The Perfect First (Fulton U, #1)(20)

“I would be, if it were on my own terms. Math has always made sense to me. Way more than people, math clicks in my brain. But, going there is what he wants, and I have no doubt that when I’m living back at home or only a few minutes away, my life will revert back to how it was before.” My stomach soured.

“It doesn’t have to.”

I pressed my lips together and a sharp exhalation shot out of my nose. “You’ve never met my dad.”

“Fine, you’ve got seven months. That doesn’t mean you need to cram everything in right now, this weekend. You can take your time.” His gaze no longer held a hint of pity. There was a serious edge to his voice.

“What if I don’t want to?” I’d been waiting my whole life for something, anything, to happen and I was tired of letting things pass me by.

His forearm muscles bunched and relaxed.

“This is about the sex, isn’t it?” And then the crystal clarity of his hesitation was dumped over my head like a bucket of ice water. The knot in my stomach turned to curdled milk. “It’s not that you think I should wait—you just don’t want it to be you.”

“No!” He shouted and reached for me. His hand covered mine, though I’d tried to slip it off the table and onto my lap.

“Seph, it’s not that at all. Of course I’d want to sleep with you, unravel those crazy braids and run my fingers through your hair while I—” He cleared his throat. “Let’s just say I’ve thought about it.” He pulled his hand back and sat back in his seat. “There are a lot of guys who’d like to sleep with you, probably enough that you’d be at least a little freaked out, but that doesn’t mean you would want to sleep with them. Your first time should be special. You shouldn’t rush it.”

“Statistically, most women have horrible first experiences. It’s a lot of pain, blood, and awkwardness. I want to rip that Band-Aid off.”

“Maybe it’s like that because people run into it headfirst. Just because it’s that way for a lot of women, it doesn’t mean you need to force it to be that for you. If you’re with the right person, it will be amazing.”

“And you don’t think Graham is that person.”

“You can find better.”

“But you don’t want to do it.”

“You can definitely find better.”

“So you’re bad in bed?” I lifted an eyebrow. That was disappointing, but studies had shown that men who spend a lot of time in the gym aren’t the most generous when it comes to sex.

“If there were a sex hall of fame, I’d be the first inductee, but I’m not a relationship guy. I’m not a cuddles after sex and curling up on the couch kind of guy. That’s the kind of guy you need.”

“So where do I find one of them? Should I put out an ad for that?”

“Would you stop it with the ads!” He threw his hands up.

The server came back with our plates and slid them in front of us. The bacon and cheese oozed out of the thick golden bun on mine. It was greasy, meaty, and messy, everything I’d never been able to indulge in before.

Pushing up my sleeves, I inhaled the salty, seasoned heat rising off the plate. I was ready to marry this burger.

“If I don’t put out an ad, how am I supposed to find someone? Hand out flyers on the quad?” I picked up the sandwich and lifted it to my mouth. The juicy burger looked better than anything I’d ever had before. I sank my teeth into it and closed my eyes. My feet danced on the floor and I shook my head from side to side, savoring the flavor in my mouth. So good. There had never been a more delicious burger.

I opened my eyes and Reece was staring at me with a funny look on his face, a floret of broccoli suspended in air on the end of his fork, poised just in front of his lips. His teeth sank into his bottom lip.

“What? Do I have something on my face?” I covered my mouth with one hand.

His gaze darted up from my mouth to my eyes. He dropped his fork. “No—I mean yeah. You have something on your face.” He pointed to a spot on the side of his mouth.

I picked up my napkin and wiped at the spot. Checking the fabric, I didn’t see anything on it. “Did I get it?”

He cleared his throat and went back to his incredibly sensible meal. “You got it.”

I demolished the burger along with polishing off half the fries and milkshake. Sitting back in the booth, I rested my head against the back of the upholstery and held my stomach. I was bursting at the seams. “I think that was a mistake.”

“See.” He stole a chili cheese fry from my plate and pointed it at me. “What did I tell you? This is what happens when you rush things.”

“It’s not possible to gorge yourself on sex like you can on food.”

“You’d be surprised,” he mumbled.

“So you’re a manwhore?”

“I’m not a manwhore. A manwhore would have pulled you into the broom closet of Uncommon Grounds and banged you without a second thought, but being an athlete on campus during a few winning seasons has given me many opportunities to entertain the opposite sex, yes.”

“A baby manwhore, then?” I smirked at him and pushed my plate away.

“Maybe a little bit.” He held up his thumb and pointer finger barely an inch apart.