Kevin ran his tongue over his teeth in thought, mulling over my offer. “Y’know,” he finally began, “This seems a bit invasive, and that’s me talking.”

I shrugged. “I want to know what’s going on.”

I had a revelation when I woke up that morning. Morgan was keeping something from me, and it was clearly something affecting us, and I happened to have the one person at my disposal who I could ask to find it out. I wanted to take control over the revelations in my life for a change, and as long as Kevin could be convinced, I had the means to do it.

“I mean… I can do what I can,” he replied slowly after a bit. A sly smile formed on his face. “Of course, that would mean I’d need my finger on the pulse again. Y’know, access to the local social scene and all.”

“I thought of that,” I replied. “There’s a party happening on the seventeenth…”

“The one at Jackson’s house? Well, that’s great and all, but we still got the itty bitty problem of them not letting me in,” Kevin rebutted.

“Taylor’s taking care of that,” I replied.

Kevin’s mouth hung open. “Taylor,” he replied in disbelief.

“Taylor,” I confirmed. 

“Like, Taylor Wise.”

“You know any other Taylors?”

“Three, but whatever. So lemme get this straight,” he said in shock, shifting where he stood. “You want me to get some dirt on your girlfriend that she’s hiding from you, or maybe it’s dirt on you and you don’t know it, and to help me do this you convinced the hottest girl in school to get Jackson to get me on the guest list of what might be the last party of the summer?”

I gave him a weird look. “Where’s the camera?” I sarcastically asked. I looked at the dishwasher and gestured to Kevin. “Did you get all that?”

“I’m just clarifying, man. Like, I dunno whether to fucking kiss you or… uh, decline. Because, I dunno, the situation is a lil’ weird.”

“Then decline,” I replied, not budging. Kevin had been whining to me practically all summer about not having an in on the social circle. He clearly wanted any in he could get.

Eventually, he shrugged. “Well, I mean, it is what I do,” he eventually conceded. “But, two things. One, I may not find out whatever the heck is going on. Some things are private, and I can’t be blamed if the egg can’t be cracked.”

I nodded. “That’s reasonable.”

“Two, uh, keep in mind that you’re asking me to find out a secret here. Like, Quinn, this seems like…”

“A bad idea?”

“A hundred percent a bad idea,” he agreed. “Like, the genie can’t go back in the bottle. What if this hurts you, or it hurts her?”

“I came to you because even after a morning of arguing, she didn’t want to tell me,” I replied.

“Or maybe especially after a morning of arguing,” he noted.

“Yeah, I considered that,” I replied bitterly. “Even though she admitted it’s hurting me in the meantime.”

“Drama,” Kevin noted.

“There has to be another word for it,” I replied. “Like, drama is just petty nonsense. This is real, and it’s something, and it’s affecting us and affecting our future together. It feels like so much more than drama.”

Kevin thought to himself for a second, then snapped his fingers. “Oh, come to think of it, there is a word for that.”

“What is it?”

Kevin leaned in and his expression turned playful yet serious. “Drama,” he asserted.

“Whatever,” I waved him off, picking up Nuo and petting her. “Will you do it?”

“We already agreed I would, but just… think about what I said, you know?” he asked. “I’m gonna go and, uh, thank Taylor, I guess.”

“What, you have her number?” I asked.

He pulled out his phone and started texting one of his connections. He gave me a look and replied, “No,” as if it were obvious.

***

“He was actually kinda sweet about it,” Taylor begrudgingly admitted. “You still owe me big time though.”

“I wouldn’t need to invite Kevin if people in this group just talked to each other,” I grumbled, then composed myself. “But also, I meant it when I said he was crushed. He seemed way happier for the next, like, full hour I saw him.”

“If people just talked to each other?” she inquired.

“Yeah. The, uh, Morgan thing,” I clarified.

“Oh,” she simply said, then took her head off of my shoulder. She didn’t say anything else.

“It could also really help if you even had, like, an idea what it is.”

“I really don’t, Quinn. I’m sorry,” she replied earnestly. “But, like, she’s allowed to have secrets too. Inviting Kevin is… like, I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”

I turned to look at her and she put her hands up. “Like, inviting Kevin so he can do his thing,” she clarified. “Especially since we hate it when he does that. It’ll just be Kevin being Kevin, and people will get mad.”

“So then why’d you invite him?” I challenged her.

“Like you said, he was crushed when the school year ended,” she answered simply with a shrug. “Plus, he talked to me better when I visited you. That was nice. Maybe he’s changed. But, like, the one party he’s coming to that I actually approved is just gonna be him doing more Kevin stuff.”

I sighed. “I know,” I admitted. “But… do you want Morgan and I to break up?”

“…Wouldn’t that be ‘Morgan and me?’” she asked.

“Huh?”

“Well, like, you take ‘Morgan and,’ out of it, and you just get, ‘would you want I to break up?’ It doesn’t make, like, sense. But then, if you do, ‘would you want me to break up?’ Y’know, it still doesn’t make sense, but like, it makes more sense.”

A smile crept up on my face. “Look at you,” I remarked with admiration.

“Yeah, I’m not just a dumb bimbo or something,” she teased with a smirk on her face. 

I laughed and put my arm around her, and the two of us didn’t say anything more for a little bit. By the time we spoke again, I had forgotten the question about Morgan I had asked her.

***

“Hua!” I said with energy, striking a pose. “What do you think?”

Morgan giggled. “It looks great on you,” she said. “So that’s what you’re wearing?”

