When I was in grad school, I was on the receiving end of a stern lesson from my friend Claire. It all began with me offering to teach some statistics to Ashley, a friend of Claire's I'd recently met. Ashley was working toward a sociology master's and was having trouble with a stats course she was taking. I was on track to a biology master's, and had taken some similar coursework, so I thought I could help Ashley. Moreover, I wanted to spend some time with her.
The truth is, either Claire or her boyfriend Bill would've been more qualified than I was to tutor Ashley. Claire was working toward her biostatistics PhD, and Bill was going for a math master's. But I knew enough, and also there was an interesting dynamic between me and Ashley. After we'd agreed that I'd help her, the four of us were sitting in a café, and I referred to the upcoming tutoring as "I'll be keeping Ashley in line." That was my way of being flirtatious, but I didn't quite expect Ashley's enthusiastic answer, "I can't wait!" Claire and Bill just laughed.
Ashley and I each had roommates, so Claire and Bill offered their apartment as a convenient place for us to study together. The two of them were going to be away seeing a movie that afternoon, not expecting to be back till evening. Ashley and I accepted that nice offer, and I was particularly happy that this cute little brunette and I would be alone, not sitting at some table in the library.
Claire and Bill brought us to the apartment and promptly headed out. Ashley and I sat in their living room. She pulled out the stats textbook and put it on her lap, but I found her little denim skirt and bare legs more interesting than the multivariate analysis I was supposed to be teaching. I kept making flirtatious remarks and edging closer to her. And I guess she wasn't the most disciplined student, as she seemed pretty receptive. Before long, she'd set the book aside, and we were kissing on our friends' sofa. Soon after, I grabbed her hand and led her to our friends' bedroom. We lay down on their bed, and I got Ashley to arch her back a bit so I could flip her skirt above her waist. After I pulled my pants down, I leaned across the bed on my hands and knees, placing a passionate kiss on her purple panties.
"What the hell is this?" It was Claire's voice. I looked up with a start. She was standing in the bedroom doorway, and I could see Bill behind her shoulder. They're both tall, Bill at six-feet and Claire a little taller when she wears her boots, which she was at that moment, under a pair of jeans. Ashley pulled her skirt down and sat up on the bed. I started getting up, but awkwardly as my pants were around my ankles. When I stood and started to lift them. Claire stepped forward and grabbed my wrist. "No," she said. "Keep them down."
Without a thought of saying no, I let my pants fall back to my ankles. I stood in front of Claire, trying to think of something to say. She had about three inches of height on me, and was looking down from just a foot or so away. Her hand was still around my wrist. "You were supposed to be helping Ashley with statistics, not going down on her in
our
bed," she lectured. Bill was still standing back by the doorway, and Claire gave a slight head tilt toward him, making sure I understood he too was an aggrieved party.
"We forgot our car keys, and find you doing
this
?" she said, her outrage hanging in the air.
"I'm sorry," interjected Ashley, who now was standing beside me, her skirt back in place. "Yes, you should be," Claire said briskly. "But I'm going to guess this wasn't primarily initiated by you. Am I right?" Claire stared down at me.
"You're right," I said, contritely, briefly looking into Claire's eyes before turning down my gaze. I looked at my pants bunched around my ankles, and felt my face flush.
"Terrence," Claire said to me. She usually called me Terry, but now it was Terrence. "You said you'd be keeping Ashley in line. Well, it's clear that
you