I was caught in the throes between infatuation and terror.
I couldn't believe my fortune to have a girl as fantastic as Jessica interested in me, but because of how awesome she was made me even more worried that I would be enough for her.
I did end up calling my friend Jim back.
"Hey man. You got my voicemail?"
"Yeah. How bad is it?" I asked him.
"Sarah says she's got quite a reputation. It's more than just her sleeping with other girl's boyfriends. She says she did it while she was supposedly dating a guy herself. I say of course do whatever makes you happy, just look out for yourself. You know what I mean?"
"How the hell am I supposed to do that? I'm a little freaked that I'll just be waiting for the other shoe to fall. But if she wants it to be different, will I push her away because I treat her untrustworthy?"
"I get what you're saying, Darren. But think about it for a minute. Say you're this pretty girl that can have just about any guy you want. I mean, what the hell is she doing with you?"
"Wait a minute- is that supposed to make me feel better?" I asked incredulously.
"No, not really. I'm truly wondering what she's doing with you," Jim laughed out loud. "But seriously, if she's with you and she could be dating someone else, there must be something she sees in you."
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Is the sex good?" he hesitantly asked me.
"Yeah. It's pretty damn amazing. For both of us," I bragged a little because I felt confident in that answer.
"Then I wouldn't get caught up about it. You'll just ruin the fun you could be having with her, even if the time you're together is shorter than you'd like it to be. But you really never know. Maybe she's ready to settle down?"
"She wants me to come over to her place tonight. Maybe meet her roommate and hang out alone. Not sure if she was weirded out about my having so many roommates at the house."
"Well see there- if she was scheming to get with someone, sure seems like she is removing herself from any temptation," Jim said, sounding relieved for me.
"Jesus, man. You make it sound like she's uncontrollable around dick. I'm just saying she ran into Mark in the hallway wearing nothing but my shirt while heading for the bathroom. He even gave her a line. Maybe that wasn't super cool for her," I explained to him.
"Dude, Mark hit on her? Right after she was banging you? Damn, that guy has big balls. Still, if that pussy hound hit on her and she didn't do anything, you might be really safe. Hell, I don't know that Sarah would've turned Mark down and we're practically engaged!"
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I was feeling pretty good after my phone call with Jim. I ran a few errands and got some of my work done at the computer lab. I had my own laptop, but part of what I did included helping out with some Freshmen and Sophomores for a teaching assistant position that paid. Hell, I helped out with some Juniors and Seniors as well.
I headed back home to shower, shave, and get myself ready to hang out at her place. I didn't expect to stay the night (she was in a dorm after all), but who knew what she was planning on.
Then I ran into Paul and Stan and then the terror returned. They were having a snack in our kitchen - typical college guy afternoon cereal break - and shooting the shit over sports. As I came in the room Paul stopped mid sentence and exclaimed, "And there he is, the Bone Master!"
I turned fifty shades of red. Obviously they heard Jess last night.
"Darren, dude. How the hell did you bag Jessica Everton? And oh my god did you make her scream last night. We had no idea you had that in you," Stan jumped in.
"Yes, you HAVE to tell us everything. That girl is a freak. We are completely jealous of you," Paul leaned in, expecting me to give them details.
"Guys, there is no way I am telling you anything. And what do you mean she's a freak? Just because she got a little loud last night?" I asked them.
"Oh shit, Darren. Are you serious? You don't know about her?" Stan's jaw was practically hanging open.
"Don't you remember when we told you about the crazy hot redhead we saw pulling a train over at the TKE house? That's HER!" Paul explained.
It was a complete and total punch to the gut. I nearly threw up. Shit. I do remember them saying something about that. That was Jess?
They had told me this girl was fucking like guy after guy at this frat party a friend of theirs invited them to. Being good guys, they even said that they checked on her to make sure she was ok and not drunk or drugged. She thanked them for looking out for her but she was stone cold sober. It made me wonder if she recognized them last night.
So much of what she has said to me was starting to come together in my head. About worrying she'd break my heart. About being recently tested. About being nonchalant about Mark hitting on her.
I knew she was incredibly pretty. I didn't think she was some virginal saint. Hell, we had had some pretty hot sex. I'd be throwing stones while living in a glass house for contemning her for anything. Would I let these revelations screw with my head about her? Should I just ignore it all or should I tell her what I had heard so that she could share her side of things? I honestly have no clear idea on how to best handle this.
I left the guys without much of a reaction and they seemed to drop it. I think they realized that they had knocked the wind out of my sails a bit.
I did the things I planned to do to get myself ready to see her, very unsure how to proceed. I truly didn't want to lose what we were building.
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I arrived at her dorm and she greeted me outside the lobby with the biggest smile. In all the distractions today yielded, it was easy to forget how much she seemed to dig me and whatever we are. Her smile and happiness to see me was like an Etch-A-Sketch to my mind. What the fuck do I care about any of that if right here, right now, this incredible girl was this into me?
I wrapped her in my arms and gave her a sweet kiss to show her I was equally thrilled to see her again.
We took the stairs up to the third floor and I was shown into her room. I was slightly surprised to see another girl in the room.