“What, don’t approve?” I joked, sitting down on the couch with her.

“You are such a boy,” she laughed. “What time did you want to leave?”

“Uh, maybe around six,” I answered. “Unless we’re doing the whole ‘fashionably late’ thing.”

“Most of my friends will,” she said with a shrug.

I snapped my fingers, pretending to remember. “Oh, hey, can Doug give Kevin a ride too?”

“Uh, probably,” Morgan replied, getting out her phone. “Where’s he going?”

“He’s coming too.”

Morgan slowly looked up from her phone. “What?”

“Kevin’s coming to the party too.”

“I… would rather if he didn’t,” she replied uneasily.

“I know, but he really wanted to come, and someone advocated for him, so Jackson put him on the list.”

“Jackson doesn’t have a list, he’s Jackson.”

“The metaphorical list, Morgan.”

“Who advocated for him, do you know?”

I didn’t want to lie or omit too much. “Uh, I think Taylor did, actually.”

“Taylor,” she replied in disbelief.

“Taylor,” I confirmed.

“Like, Taylor W-”

“Yes, Taylor Wise,” I replied impatiently. “They chatted when she came over and she appreciated some newfound effort he was putting in.”

“And are you going to pretend you didn’t do anything to push this?” Morgan asked.

She saw 50% right through me. I prayed she didn’t bump that up to a hundred. “It’s what families do,” I replied after a bit. “We help each other.”

“I suppose I can’t fault you for that,” she replied slowly. 

“Just give him a chance,” I said insistingly.

“Giving him a chance doesn’t mean just pretending he never did anything annoying,” she retorted.

“You’re correct, it doesn’t,” I agreed. “It means giving him a chance to show he’s cutting back on the annoying.”

“Fine, just don’t expect me to be friendly with him,” she conceded. 

“I appreciate how open-minded you’re being,” I replied warmly and went in for a kiss.

She accepted the kiss, but just looked at me after. “It feels like something is going on,” she told me. 

“With Kevin?”

She stared at me for a bit. “Yeah. No. Never mind. I’m sorry. I’m being dumb.”

I smiled. “Are we overthinking?”

“I sure am,” she replied, leaning back on the couch. “Whatever. Kiss me again.”

“I thought you wanted me to make the first move,” I teased.

“Yeah, and this is me telling you to,” she replied flatly. “Unless you don’t feel like kissing me.”

I laughed and moved towards her, and she just turned away. “Nope, too late,” she replied with no emotion on her face but a playful tone. “I guess you shouldn’t have questioned it.”

“Aw, that’s no fair,” I said with a pout.

“What a shame,” she said with the same tone. My smile got bigger as I lunged at her, trying to grab her shoulders and at least plant a kiss on her cheek. I saw the slightest hint of a smile on her face as she brushed my face away and moved across the couch. Emboldened by her smile, I followed her, grabbing her a little more forcefully and muttering, “C’mere.”

“Tooo laaate,” she practically sang with a steadfast expression, moving slightly away. I shook my head with a smile and lunged again at her, this time putting my body over hers, pinning her down as I leaned my head down and put a kiss on her lips. It was fast when I planted it, but when I pulled away, it was gentle.

“Looks like I win,” I said smugly.

“I guess so,” she said quietly, not moving. Neither of us moved for a bit. We just sat there, on her couch, with me on top of her, having just kissed. She didn’t move a muscle, and just looked into my eyes. Slowly, I moved a hand down and stroked her cheek, and, almost afraid of my own hand, slid it down her face and around her neck. 

She slowly closed her eyes and exhaled, and I gave an experimental squeeze, letting go quickly after.

She let me play for a bit, then opened her eyes, giving a light moan as I squeezed again. “Gentle but long,” she told me. “The side is for blood, the front is for air.”

“What’s the difference?” I practically breathed.

“I think blood feels nicer. It makes me lightheaded. Air is only good for really short bursts, but also, be gentle.” I nodded and squeezed again, making it last longer. She tapped my hand and I released. “But too long either way will make me pass out. It would be funny but don’t do that.”

“Yeah,” I chuckled. “Funny.” I squeezed her neck again and watched her close her eyes. Her eyes were so beautiful, and I loved seeing them stare into mine, but there was something so innocent and pure about her closing her eyes and leaving her mouth slightly open, even with my hand on her neck.

My other hand stroked her cheek slightly, then gave her a quick slap across the face. At the same time, my hand released from her neck. The effect was instantaneous; she gave a light moan and I felt her body spasm from below me. She opened her eyes slowly and looked again into mine, with this kind of fear. Not an uncomfortable fear, like she wanted me to stop. A welcoming fear.

I was already rock hard at this point. Judging from the look on her face, I could bet that Morgan was wet too. I put my hand back to her cheek and, not breaking eye contact, she nuzzled her face into my hand. Beginning to smile, I pulled my hand back and slapped her across the face, hard. She moaned, relishing the pain, red beginning to spill across her cheek. She breathed heavily a few more times, and before I knew it my lips were on hers again.

We hadn’t kissed with this much passion since the movie theater. Her hands were roaming across my back and mine were in her hair, finding ways to be playfully rough with it. I began to grind myself against her and she immediately ground her pelvis into mine. I felt her hot cheek against mine, warm from my abuse. Our tongues played with each other, our bodies aching to be as close together as possible. We were lost in a sea of hormones, knowing that nothing could stop us from what our urges were begging for us to do.

