes, it’s fine. I just wanted to talk about Mark and Jody.” She looks down at my laptop. “Mark is cool, but I’m not sure I’m completely into him. I’m definitely not into him enough to spend any serious time with him.” She looks up at me, her eyes moist, with her mouth downturned.

  “Are you worried that Nicole will be upset if you don’t tag along?”

  “I wouldn’t mind tagging along with her. I can handle my own.” She straightens up in the chair. “I just know that Nicole is excessively sexual. I’m not sure I want to be in that environment with a dude I don’t really care about. You know she doesn’t really have a problem dropping the panties.” Jennifer raises her eyebrows as she scrunches her nose in disgust. “I don’t want Mark to get excited, thinking he is going to get some, too.”

  “I would feel uncomfor
table with Nicole, too. Her comments alone are intimidating. I can only imagine how she would be if we were out with her and a couple of guys.” I give Jennifer a reassuring look. “I don’t think she would make you feel uncomfortable though, but don’t put yourself in an awkward position.” I feel the need to protect Jennifer. Hell, we both need protection from Nicole’s horny ass.

  “I don’t think she would, either. Maybe I should just talk to her and tell her she’ll have to calm down if she wants me to go with her.” Jennifer looks at my laptop again, pointing at the screen. “Facebook stalking?”

  I hunch my shoulders. “Never can be too careful.”

  She starts scrolling down Chris’ page. “Says he’s single.” She looks up at me. “Let’s check out these posts.”

  “I did. Didn’t seem like there was anything crazy.”

  “Hmmm... I wonder who this girl is. Courtney. Seems like she posts something every day.” I must have overlooked that.

  “Courtney?”

  “How many pages did you look through? If you are digging, you know you have to go back a few months.”

  I lean in over her shoulder. “What is she saying?”

  “It’s not what she’s saying but how often she’s leaving her mark.” Jennifer closes the laptop. “We’ll just keep her name in mind.”

  “Let’s go eat.”

  From across the cafe, we see our bodyguards. They make their way to our table and sit down.

  Surprisingly, we didn’t see them at Frat Night. One of the guys starts to tell us his version of the night. Of course, his version of the night is completely different from ours.

  “I got two dances with these girls who look like they got dressed in the dark and their kid sister put on their make-up. All the fly girls were busy with the frat boys. I can’t wait until next year so I can get my swag back. Being a freshman dude is like chick repellant.”

  Jennifer and I are laughing, but the three guys look heartbroken. I attempt to make them feel better. “Don’t worry, you will get it back.” I look at them and smile. “As soon as you move out of the dorms.”