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  A few uncomfortable minutes later, we made it to the steps of our apartment. I had never been so happy to be able to walk into my home, my safe spot -- my comfort zone.

  <>

  When we stepped into the foyer, Mila, our roommate was baking cookies, and listening to some atrocious hard rock music. Chelsea walked into the living room, turned the radio off and called for Mila.

  Mila came walking into the living room, wearing a bikini, which really shouldn’t have even been called that. She was tall, half Japanese, and gorgeous. Her long, lustrous black hair came down past her butt, giving her a hint of covering that her bikini failed to do. She eyed Jason, smiled, and held out her hand. “Hi handsome. I’m Mila, and you are?”

  He took her hand, and in a very suave voice responded. “I’m Jason… Jason Bradley.”

  Chelsea witnessed my look of horror, and couldn’t resist the urge to chime in. “Jason here wanted to escort Cara home. I’m just the sidekick.”

  Mila eyed me, and with a wink, went on talking to Jason. “Well I figured you were here for Cara, since Hunter wouldn’t love for you to swoop in on Chels.”

  Jason gave a perturbed look and I finally chimed into the conversation. “Hunter is Chelsea’s boyfriend. He doesn’t go to school here, but he comes around often.”

  Relaxing a bit, Jason nodded his head. Chelsea spoke again, and gosh I wish she hadn’t. “Mila, you should have seen Jason and Chase getting to know one another. It was quite the show.”

  Mila’s eyebrows rose rapidly showing her intrigue in this newfound information. She was suddenly inclined to speak as much as Chelsea. “What happened?”

  Chelsea walked over and threw her arm around my shoulders. “Jason was staking his claim. Chase didn’t know what to make of it. And of course, our little Cara here was bashful bear, and stayed silent the whole time.

  All eyes shifted to me, as Mila began to laugh. “Well, Jason, then you should know you did a good thing. Chase has been pinning for Cara for the past two years, and just doesn’t seem to get it that she isn’t interested.”

  At that moment, my eyes darted to Jason, who had gone from carefree to angry in a matter of seconds. Chelsea sensed his mood shift and tried to ease the tension. “Nothing to worry about there. Chase is a great guy, just not the guy for Cara.”

  For once in my life, I was glad that Chelsea couldn’t keep her big mouth shut, because her words seemed to have soothed Jason.

  Mila gave me a look of approval and turned back to Mr. Charming. “Well, it was nice meeting you Jason. I have to finish my cookies and get in the shower, hot date tonight.”

  Jason smiled and turned to me. “Where is your room?

  I blushed terribly. I wasn’t expecting that question after my roommates and their shameless interaction with him. “It’s right this way,” I said, as I led him down the hall way.

  I walked past Chelsea who playfully slapped me on the ass yelling obscenities and whistling vociferously. I was mortified so I hurried Jason into my room and shut the door.

  <>

  Jason roamed the room, taking in all of my décor on the walls. Above my bed was a picture of a softball diamond, with a ball in the pitchers circle. I had pictures of myself, and a few with Chelsea and Mila. My family photos were over by my desk in the left corner of the room, and eyeing them, Jason got inquisitive. “Who is this in your photo?”

  The picture was of me with me a slightly tanned, beautiful Hispanic woman, standing in front of the Seattle Space Needle on a beautiful, but rare, sunny day. “That’s my mom. “

  Jason nodded in approval then held up a picture of a tall, well-built, blond male, holding me up on his shoulders at a San Diego Padres game. “Who is this?”

  “That’s my dad.”

  He continued looking at my pictures, but stopped at a photo of me and a tall blond hugging. He picked up the picture, and with a look that screamed disapproval, and asked the same question. I noticed his sudden mood shift and answered quickly to alleviate the tension. “That’s my brother Ryan. My dad was married before and he’s from his previous marriage.”

  I’m not exactly sure why I had to provide that explanation, but given the look of jealousy, I felt inclined to make sure that Jason knew who Ryan was and that he was no threat.