A click from the front door broke us out of our trance and, at once, our mouths disconnected and our eyes shot open. In one awkward painful motion, I got off of Morgan and the two of us attempted to sit up on the couch, with our hands in our laps. We barely assumed the position by the time the door burst open and Doug marched in, clearly in a hurry. He was humming something to himself and was about to walk right past us, but stopped in his tracks.

“Not on the couch, guys,” he barked disappointedly.

“I’m sorry?” Morgan replied with a squinty, confused face.

“Don’t play dumb. I mean, hey, don’t get me wrong, I also like sitting on the couch with my boyfriend with the TV off, with my hair a mess, blushing like fuck and both of us sitting like this.” He over-exaggeratedly mimed sitting with his hands in his lap. “Not on the couch,” he repeated emphatically.

“Sorry,” I conceded, knowing we were caught.

“See, at least he’s honest,” Doug acknowledged, powerwalking into the kitchen to look for something. “Why can’t you be like that, Morgan?” his voice rang from the kitchen.

I shouldn’t have looked right at her when he asked that. When she looked back, her face saddened and she just looked away. “Can you drive one more person to the party tonight, Doug?” she asked, desperate to change the subject.

“No,” he flatly said. “I don’t want to drive over to any other places. Quinn’s lucky I’m even going to his place.”

“It’s my brother, he lives with me,” I added.

“Oh. Uh, sure then. Make sure he’s ready to leave when you are,” he ordered. 

“Will do,” I replied.

“Cool, alright,” he replied, distracted, walking back to the front door. He stopped to point at us. “No making out on the couch. For fuck’s sake, go to your room or something.”

“Stop talking to me like that, Doug,” she replied quietly, having resumed her normal face. 

“Stop being so fucking disappointing,” Doug shot back before walking out the door, slamming it behind him.

“That was harsh,” I commented sympathetically. 

She didn’t say anything back for a bit. “We got a bit careless,” she commented lightly. 

“Yeah. I assume…?”

She chuckled sadly. “Yeah, the moment’s gone,” she confirmed. 

“Okay,” I replied, putting my arm around her and kissing her cheek, the same cheek I had been slapping minutes ago. She turned to me and gave me a small smile.

“Y’know, I love your smile,” I told her meaningfully.

“I smile less than a lot of people,” she replied.

“Yeah, but yours is more beautiful,” I said back, kissing her cheek again.

She smiled and looked down. “I don’t deserve you.”

“Yeah, well, tough. I want you just as much whether you deserve me or not,” I said. “So I guess you’re stuck with me until the day you break up with me.”

She turned to look at me, her smile fading. I nervously added, “Of course, that doesn’t have to be anytime soon, y’know, no pressure.”

To my relief, she laughed. “You are so on edge,” she commented, kissing my lips. “Relax.”

“Well, I am, after all, what were your words again? ‘Such a boy?’” I teased.

She smiled again. “You are such a boy,” she murmured, kissing me again.

“Your boy,” I added.

“Only if I’m your girl,” she teased back.

“Thinking about that makes me happy,” I told her earnestly. We kissed again, and I felt her tongue brush across my lips. I broke off the kiss and gestured to the stairs. “Maybe we shouldn’t do that again on the couch,” I pointed out.

She shrugged and turned away. “But, uh, you can put your hand on my neck more if you want,” she said, trying to play it cool, never looking at me. “Like, whenever you want.”

“Yeah?” I asked with a cheeky grin.

I could only see the back of her head, but I saw her lower her head and shake it. “I can hear your smile right now,” she pointed out humorously. I hugged her from behind and kissed her neck, just happy to be around her. I hoped this would never go away.

***

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Doug dismissed as he drove. “There is a clear hierarchy in a school environment, especially in high school. If you want to pretend it doesn’t exist, good for you, but you’re living in a fantasy world.”

“No no no, that’s not what I’m saying,” Kevin clarified. He opted to sit in the front seat while Morgan and I took the back. “What I’m saying is that it isn’t as black-and-white as it used to be. Yeah, sure, of course, there’s a hierarchy, but you gotta look at the bigger picture. Cliques blend together. People aren’t just jocks or nerds, this ain’t the fifties. You can have a guy even be a jock and a nerd, especially at Hazelwood.”

Morgan and I just looked at each other. I couldn’t tell if this was exactly what I was expecting, or the exact opposite. The two continued to have their heated debate at the front of the car whereas Morgan and I hadn’t said a word to each other since the car took off from my place. I stole a look at Kevin and saw a big ol’ smile on his face – he was loving this. He was in his element. I looked at Doug to see the normal dismissiveness in his eyes replaced with some kind of new feeling – challenge? Interest? Comradery? I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that if it took Kevin mere seconds to win over Doug’s full attention, I felt completely reassured in what he’d be able to accomplish at the party.

***

Lexi took the news weirdly well. Especially since I was telling her at a party, the birthplace of all needless drama, I thought that the news would make her storm off. But instead…

“Yeah, I get it,” she replied, shrugging. The music pounded in my ears and people were practically surrounding us, but despite that, it felt like we were the only ones in the room. “Like, I hate it, but also, I dunno, you know what’s best for you and Morgan.” 

“Huh,” I found myself saying out loud. “I thought you’d be more upset.”

“I’m tipsy,” Lexi simply answered. “I’m gonna have a good time tonight anyways. It’s like you say, right? There’s always more guys.”

I chuckled. “That’s one way to look at it, yeah,” I admitted. 

She surveyed the room. “What do you think?” she asked.

