Page 44 of Best Man on Campus

“Yeah? What else did she tell you?”

“Maybe you should ask what I told her, unicorn boy.”

“That I have the best cock you ever tasted?”

She laughs and smacks me. “I’m supposed to be the one with the outrageous lines. If you don’t give me that, what will I have? What good will I be to you?”

“You mean what bad will you be.”

“Point taken.”

“You could always sing me a song.”

She sounds so sad and I want to be able to cheer her, but I know music is her thing.

She shrugs. “Truth? I don’t have the energy. I…” She turns from my arms, takes me by the hand and leads me to her couch, but doesn’t sit.

“You’ve had a setback?” I say.

She nods. “A setback. Sure.” She pulls the cushions off the couch and tosses them onto the floor of the otherwise tidy studio and I get the message she wants to pull the sofa into a bed, so I haul the creaky spring frame up and out and unfold it. The blanket and sheets are perfectly made and clean, nothing but the fresh scent of jasmine wafting, no sign of sex and sin.

She says, “You should undress. Get comfortable. Unless you don’t want to stay?”

“I want to stay. You seem exhausted. Are you sure you want—?”

“No sex. All I want is your strong warm body next to me. Can you do that? Are you going to get all frustrated and horny and—”

“No.” I pull her in and give her a tender kiss on her temple. I’ve never seen her so vulnerable, so needy. I don’t know which is more unnerving, her wild angry passion or her meek, mild, needy self. Either one, she’s precious to me and I hold her.

“I’m happy to spend the night holding you while you sleep. It’s something new for you.”

“New for you, you mean.”

“No. I’ve—” Fuck. I want to bite my tongue and snatch the words back. Her eyes spark and she stiffens.

“Tell me about it? How many girls have there been? I don’t mean sex partners because those are probably too many to count, I mean the kind of girls you cuddle all night and don’t have sex with. How many of those?”

“Jazzy. You know I’m not a man-whore. I don’t have dozens of sex partners. I’ve had a few girlfriends, none really serious, all of whom I respect and I’m still friends with.”

She laughs, but she’s not amused. “Oh, yeah. That’s right. The unicorn. How could I have accused you of having a random sex partner. I guess you reserved that privilege just for me.”

“No.” I tighten my hold as she tries to pull away from me. “I don’t think of you that way. You may think of us that way, but I don’t.”

“Well maybe you should.”

“Jazzy, let’s not do this.” I take off my jacket and strip down to my T-shirt and shorts and pull the covers.

She doesn’t answer me, but she gets in bed next to me, so I figure we have a truce. The lights are still on and I realize they’re always on, that she’s never turned them off at night when I’ve been here, and I wonder why. There’s a lot to wonder about with this girl.

Gathering her in my arms, I kiss her temple. “You okay?”

“Today is my birthday,” she says, her voice quiet and tragic and I swear under my breath.

“I didn’t know. Happy birthday, babe, I wish—”

“Don’t bother. It’s not a happy time for me.”

“You want to tell me about it?” My heart beats fast, a shot of adrenaline goes through me. The sensation I have is like she’s about to jump off a cliff and I’m the one standing at the bottom responsible for catching her.