Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Ava came back to the table to check on me. “Everything okay, Rach?”
My smile was sad. “Everything’s fine.”
She put my phone on the table. “Your phone was ringing.” Ava looked at Caine. “I put it in my purse so she wouldn’t regret something she said to you. Guess that worked well.” Caine smiled, and she turned her attention back to me. “I’ll be at the bar if you need me.”
The moment Ava walked away, my phone began to ring. Davis’s name flashed on the screen. Caine saw it and looked up at me. “You need to get that?”
It stopped ringing, but when I scrolled, I saw Davis had texted, too. He wanted to make sure I got home safe.
“I’ll just send him a quick text to let him know I’m okay.”
I felt Caine’s eyes on me as I typed.
When I was done, he said, “You want to talk about it?”
I wanted to see if I could get a rise out of the composed professor. “We used to have sex. Then we stopped. Now he wants to start again. Oh, and he wants to take me to dinner, too.”
The clench in Caine’s jaw was clear. “And how do you feel about that?”
“I don’t know. I’m confused, I guess.”
“About what?”
“He’s a great guy. When we broke up, I was upset at first. But then I sort of got over it. At least I think I did. I didn’t sit around and pine for him anyway. I feel like I would have if he was the right guy. You know?”
Caine looked into my eyes. “I think the right person would be difficult to move past, yes.”
“But maybe I haven’t actually moved past him yet. I haven’t…you know…since we broke up.”
“Had sex?”
“Yes.”
Caine’s eyes sparkled. “Hence the re-virginized vagina?”
Even in my drunken-ish state, I couldn’t believe I was having this conversation. “You heard that?”
He nodded with a sly grin. “How long ago did you split up?”
“Close to nine months.”
“So you haven’t had sex in almost nine months?”
I sighed. “Maybe I should just pick someone up in a bar and do it. Then it’ll be easier to decide if it’s Davis I miss or just the sex.”
The pupils in Caine’s eyes dilated to the point where there was more black than brown iris. “That’s not a good idea.”
“Why? You’ve never picked someone up and brought them home just to satisfy your needs?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Well, then why is it okay for you to do it, but not me?”
“Because I don’t do it to try to solve a problem.” His voice turned stern. “Fucking someone won’t help you decide if you want to be with another man. Trust me on that one, Rachel.”
“Sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”
Caine looked away. “I’m going to grab a beer. You want a soda?”
“I’ll have another Tanqueray and tonic.”
“I think you’ve had enough.”
I huffed. “Fine. I’ll take a Diet Coke.”
We sat around and talked for another hour after Caine returned with our drinks. I had sobered up some, but still felt more daring than usual.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Will it stop you if I say no?”
I smiled. “Probably not.”
“If you weren’t my professor...and I wasn’t looking for my Umberto…” I trailed off, but the rest of the sentence didn’t even need to be said.
Caine brought the beer he’d been nursing to his lips and stared at me over the top while he finished it off. He set the empty bottle on the table and cleared his throat before leaning in. Then he curled one finger, motioning for me to come closer. I leaned in, and our noses were no more than a few inches apart.
“If I weren’t your professor and you weren’t a nice girl, your re-virginized pussy would be sore as hell right now.”
Rachel
I didn’t feel half bad when my alarm went off. My eyes opened, and I braced myself for a pounding headache and nausea, expecting a hangover. Instead, I was tired, but the typical aftereffects didn’t seem to hit me. After drinking a full glass of water without stopping to take a breath, I decided to climb back into bed for another fifteen minutes.
Caine had insisted on driving me home. Half way, he’d stopped and run into a twenty-four-hour convenience store, coming out with a brown paper bag that he’d handed me before leaving me at my apartment door.
“Take everything inside. It doesn’t work unless you finish it all,” he’d said.
The bag had two bottles of water, a banana, and a single packet of Motrin. Since he’d gone to the trouble of picking it all up, I followed his orders.
Unplugging my iPhone from the charger on the nightstand, I keyed in my password and decided to text him.
Rachel: No hangover. Thank you. You’re a miracle worker. Where were you when I was eighteen?
Caine responded right away.
Caine: You’re welcome. Glad you’re feeling better today.