“I’m not the guy to ask. My brother is here, maybe-”

“Absolutely not,” she interrupted.

“Let me finish,” I ordered. “My brother is here, maybe he has a better idea of who’s single and easy. You can’t deny, he knows everyone.”

“That’s not a bad idea, but isn’t it weird to go up to some guy and ask him who’s easy?”

“I’m some guy, and you asked me,” I pointed out.

“We’re friends, it’s different,” she protested. “Besides, we’ve had sex before.”

I looked around me to make sure no one had heard her, which caused her to laugh. “What, are you worried your reputation is gonna tank if the word gets out?”

“Just sick of drama,” I answered flatly.

“Then stop causing it,” she joked again. “But, like, seriously, congrats on knowing what you want and stuff. It’s a shame we only got to do stuff a few times, but yeah, I get it. And maybe someday…”

I shrugged. “I think saying ‘maybe someday’ like this got me where I am,” I told her. “But this doesn’t change anything between us. You free Friday? We could watch a movie or something.”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” she said as warmly as possible with music and yelling going on around us. “I’m gonna go mingle. I’ll see you later?”

“See you later,” I confirmed, waving her off. I was smiling. It was comforting to have both closure and a Lexi, of all people, who wasn’t stirring up shit. It was also nice to know she wanted to hang out with me after I made it abundantly clear that anything sexual between us was ending. She genuinely surprised me. Maybe a part of me even wanted to see her be a bit more upset that something we both enjoyed so much was coming to a close so early, but I knew that if I thought about that, I’d drive myself mad.

I found a quieter, less packed part of the party and surveyed the room, trying to find someone I knew to talk to (talking to new people brought me nothing but trouble at parties, as I came to accept) and saw Kevin in some other room. I couldn’t help chuckling and shaking my head – I didn’t expect him to only come to this party to help me, but it was so clear he took the first opportunity possible to corner some girl and talk her ear off. Still, I couldn’t help but feel happy for him. Instead of doing his normal thing where he kind of asserted dominance by leaning into the conversation, he was actually leaning back, and the girl was clearly actually interested in him. I had to wonder if my talk helped, or if this was just an ability Kevin always had to some extent. Either way, it didn’t matter.

Because Kevin always knew everything, mid-conversation he turned his gaze to me. I saw him say something to the girl and could read his lips to make out, “and that’s Quinn over there.” The girl peppily waved to me and I waved hesitantly back, then the two continued to talk.

“Poor girl,” I heard Morgan joke behind me. I turned around to hug her and slip my arm around her, and the two of us watched Kevin for a bit longer.

“She actually seems to like him,” I remarked. “Do you know her?”

“I think her name is Maddie or Marley or Melody or something. Something beginning with an M,” she replied. “I’m amazed he came to the party at all. Apparently, after we went in, he spent like an extra five minutes debating stuff with Doug.”

“I didn’t think those two out of everyone would hit it off,” I noted.

“I dunno if they did,” she replied. “Doug will debate anyone who disagrees with him. Those two in a room together is just an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.”

“Is that Han Fei?” I asked, still looking at Kevin.

Morgan snickered. “It’s the Joker from the Dark Knight, babe,” she replied.

“Oh,” I simply said. I didn’t know movies. 

I felt a drunken head hit my lower chest and a pair of arms looping around me from the other side. “Mission failed,” I heard Lexi’s tipsy voice declare. “I couldn’t find a guy. Wait, why the fuck is Kevin here?”

“I heard Taylor invited him,” Morgan replied.

“I mean, I just told Jackson he was getting a bit nicer,” Taylor’s voice replied defensively. Confused, I turned around to see the whole gang – Taylor, Milo, and Crystal – had shown up. Milo had his arm on some girl’s waist. I didn’t recognize her. “If he’s here, it’s because Jackson said so.”

“How fucking nuts is it that Jackson of all guys is hosting this?” Crystal asked, clearly more drunk than the others. “Like, he looks like a total fuckin’-”

“Theater kid, we know,” Morgan dismissively replied. “That’s what Student Council does to a guy. I mean, he is gonna be President next year.”

“How’d he even get elected? I didn’t vote for him,” Crystal replied. 

“I did, he seems sweet,” Taylor said. “Who was he running against again?”

The group talked and talked about Jackson while I had Morgan leaning against one side and Lexi clinging for dear life to my other. I watched on as Kevin changed his posture and gave the girl a sweet kiss on the cheek. She giggled in response, clearly pleased. He asked her a question and she eagerly nodded. The two of them wandered off.

“Oh, fuck you,” Lexi angrily murmured beside me, also watching Kevin. “Even he gets some and I can’t.”

I caught Taylor’s eye and we exchanged looks. I hoped he didn’t completely forget about me in his quest to secure some girl. I looked beside Taylor and saw that Milo and his girlfriend were showing quite a bit of PDA. 

Lexi noticed as well and lightly shoved Milo, or at least, attempted to. Milo barely moved, and finished the kiss before looking at Lexi with a less-than-thrilled expression. “Yeah, okay, we need to talk,” he told Lexi. He quickly handed me his beer can. “Hold this.” He then grabbed Lexi’s hand and dragged her into another room, with his girlfriend or whoever awkwardly walking after him. 

Holding an unopened beer, I turned back to Morgan and Taylor, awkwardly looking at the scene that unfolded. It seemed Crystal wandered off. Taylor noticed the beer was unopened, then grinned at me and suavely snatched the beer out of my hand. “Have fun, you two,” she said, opening the beer and wandering off. 