  He continued skimming the walls of my room, asking questions, and making small talk. I was suddenly painstakingly aware that I still needed to shower so I grabbed my towel, and tried to make Jason feel at home. “Um… the remote to the TV is in the drawer on my night stand, and the remote to the radio is on the desk. Feel free to make yourself at home.”

  He smiled, grabbed the TV remote control, and turned the TV on to a sports channel. He lay back on my queen size bed, and nuzzled himself into the plethora of pillows that took up a significant amount of space near the top. “What do you need this incredibly large bed for; it’s just you sleeping in here.” I turned cherry red and answered as quickly as I could.

  “Well, I need space, so I need that large bed," then I immediately grabbed my night clothes and rushed off to the shower.

  As I walked to the bathroom, Mila was walking down the hallway, in a too short skirt, and a red halter top hugging her very snugly. She stopped me to give me some friendly, Mila advice. “Pinks… take the bull by the horn, and fuck the shit out of this guy. He is HOT!”

  I shook my head at her, and gave her my consequential look, silently pleading with her to let it go. “Mila, I just met him tonight. You’re bat shit crazy if you think I’m going to sleep with him.”

  “Well, I don’t know… that southern accent might just charm you right out of your pants. “ She winked at me and walked out of the apartment.

  I made my way to the bathroom, got my shower going, hopped in, and once again lost the ability to enjoy a bit of privacy when Chelsea came barging in.

  “Cara, I think you may have found a winner.”

  I tried to stifle my irritation with Miss. I Need to Know Everything about You. “Why do you say that Chels?”

  “Because, look at him. He is AMAZINGLY HOT, “she yelled as if it was necessary, “and he is totally into you. I told you he had been eyeing you with that come-fuck-me look.”

  “Chels, I just met the guy. You and Mila are crazy.”

  “No, you are crazy if you think I am going to watch you let this one slip through the cracks because you want to let that shy personality of yours win out. Cara why can’t you see how much of a catch you are and just go after him?”

  I sighed loudly, and tried hard not to let the exasperation come through in my voice. “Well, we’ll see what happens, but I am not going to force anything. He is cute.” I wanted to scold myself for that lie, because I knew he was more than cute. “I’m just going to take my time… you and Mila have known me long enough to know that I’m going to take my time, -- not rush things.

  Chelsea was awkwardly silent, and for a moment I began to feel like she left the bathroom. I pulled the shower curtain back to see her sitting on the counter, with a devilish grin on her face. “Okay Cara, whatever you say. Like Mila said, his southern drawl might charm you right out of your pretty prudish little pants.” And with that, Chelsea made her exit.

  I quickly shaved, washed my hair, and washed the rest of my body before standing under the hot water -- thinking. What if this is the guy I have been waiting for? I’m incredibly picky because I want a man like my dad: hardworking, headstrong, loyal, compassionate, and incredibly handsome. I don’t know if I’ll ever find that, and I am quite content to wait until I feel like I’ve found a man with all of those qualities. I was only 21; did I really need to settle? I started to realize that I was overthinking a very simple situation. Jason and I had just met. Who was to say that we were even going to date? My kinky roommates just wanted me to sleep with him because it was a notch in the proverbial belt that they kept hidden away. I had only slept with one person, and I had no intention of making it two, especially not with a guy I barely even knew.

  I
shook my head and snapped back into reality. I turned the water off, got out of the shower, and dried off. I threw on a pair of black SSDU mesh shorts, and a white camisole top. I grabbed whatever spray was readily available, only caring that I no longer smelled like the softball field.

  Jason was no longer watching TV, but was instead playing on his smartphone and had my radio turned to the local classic rock station. “I really like this song,” I said, after hearing the chorus of a slow, but powerful ballad by an old school band by the name of Slither.

  “I do too… I think it’s quite fitting.” Jason said with a sly grin on his face.

  I lay back on my bed next to him, my hair wrapped in a towel, when Jason leaned over and pulled it off, looking at me with pure lust in his eyes. “You have beautiful hair. Does it naturally curl like that?”

