Grace

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Partners, I think. I can’t believe it.

“You should e-mail your professor,” Shannon tells me, pacing the tiny amount of floor in the center of our room. I told her the whole thing. How Tommy sat down next to me, volunteered us as a team and spent the rest of class trying to look down my shirt. She was furious, but I’m not really sure if I’m mad or not.

Sure, he’s presumptuous, cocky, domineering and unapologetically arrogant. But…when I think about his eyes going over my body as I tried to take notes, I find myself smiling.

Tommy is the biggest guy on campus – and not only by reputation I’m sure.

And he’s got his eyes on me. Me! Grace Kennedy, the shy, blushing virgin from smalltown Connecticut. Who wouldn’t be flattered?

“I don’t know,” I tell Shannon. “Do I really want to be that girl on the first day of class? The one complaining about her partner being the hottest guy on campus?”

“Hottest guy on campus!” Shannon mutters to herself. “Look, I’m just trying to look out for you! I don’t want to see you getting hurt.”

“I know! And I appreciate that. You’re being so sweet.” And I mean that. I’m so happy to have ended up with a wonderful roommate like Shannon who I actually get along with and who cares about me.

“I mean – I get it. You’re flattered. I would be too! But how do you really expect this to work out?”

Shannon pulls her chair up beside me and takes a seat. Her face twists up like she’s trying to remember how to balance a chemical equation.

“Like…Tommy Mason, famous player and basketball star, sets his sights on you, Grace, the freshman virgin.” I cringe slightly at her summary of the situation. “He decides to what – give up his playboy ways, date you, take your virginity and stick with you? Marry you before he goes pro and starts fucking every model and actress in the country?”

Wow, way to just crush my soul, Shannon!

“I mean, when you put it that way…” My voice trails off as I think about what she said. It does sound ridiculous. Tommy barely knows me. Why would be care so much about me to give up on all the hordes of screaming fan girls ready to rip their tops off and pull their skirts up at the sight of him?

Maybe he likes a challenge?

But is that all I want to be to him? A challenge? That’s not sustainable. Once the thrill of trying to get in my pants wears off, he’ll be back to his old ways. That’s assuming he even sticks around long enough to convince me he’s a good guy.

It’s bugging me that I’m even thinking about this. For some reason I feel like it shouldn’t even be a thought in my mind. Tommy’s reputation alone should send me running for the hills. But there’s something very attractive, on a purely primal level, about a guy who has as much experience as he does.

Losing my virginity to some scrawny high school boy who would fumble around my body with no idea what he was up to was never an attractive thought. Being shown what to do by Tommy – having him lead me down a road that could only lead to mind-blowing ecstasy, is a thought I can’t shake from my mind.

I just have to say it.

“Yeah, but…can you imagine the sex?” Shannon’s eyes go wide and she looks at me like I just pulled off a Grace mask and am suddenly someone else.

“What?!” Shannon exclaims. “What the – you’re a virgin, Grace!”

“You don’t have to remind me of that.”

“You haven’t even had sex, and you’re dreaming about what it would be like to fuck Tommy!? Have you heard the stories about his dick!?”

The image of the shower encounter flashes into my mind.

“Heard about it? I’ve seen it, Shannon.”

“Oh, that’s right,” she realizes. “Have you even…I mean – how far have you gone with a guy anyway? Blowjob?”

I shake my head. She looks at me like I’m an alien.

“Okay, so just handjobs then—”

She stops when she sees me slowly shake my head. This time, she looks at me…almost like she feels bad for me.

“I know,” I say with a sigh.

“Awwww,” Shannon finally exclaims. “You are too cute.”

“Stop!” I say, getting up and pacing across the room to the window. I look out over the parking lot toward the rest of campus. It’s a huge school and there are students everywhere. A bus goes by and I realize just how far away from home I am. And for some reason, for the first time since I arrived, it excites me.

“Grace,” Shannon says behind me. “I’m just looking out for you. You know that, right? It’s not like I’m jealous or anything – okay, maybe I’m a little jealous that Tommy thinks you’re a hottie, but I just don’t want you to get hurt. I think you should stay away.”

She’s right. She is. Just because I’m away from home, at a new school, excited to try new things and am being hit on by the number one stud in school, doesn’t mean that I should throw all reason out the window and listen to my vagina.

Biceps and abs only get you so far. Maybe if I had already given away my V-card it would be different, but my first time should be special. I have so many friends from back home that ended up drunk in the back seat with some older guy who didn’t care about them, and they regretted the whole thing immediately after.

How will I feel if I end up at some party with Tommy and lose my virginity in some dirty bathroom or on the floor in the back room or quickly in his room while his roommate is out? And how will I feel when I text him the next day and never get a response?

No, Shannon is right. I have to put aside my animalistic desires and listen to reason.

Tommy Mason is off limits!