I turned to Morgan and she shrugged. “Did you want something to drink too?” she asked.

I gave her a look. “Um…”

“Water, brain genius. But I’m definitely having a beer.” She looked around her. “Do you know where the kitchen’s at?”

“I think Taylor’s been here before, I can ask her,” I replied, before rushing off to chase after Taylor. I moved through the crowd, trying to find her, and managed to see her walking off in some direction. 

“Hey, Taylor!” I yelled when I got close enough. “Morgan w- Morgan wants to know-”

She turned around to face me, and behind her, I saw a person turn to look at us. Joel. As soon as he registered it was us, he stood there, unmoving. He didn’t stop looking at us, he didn’t move, and he didn’t bother doing anything else. He just stared.

She took a few steps to face me. “What is it?”

“I…” I was tongue-tied. Joel unabashedly stared at me, his eyebrows slightly lowered. I tried my hardest not to look at him, which just meant staring at Taylor’s eyes like a dummy. 

“You what?” she asked impatiently. “Are you okay?”

I lowered my voice. “Don’t look behind you. Joel is down the hall.”

Taylor’s look only got more confused. “…Okay, so?”

“He’s staring at me.”

“Yeah, you’re talking to me and he knows our history. I’d stare too, Quinn.”

“Don’t you want him to, like, stop?”

“I mean, he can do what he wants,” she said with a shrug. “Don’t make such a big deal over it. People will always stare at you, or talk shit on you, or whatever. That’s a thing you can’t avoid.”

“So what do you do about it?” I asked.

“You can start with this.” She turned around and locked eyes with Joel. I couldn’t see her face, but I presume she gave him a polite smile. He gave one back, and then turned and walked away. She turned back to me and shrugged. “See? Didn’t take a year off of my life to do that.”

“Yeah, but, you’re used to this stuff. You’re popular, Taylor. I’m just a shy nerd. You can’t expect me to just adapt to your ways.”

She slowly shook her head. “No you’re not,” she began. “You have to stop lying to yourself and accept that you’ve changed. It’s not a bad thing, but, like, you’re popular now too. You sure as fuck aren’t shy anymore. You couldn’t even talk to me when we met. This is your lifestyle too, but you’re, like, too proud or too traditional or whatever to believe it’s you.”

“I’m not nearly as well-liked as you though!” I protested. “I’m not popular. I don’t have guys fawning over me like you do.”

She laughed. “Yeah, it comes with the boobs,” she joked. “Nah, Quinn, popularity doesn’t mean everybody likes you. It means everybody knows who you are. You can be popular and hated. You can be popular and shy. Just quit… lying to yourself about not being like me. You are like me now. You go to parties, you have a girlfriend who’s popular-”

“Though not as popular as you,” I replied.

“Don’t let her forget it,” Taylor joked with a grin. “So just like, own it. Stare back at people. Don’t be a jerk obviously, but… c’mon. You got the jacket and everything. We worked hard to teach you not to let people walk all over you. You gotta put in the final steps yourself.”

“You talk like you never needed tutoring,” I admitted with a smile. The rest of the crowds around us were fading away.

“Smart isn’t a one-way street, Quinn,” she replied. “Dealing with people is a lot like math. Once you solve enough problems, you just get good at it. And if you wanna see it that way…” She took a few steps towards me. Her look shifted. It no longer was a conversation between friends. I didn’t know whether she was flirting with me, or if she was looking at me the way a predator looks at its prey. “I’m pretty smart, aren’t I?”

There wasn’t a lot of space between us now. The reality of the crowds around us began to fade back in, and yet, at the same time, I felt my heart beating in my ears, and my dick swelling in my pants. “I, uh…” I stumbled.

“See, that. You’re doubting yourself. Stop,” she lightly ordered. I saw the same look in her eyes as when we were in her basement, and she was ordering me to crawl. Only now, she saw I was crawling and wanted me to learn to walk.

“I can’t,” I replied.

“Why not?”

My throat was dry. “Because if I listened to my instincts I’d be kissing you right now. I told Morgan I’d stop. Plus, even if I didn’t, kissing you at a party would make things hell for both you and her.” I breathed heavily.

Taylor stepped back, and yet, she smiled. “See, that’s your instinct, Quinn,” she replied. “Kissing me was your temptation. Knowing what to do was your instinct. You basically just stared back at Joel. Congrats on being faithful to her.”

“…What, so this was a test?” I asked. “Did she make you do this?”

She smiled. “Ha, no,” she murmured. “I probably would have kissed you back, but I think you know that. Confidence is sexy, Quinn. Maybe you should go show Morgan that.” She looked around and saw nobody was looking at us, and leaned into me. “And maybe after, you can tell me what you did to her,” she breathed in my ear.

I shivered. My dick throbbed. “You’d want to hear about your own friend’s sexual escapades?”

“Fucking ‘escapades,’” Taylor chuckled. “Leave her name out. But I’m suuuch a gossip Quinn, and I wanna hear about everything you want to do. Think about it.” She lightly trailed her hand along my pants, and I shivered again. Her look had gained a kind of hunger to it, but also a smugness as if she knew she had me. And she did. “I’m gonna talk to her about this little sharing problem of ours someday too. You’re not the only one involved in this. Go see her.” 

I remained still as she walked away, no doubt a grin on her cute little chipmunk face. For the first time, possibly ever, it dawned on me that whatever my relationship with her was, it probably wasn’t going to just end after I went to university. 