  Shocked by his brazen act, I stuttered with my answer. “Y-Yes. The wetter it is, the curlier it is.” I didn’t give a second thought to the innuendo that was laced in that sentence, but with his wicked grin, I could tell Jason did. He ran his fingers through my wet hair.

  “I love it. It’s so soft.”

  I felt so completely awkward by this point that I turned to look at him and was surprisingly met by his sweet, sweet kiss.

  He had his hands in my hair, his tongue in my mouth, and I was shocked to find myself meeting him thrust for thrust with my own tongue. I felt fireworks going off inside of me, and I realized that I had been wanting him just as much as he wanted me. He rolled on top of me, stopped and smiled down. “Cara Pinkston, you are so incredibly delicious.”

  As bashful as I was, I managed to mutter, “you are too,” and we were once again off to the races, deep inside each other’s mouths. It was at that moment that I realized just how baldy I wanted Jason -- just the way Mila and Chelsea had told me. I had never wanted anyone in this way, not even the one person I had slept with. Those feelings set off the panic button, which scared me and I stopped. Jason was panting, but lifted himself off of me.

  “Are you okay Cara?”

  I nodded, but he knew that there was something more to my reaction.

  “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

  I whispered, “I want you Jason.” And before I know it, we were right back to our earlier escapades.

  Jason reached into his front right pocket and pulled out a condom. He pulled his pants down, and I was met with an erection that could poke holes through my wall. He reached down, pulled my mesh shorts off, and gave a pleasantly surprised smile.

  “Not much work to be done here.”

  I smiled back and kicked to get my shorts off. Jason pulled my camisole top over my head, leaving me completely, and gloriously naked. He gracefully slid the condom onto his impressive length, but first used his fingers to tickle my folds. As I squirmed under his touch, he slid one finger inside of me, and gently circled the inside of my walls. As I raised my hips, trying hungrily to get more from him, he slid a second finger in and sent them off to work on destroying what self-control I thought I had. I threw my head back and raised my hips a little more. When I finally gathered enough control to open an eye, I found Jason smiling wolfishly, and licking his lips. I grabbed hold of his hand and tried to force his fingers even deeper into me.

  He must have taken it as a clue because he slowly eased his fingers out of me and sat with his knees in the bed, smiling down at me. I was panting, shamelessly wanting more, and licking my bottom lip. He grabbed himself, making sure he was still firm, and then slowly eased into me. It felt so incredibly good, so filling. I let out the loudest moan that I think has ever escaped my body. He began to move, and started nibbling on my breasts. I was running my hands through his silky hair, enjoying every inch of this incredibly sexy guy. He picked up the pace and with his eyes burning into mine, I closed them, trying to slip into the trance that Jason’s body was rocking me to.

  The rhythm of Jason hips forced me to meet him thrust for thrust, and while trying to stifle my moans, I sensed that I was failing miserably. He stopped to turn me over and leaned down to whisper in my ear. “Don’t hold back on me. I want to hear you.”

  My eyes flashed open. His words sent a spark through my body that awakened the silent demon lying dormant inside. Jason eased into me, this time from behind. He was holding my hips, and his jabs at my overly sensitive g-spot felt so good that I moved my hips up and down in an a rhythmic motion to meet his forceful impact. His open enjoyment sent me into a completely different realm, and I let go, allowing my moans to grow louder and louder. My moans excited Jason in a way that was foreign to me. He took my hair in his right hand and used it to pull me closer so that he could thrust deeper. His groans grew deeper, and more gruff.

  “Oh shit Cara, don’t do that, not ready to cum yet.”

  His words confirmed what I was hoping to achieve; I had him so I continued my relentless pursuit at a more rapid pace. He tugged even tighter on my hair, and then used his left hand to slap the meat of my behind. He slapped three times, causing me to cry out in passionate pleasure. On the second slap, he roughly instructed me to yell his name, and just as I did, he slapped me even harder. This prompted me to move even faster, my breasts moving up and down, almost smacking me in the face. Jason started groaning and through clenched teeth said something inaudible, but quickly repeated himself.

  “Come for me Cara.”

