Page 33 of His Reckless Freshman

“My date on Friday was horrible.”

Clenching my jaw, I nod and try to keep my voice smooth and even. “What happened?”

She sniffs. “He took me out for dinner, and it was really lovely. He was being so nice, and when he invited me back so I could see his place, of course I said yes. I didn’t even think about it.”

A cold, icy chill sweeps through my stomach, and I swivel in my seat so I can face her. “What did he do?” My voice is low and rough.

Her expression crumples. “It wasn’t like that. He didn’t…” She shakes her head, swallowing down the rest of her words.

“He obviously did something. Was it consensual?” It’s hard not to growl those words, especially when she’s sitting here looking so wrecked and vulnerable.

This innocent little freshman got burned on Friday night, and it’s making me see red.

She squeezes her eyes shut and mutters, “Yes. But I… I’d never done it before.” Her voice breaks. She has to clear her throat to keep going, and my insides quiver in annoyance.

That little fucker. He wasn’t gentle. He didn’t take his time. He traumatized her. Look at her face!

I’m about to ask who this guy is. Maybe I can pay him a “friendly” visit and tell him to stay the fuck away from her.

But she starts talking before I can. “I didn’t tell him I was a virgin because I…” She shakes her head again, looking kind of lost before quickly pulling herself together.

Her spine pings straight and she wipes her nose before dabbing her cheeks with that sodden napkin.

I reach for a new one, flicking it out. She takes it, bunching it in her hand and stating very matter-of-factly, “The point is, I never ever want to do it again.”

Pausing for a second, I watch her carefully, trying to decide if she’s saying what I think she’s saying, and then trying to decide if she means it.

After a beat of uncertainty, I double-check. “You mean… with him? You never want to do it again with him.”

“No.” She shakes her head. “I never want to do it again ever. With anyone.”

“What?” I can’t help balking.

She tuts and turns to scowl at me. Her gray eyes are kind of dark now, her pale eyebrows dipping together. “Why does everyone make such a big deal about sex anyway? It sucks!”

I can’t help a dubious frown. I’m gonna have to disagree with her on that one.

“It does.” Her voice pitches. “It’s painful and embarrassing and messy.” Her eyes snap shut, her voice rising to the point that I’m glad we’re the only two people in here today. “And I have no idea why people always rave about it. I am never having sex again ever. It was the most awful three of minutes of my life.”

“Three minutes?” I scoff. “Really? Just three?”

“I wasn’t timing it,” she snaps.

And now I’m trying not to notice that her dimples show up in a different way when she bites her lips together like this.

I study them for a second and have to reassure myself that I’m getting this right. Again, working to keep my voice calm and even, I gently ask, “He didn’t force himself on you, did he?”

“No,” she whines, then flicks her hand through the air like she almost wishes he had—because that would take some of the responsibility away from her, maybe?

That’s fucked up, but maybe I get it.

“He asked if what he was doing was okay, and I said yes.” She spits out each syllable before resting her elbows on the table and covering her face. Her words are kind of muffled as she admits, “Maybe I didn’t realize it was going to go that far, but it’s not like I said anything when he put the condom on. I had plenty of chances, but then once he started, I couldn’t tell him to stop. I was embarrassed and didn’t really know what to do, so I just lay there. I even smiled when he checked my face, so he probably thought everything was fine.”

“He would have felt your tension.” My voice is dry. Surely he would have. I mean, I’ve never had sex with a girl who wasn’t into it. At least I don’t think I have. I’m lucky to say that so far, with every sexual encounter I’ve had, both parties have genuinely come. I’m sure none of the girls I’ve been with were faking it.

But this douche nugget, surely he would have been aware of how she was feeling, what she was going through. Especially if she was just lying there. She was probably stiff and scared and… that little shit was so caught up in what he was doing that he was completely unaware of the girl he was fucking inside!

I can’t help a soft growl. “He should have prepared you better. The least he could have done was made you come before entering you. I’m guessing he didn’t. You were probably tense and not lubricated enough.”