I started to walk back towards where I left Morgan when I heard an “oooh” echo from the room she was in. I knew that an “oooh” of that magnitude meant that there was some kind of public fight or drama or something, and was worried that I was going to walk back to see some couple catfighting or something.

I increased my speed, jogging back, just in time to see a guy walking past me. His face was soaked; his hair matted to his face. He had a strong build, but was looking pretty defeated. Nearly all of the eyes in the room were on him, including mine.

I turned from him to Morgan, who had a near-empty beer can grasped in both hands and a circle of people formed around her. She turned to me with a blank yet attentive expression. “You took too long, I already found a beer,” she joked.

“Wait, what happened?” I asked.

She pulled the can back, shrugging. “Some guy got too close, so I warned him, then warned him again,” she replied. 

“You fuckin’ sprayed Arin!” one of the onlookers jeered.

“Yes, that was the second warning,” she replied coolly. 

“That was the warning?” the same guy obnoxiously asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

“What the fuck happens after that?” he asked.

She shrugged. “No boy has tried it and lived,” she replied again, still cool but starting to blush. “And I’d prefer it be kept that way. Out of my way, please.” She shoved a few guys out of her path and made off towards the front of the house, with me obviously following close behind her. 

Eventually, she left out the front door and shut the door behind her, but I persisted, opening it and re-shutting it after me. Morgan was leaning against the wall, and some other girl was out there smoking. 

It was clear Morgan was stressed, so I tried opening with a joke. “If you were going to do that to any guy there, I’m kinda surprised it wasn’t Kevin.”

Surprisingly, it hit. Morgan instantly smiled and started to giggle. “I love you,” she replied warmly, getting up from the wall and giving me a hug.

“Hey, I… love you too,” I awkwardly told her. “Was that guy getting on your nerves?”

“Yeah,” she simply replied.

“Arin,” I said out loud. “He’s your ex, right? Or, your ‘ex?’” I said, using air-quotes, mimicking her wording.

“Your memory is really good,” she commented. “Yeah.”

“There’s obviously history there,” I noted. 

“He knows enough about me to push me around, but not enough to know I don’t like it,” she remarked, not letting go of me. “This was a long time coming. Sorry if I just added fresh drama or anything.”

“Hey, it was your turn to add some anyway, I don’t get to throw stones here,” I joked. “Did he… touch you?”

“No, but he probably would’ve,” she admitted. “I probably shouldn’t have led him on or something.”

“…You’re blaming yourself because Arin was going to touch you when you didn’t want it?” I asked.

She smiled sadly. “Not every guy is going to be as considerate as you, Quinn,” she muttered.

“Sounds like a problem they need to fix, not you,” I said defiantly. “Besides, who cares if you talk to him or you danced with him at the Love party? It doesn’t mean anything.”

She turned pink and lowered her head. “You, uh, have a really good memory,” she muttered. 

A beat of silence passed between us, and I thought about a lot of the past few months. “Did you two do anything?”

“Huh?”

“Like, since you and I got together. Did you and he do anything?”

Her expression lost its humor, quickly. “No, why?”

“I was just wondering if that was the thing.”

“The thing?”

“The thing that burns going down.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” she asked.

“You know, the… you know what, never mind.”

“Okay.”

We stood there together for a bit, before I spoke up again. “The thing that we talked about last time I slept over. You were mad about something.”

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “I’m definitely not ready to talk about it at a party.” 

“We’re outside the party now,” I replied with a cheeky smile, but she didn’t return the smile. “Yeah, sorry.” I put my arm around her waist and she turned to face me. Before long we were kissing again, emboldened by the fact there wasn’t a crowd of people around us. I held her body close and felt our hips touch as the kisses became more long and passionate. 

Morgan moaned into the kiss and I could feel my sense of self-control loosening. I was still hard and throbbing, and damn near exploding from Taylor’s earlier teasing. I felt my hand snake up Morgan’s front and close around her neck, which made her shudder. I felt every fiber of her being aching to get closer to me. Just as she ran her tongue over my bottom lip, I gently broke away and looked at the stoner chick, who was pretty obviously looking away from us deliberately.

“We should probably hold off,” I noted.

“How many times today is this going to happen?” Morgan asked with a slight chuckle. 

“After the party,” I promised. “Your place?”

Morgan’s face broke out into a slow smile. “Okay,” she replied quietly, before beginning to kiss me again.

***

Doug was not thrilled with having to drive to my place even though I was not getting out, but at least he had time to talk to his new best friend on the way there. Kevin was elated; knowing him I was guessing he got to have a fun time with that girl he was with, but from the conversations I overheard, it sounded like he got to talk to every single person at that party but me.

Morgan, ever the observant one, noted that since both people were distracted by each other in the front, she could get away with more than usual in the back seat. Locking our lips would be too noticeable, but she could get away with slowly stroking her hand up and down my leg, which I gladly did to her right back. Eventually, she stopped stroking and just focused on what I was doing to her, and leaned her head on my shoulder. I was all too happy to keep on stroking her leg, and eventually, got a little bolder with how far my hand went.

When she first felt my hand going further up her leg, she opened her eyes and showed me the true desperation on her face. She kissed me quickly, and leaned her head back again on my shoulder. I started stroking her leg further and further up her thigh, eventually starting to make my way between her thighs. She responded by opening them slightly and giving little quiet moans. The kind that only I, with my ear inches from her mouth, could hear. The front seat duo wouldn’t have been able to hear, even if they had stopped arguing and debating with one another, which of course, they didn’t. 

