"I wish I'd met you earlier," said Jake.
Wendy smiled faintly, not sure how to take this, and glanced at the door. It was shut.
"I hope you don't mind me saying this," he continued. "But I think you're incredibly sexy."
Wendy decided this had gone far enough. She was uncomfortable being alone with Jake - after all, she hardly knew him, except through the odd meeting at Freshers' parties in the past couple of months. He'd lured her up to his new student bedroom to show her his CD collection. Wendy could imagine how her best friend Jen was going to laugh - how could she have fallen for that old story?
She sighed, and decided she'd better tell Jake he'd got it all wrong.
But as she looked up, she caught the way he was looking at her, and it took her breath away. It wasn't that he was particularly handsome - good-looking, sure, but not her type. It was the fierce longing behind his eyes and the way he wouldn't let her look away.
She felt a tingle go down her spine, and held her tongue, wondering what he was going to say next.
Jake was obviously taking her silence as a signal to continue his advances.
"I love your hair," he said, reaching out to stroke it.
Now, thought Wendy, he's done it. She loved it when people touched her thick glossy hair. For some reason she found it incredibly sensuous. She was glad she hadn't told him to stop. In fact she heard herself give a spontaneous gentle moan as his fingers brushed her face.
Feeling her cheeks begin to flush, she was more and more aroused as he kept complimenting her.
"I've felt like this for a while now," Jake confessed. "But I've never had the chance to speak to you alone, really."
Wendy finally spoke up. "I have to admit," she said, "That I hadn't really thought of you - that way - until this evening."
She couldn't stop herself adding, "But now..." and leaning closer to him, "I'm feeling quite attracted to you, too."
Jake looked incredibly pleased and relieved, and Wendy couldn't help warming to him. The longer she looked at him, the more she wanted him to kiss her.
He learned towards her further, as they sat together on the edge of his bed. As their faces grew closer Wendy took deep shuddering breaths, surprised by the unexpected strength of these new feelings.
Finally, Jake kissed her, slowly and gently. It was a long, lingering, sweet kiss, and Wendy couldn't believe she'd never thought of Jake like this before. He was so tender and it just felt incredibly right.
But Jake was two years younger than her, she reminded herself, and she had her Finals to think about; and she pulled away abruptly.