  Those words were my undoing, because almost instantaneously, I let go, and climaxed all over him. With a few more thrusts, Jason reached his peak and let go too. “Oh SHIT Cara,” came loudly from his mouth, in the most strained southern accent I had ever heard.

  We both fell to the bed, basking in the afterglow while working feverishly to catch our breaths. When our breathing found its normal rhythm, I noticed that the song by Slither was still playing, and it had been on repeat, playing over and over again.

  We lay on the bed; he removed the liquid filled condom, and threw it into the trashcan near my bed. Just as he rolled back over, we heard a round of applause and whistles through the vent connecting my and Chelsea’s rooms.

  “Way to go Cara. GET SOME!”

  Jason looked at me, smiled, and kissed my forehead, making me abandon my earlier persona of power, and filled my face with the customary beet red complexion I was quickly growing accustomed to.

  Chapter 2

  Jason stood and headed out of the room to the bathroom. I rubbed my hands over my face, bewildered by what had just taken place. On one hand, I was deeply irritated with myself for allowing him to charm me right out of my pants, but on the other hand, I was basking in the afterglow of what had just transpired. This exceptionally beautiful guy had just given the most delicate part of himself to me, and there was nothing special that I had to do for it.

  I started to flashback to my first time, and how loved I thought I had been, and I immediately felt a thousand times better about this one. I thought about the dark times following my first time, and within a few seconds of that terrifying image, Jason was standing in the doorway of my bedroom, watching me.

  “You look deep in thought. Should I leave you to them?”

  I immediately snapped back into the here and now and shook my head. “I’m good. Just thinking that’s all.”

  “I can see that.”

  I turned to him and asked if he wanted anything to drink and as he strolled into the room, nodding his head, he leaned down to grab my shorts and camisole top. I put them on and led him out into the living room. The front door unlocked and in strolled Hunter. Jason stopped, I saw the malice fire up in his eyes, and I immediately leapt into action.

  “Hi Hunter, this is Jason.”

  Hunter gave me a hug, and extended his hand out to Jason, introducing himself.

  “Hey man, I’m Hunter… Hunter James.”

  ‘I’m Jason… Jason Bradley.” There was still something cold in Jason’s voice as he shook Hunter’s hand, so I decided it was best to get Chelsea in the mix.

  , “Hey Chels,
Hunter is here,” I yelled, hoping she would pick up on the alarm in my voice. It worked, because she came darting into the living and took one look at Jason, and scowled deeply.

  “Hey Bradley, lock your testosterone down, Hunter is my boyfriend, he is here to see ME!”

  I eyed Jason cautiously, and watched his shoulders start to relax. Was he really so alarmed any time a male was around me? I could see why Jason would be alarmed by Hunter casually strolling into our apartment. He was tall, toned, tanned, had striking blue eyes, and cinnamon colored locks. He had a silence to him that was easily mistaken for snobbish, but Hunter was anything but, he was just a smart, quiet guy who often studied those around him.

  “Bradley? As in Bradley Oil Company?”

  Chelsea and I gawked at one another and watched this sudden and unexpected turn of events unfold.

  “Yes, that’s right; I am from the Bradley Oil family.”

  Chelsea’s eyes lit up. She was almost squealing. “Holy crap! That’s amazing… you sure know how to pick em’ Cara.”

  Jason smiled at me, and gushed, “yeah, you damn right there.”

  I felt like I had been slapped in the face by this revelation. I never knew he was from the Bradley Oil family, only the largest oil family in the Western United States. How was I to compare? My mom worked as an Elementary school teacher, and my dad was a fireman for the Carlsbad Fire Department. Honorable jobs, but really, we were talking about an oil man here.

  Hunter eyed Jason for a moment longer, and then a light bulb went off in his head.

  “I thought that was you. My dad’s accounting firm handles a few of your accounts, and last spring we were down in Texas for business meetings, and luncheons… boring stuff.”

  Jason immediately tensed up but Hunter continued. “Your family took the big family/business photo, and I remember your dad saying that you and...”

  Jason cut him off with a sharp gaze and that could have sliced Hunter in half.