It was crazy to think that I was openly stroking Morgan’s pussy above her clothes in full view of both of our brothers and that if they just looked at us, we’d be caught. But, to my knowledge, we got away with it the entire way back to my place. 

***

“Thanks for driving us,” Morgan quickly told Doug as we hopped out of his car. “We’ll be in my room.”

“Okay,” Doug simply said, watching her leave. I nearly followed her, but hesitated, looking at Doug. He caught my gaze and asked, “What?”

“Is something wrong?” I asked in response. “You seem upset. If I can ask.”

He looked at me. “Nah,” he said. “Just tired.”

I didn’t respond, and just awkwardly nodded before heading after Morgan. She was fairly tipsy, and if I knew her enough…

I burst into her room and sure enough, upon seeing me entering, she reached below her bed. “One shot, that’s all,” she assured me. “Then I’m cutting myself off.”

I didn’t even mind her drinking, but it was sweet of her to phrase it like that. “I trust you,” I reassured her. I still felt like an alien around drinking, but I didn’t want her to feel bad for something she already enjoyed doing before me. She could handle herself, and that was good enough for me.

“Za zdrovie,” I told her as she poured her shot. She grinned at me in response, before downing it, handing me the bottle. I put the cap back on and put it back below the bed. 

“Agh,” she winced, shuddering. “Alright, alright, I’m good.”

I looked at her and she gave me a reserved little smile. “You’re looking at me,” she murmured.

“You’re not emptying a beer in my face,” I replied as a joke.

“Ugh, don’t ruin the moment,” she commanded. I smiled as she got up and sat on top of me, wrapping her legs around my back. One of my favorite things about this position was that we had to be close to each other or else Morgan would fall off, so we made the most of it.

Like lovestruck teenagers, we picked up right where we’d left off the hour prior, not even bothering to start off subtle. Within one or two kisses, she was running her tongue along my lips, and within six or seven, our mouths were fully open and clumsily running up and down each other’s faces. There was something so pure about wanting to kiss each other so badly that we didn’t even care if we were doing it right anymore. We just wanted each other so badly that our brains were just on autopilot.

My hands stroked and gripped her back, keeping her close. Her breasts were the biggest obstacle between us, but of course, I wasn’t complaining when they were mashed against my chest. And I sure wasn’t complaining when Morgan broke the kiss, leaned back a little, and started to take off her shirt and bra.

As soon as the bra came off, I was on her. I was gentle before, but I sure didn’t feel like being gentle today. I started a little too eagerly, but after a few ‘aah’s of warning from Morgan, found a nice happy medium, and soon was leaving marks on her big boobs while she cooed and moaned softly. Her nipples were standing firm and erect, letting me know just how much she enjoyed my oral attention. 

Clearly, my oral attention wasn’t enough though. A little too quickly after I started to worship her boobs, she quickly stood up. “Take your fucking clothes off,” she breathed, as she rapidly did the same with her pants. I chuckled, opting to stay on the bed, ditching my shirt and my pants.

As soon as both of us were naked, we got up and kissed each other. It was becoming a little ritual of ours, and this time, it definitely felt less tender and more animalistic. Before long, she was against the wall, pinned by her wrists. We were kissing each other passionately, with me grinding my throbbing dick against her wet pussy. We had both wanted this all day, and the promise of release was killing us. 

As I ground against her, my dick started to move against her pussy lips, which were so wet that my dick was effortlessly sliding in and around her lips. She broke the kiss and moaned as I, unable to contain my passion, immediately attacked her neck with my mouth. I was so far gone that I wanted my mouth on something, anything. 

Morgan never stopped being hot to the touch when we were like this. I loved it. It made her that much more sexy. I loved the feeling of her hot skin on my tongue, and against my dick. I began angling myself to see if I could fuck her like this, right here against the wall, and finally, my dick slipped inside.

Morgan moaned, but then her eyes shot open. “Condom,” she reminded me, taking me back out of her.

“Oh fuck, right,” I mumbled. I ran back to my pants, scrambling to put it on. Once it was on, Morgan had moved from the wall to the bed.

She shrugged, her legs open, her pussy on full display. “I thought this would be more comfortable,” she offered.

Her juices were practically running out of her pussy. I could visibly see her body shaking with desire for me, and I’d bet I wasn’t faring much better. I wasted no time in getting back on her, lining myself up with my object of desire, and doing what both of us agreed I should have done at least twice today; I started fucking Morgan Jones, my girlfriend, my love.

As soon as she felt me inside her, Morgan gave a high-pitched sex moan, contrasting her normal stoic self. I couldn’t help it; I snaked my hand up her body again, this time appreciating every curve of her naked body, and eventually landed my hand upon her throat. I squeezed at the sides; blood, not air. I started to move my hips and pump myself in and out of her, feeling every response her body gave me.

“F…f… fuuuck…” she moaned, clearly loving the hand on her throat. With my other hand, I wound back and slapped her clean across the face, making her moan loudly with no regard for who could hear her. “Again, a-again…” she begged. I wound back and slapped her again, and then once more, and then once more. We were getting into a rhythm, and Morgan was abandoning herself to her urges, moaning like a dumb slut with nearly crossed eyes and her tongue practically out of her mouth. It was sexy, funny, and cute, all at the same time. That was my girl.

“Flip over,” I breathed, easily myself out of her. She nodded and started to assume the position, and I hesitated. “Wait,” I added, pointing to her desk. “Bent over it.”

