Lust took her over and she almost pounced on me there and then, but I pushed her back to the mattress. She was the one girl I didn’t want to just f**k and leave as soon as it was done.

“I shouldn’t have pushed you. You’re not ready.”

“You didn’t. It’s just… It’s just that… I’m… not very experienced… and I…”

I sat up, reality hitting home. “Shit, are you a virgin?”

Shifting before me, she blushed and confessed, “No, not a virgin, but I’m not exactly skilled in all things… seductive. I’ve only ever slept with one person and only one time, this past year.”

And just like that, I really f**king wished she was a virgin, jealously over some unknown douchebag taking hold.

Some unworthy f**ker’d had my Mol.

“When did this happen?” I asked through slightly gritted teeth.

“When I was at Oxford. Oliver and I—”

“Oliver?” I interrupted.

Her eyebrows drew together and she said, “Yeah, Oliver Bartholomew.”

I couldn’t help it, but I laughed, my anger put aside for a minute. The way she said that f**king pompous-ass English name was comical. Bartholomew? Fuck, and I thought Romeo Prince was bad enough.

“What?” she questioned, seeming pretty pissed at me.

Clearing my throat and trying my damndest to hide my smile with my hand, I said, “Oliver Bartholomew? Very… British.”

Her eyes narrowed behind those thick lenses and she stressed, “He is British! As am I! Quit making fun!”

With a frustrated groan, Molly turned her back to me, causing me to swallow my friggin’ laughter and pull her back into my chest. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry.”

She shook her head in admonishment, but when she threw a small smile, I knew we were good.

“So Oliver, was he your boyfriend?” I asked, suddenly in that weird state of mind where you don’t want to know the answer but desperately need it at the same time.

“Yeah, I suppose. I tried to have him as a boyfriend anyway.”

“Tried?” I questioned at the strange response.

Her lashes fluttered as her eyes quickly met mine, and she said, “Yeah. I… I don’t really get close to people. I tried with him, but in the end, I just couldn’t do it. We’d been sort of dating for a few months—coffee dates, study partners, that type of thing—and I decided to just take the next step, just get it over with. He wanted it badly. I was indifferent. So I thought why not? Olly was sweet to me and I liked him well enough. The sex—not so much.”

“What? You didn’t like sex?” I almost shouted. How could anyone not like sex?

Her face went as red as my damn Tide jersey, and she admitted, “It was awkward, fumbled, and not everything it was hyped up to be.”

“Olly just didn’t do it right.”

Meeting her eyes, I said, “I imagine with you, Shakespeare, it’d be like nothing else. I’ve never wanted anything so much in my damned life—to taste you, feel you… hear you scream my name.” The pulse in her neck set off thumping like a drum and that pull we both felt began drawing us back in.

“Romeo—” She edged away, but I pulled on her arm to keep her close.

“I’ll stop, but I won’t hide the fact that I want it real bad, Shakespeare. Real f**kin’ bad.”

I watched as her thighs clenched together and my c**k slammed against my fly. Things were too tense, but Molly managed to diffuse the moment by thrusting a pillow over her head, warning, “We need to find something to do, Rome. I really need distracting right now!”

Pulling back the pillow, holding in my laughter, I said, “You’ve stolen my line, Shakespeare. Ain’t I the one that’s meant to say that to you?”

“Probably, but I’m about ready to jump your bones and would prefer not to tonight if it could be helped. I’d like it if I didn’t go from near-virgin to slut after one night in your friggin’ company!”

Unable to stop laughing this time, I creased up, falling on my back and pulled her to drape over my chest. “What should we do, then, near-virgin, just so you don’t give in and jump my bones? Although, it’s mighty tempting for me to just let you do your thing.”

“I have just the thing, if you’re game?”

She put on friggin’ Monty Python.

We watched the movie. I actually watched a movie with a girl and made no move to seduce her… much. I still caught a kiss and the occasional feel, but most surprising, I liked just chilling with Mol. It kind of felt like I was twelve again, on some first date that I’d never had, but it was good… It made me feel kinda normal.