Morgan gave me a challenging smile, the first real conscious emotion I’d seen on her face since I first entered her, and she diligently got up and bent over her desk. With no shame, she grabbed her cheeks and spread them, looking back at me. “Like this?” she teased.

“W-wow…” I breathed, completely outdone by her. She’d eagerly accepted what I thought would be a left-field suggestion and was now eagerly spreading her ass and pussy for me. This girl was incredible. Walking without realizing I was, I took my dick in my hands, eager to get back inside her again. I wanted to take her against every piece of furniture she had in here. I was going to take her against all of her furniture, all of the walls, every position… I never wanted to stop. 

I gripped her shoulders at first, though before long, I’d realized I was grabbing her hair with one hand and her hips with the other. My hips were starting to get sore from the sheer power of my thrusting. I wanted to give Morgan the ride of her life. I wanted to please her, and make her scream every day.

And scream she did. Her sexual tension was clearly driven to a boil, and the only time she stopped moaning at a normally-alarming volume was when I’d figured out I could get a hand around her neck from behind, which I experimented with eagerly. With my free hand, I began spanking her, and eventually left my hand off of her throat so she could speak.

“What do you say?” I asked her after a spank.

She was silent for the next two spanks. Immediately after the second one, she moaned uncontrollably. “Thank you, Master.”

“That’s my good girl,” I told her with force, giving her another spank then redoubling my efforts on thrusting in and out of her.

“Oh God, oh fuck…” she moaned, letting her head hang. Quickly, I grabbed her hair, forcing her head back up.

“What are you, Morgan?” I asked.

“Your slut,” she moaned, really into this.

“Whose slut?” I asked her.

“Yours, Quinn…” she moaned. “Fuck, fuck, I’m your slut, Quinn. I’m your stupid slutty little bitch girlfriend.”

I raised my eyebrows. She certainly was into it. “That’s my good girl,” I groaned, never stopping my assault on her pussy, and always finding something new to smack, hit, choke, pull, or otherwise torture.

Morgan loved every second of it. I had never heard her moan as much as she did now. It helped that halfway through the experience, the vodka clearly took effect, and she was slurring, ragdolling, and even drooling a bit more. I had to admit, it was hot as fuck.

The drunker she got, the more submissive and vocal she got. “Yes, fuck, fuck me harder, harder, fuck yes, Quinn, I love you so fucking much…” she babbled before my hand found its way around her throat again. She hummed her approval and even squeaked a few times in pure pleasure. I marveled at her and marveled at my own stamina, noting how much longer I was lasting.

But I couldn’t last forever. “Fuck… soon…” I managed to grunt. How did movies and porn stories make it look so easy to warn a girl beforehand? I had seconds, maximum. 

“Yes yes yes,” Morgan begged. “Shoot it in me, Master. Fill my pussy with your fucking cum. Fuck yes, give it to me.”

I saw stars as I thrust one last time into Morgan’s willing hole, my entire body shaking. I could feel the condom filling with spurt after spurt of my seed – probably more than I had ever shot in my life. Morgan was moaning too, despite the condom between us. As soon as I had regained the strength to pull out of her, still not fully recovered, Morgan whipped around and tackled me, pinning me to the bed and kissing all over my face over and over.

“I love, you, I love you, I fucking love you,” she moaned tipsily between kisses. “Holy fuck. You’re amazing. I’m so happy. Please sleep with me tonight?”

I laughed. “Yeah –” I began, interrupted by a kiss. “– Of course, I will. I – love you too.” She was peppering me with kisses, and I could barely keep up. Her whole body was shaking and what little she was doing to prop herself up eventually gave way, and she ended up collapsing her full weight onto me.

Once we’d adjusted so that she wasn’t crushing my windpipe (which wasn’t sexy, she deserved mad props for dealing with that during sex), we cuddled for a while before I realized she was lightly snoring on top of me. I stopped stroking her hair and realized I needed to find a way to get us both to bed. I shifted a little and luckily, Morgan stirred just enough to realize what was happening. Sleepily, she gradually got herself from on top of me into the bed, with me quickly following. She sleepily gave me a kiss goodnight and then turned away – she liked being the little spoon. She was out like a light before I even crawled into bed though.

That worked for me, since I still had a few things to do before bed: people to contact. Whipping out my phone, I texted Kevin, asking if he enjoyed the party and if he managed to find anything out. I looked from the phone to Morgan and smiled – it sucked that something was making her hurt, but god damn, did I ever enjoy nights like this. I’d hoped that whatever it was that Kevin found out, it was only going to strengthen the bond Morgan and I had in the long run. I loved her so much.

Looking back at my phone, I closed out of the conversation with Kevin, and saw another name on the list. Taylor. I slowly smiled to myself. I had promised her, hadn’t I? Making my way back into bed, I pulled up the conversation and texted Taylor.

I have a lot to tell you.

I smirked, knowing that when she woke up, she’d have one hell of a story to read. I bit my lip, realizing she was probably going to ‘do something’ about what I told her. It began with me masturbating to her pictures, and now, the tables had turned. It was hot.

As I began to text – sext – the details to Taylor, she unexpectedly replied.

I'm still awake, tell me everything.

I shuddered. Despite just having the hottest sex of my life, I had a feeling I was going to be masturbating again before the end of the night. If Taylor wanted the whole thing, she’d get the whole thing. I was going to make the two hottest girls in school cum in the same night, even if one was only digitally. Taylor was right, I really had evolved, and I fucking loved it.