Page 4 of A Good Book

“Don’t knock it ’til you try it. Listen, if you look at sex from the standpoint of body parts and an exchange of bodily fluids, it’s totally repulsive and disgusting. But it’s alsosoamazing. Don’t ask me how both things can be true at the same time, they just are. You’ll see.”

“Stop. This conversation is going in the wrong direction. Now that I know more about this ‘sixty-nine’ thing than I wanted to, who is this tall guy?” I loved that we were bonding over cute guys.

“Ben.” Olivia trapped her lower lip between her teeth.

“Who’s Ben?”

“Your Ben.”

“MyBen. What do you mean by that? You have a crush on my best friend?”

“Yeah. Is that okay, or is that weird?”

“He’s a music major.”

Olivia laughed. “That only makes him hotter. He runs, swims, and lifts weights several times a week. Ben has a schweet bod and hella good hair. And he’s a big-time gentleman. When our resident assistant asked him to help her carry a box to her car the other day, he said, ‘Yes, ma’am.’ Why does that make me want to jump him? What eighteen-year-old says ma’am?”

The “ma’am” thing again. Did Olivia grow up around a bunch of ill-mannered people? Why was that a sought-after trait?

“Well, I don’t know if he likes you. And even if he does, I don’t want him to hurt your feelings because that would make things uncomfortable between us. I’m not saying that I’d take his side if things didn’t work out, but he’s been my friend for so long, and?—”

“Gabby, take a chill pill. I don’t want to marry him. I just think he’s tall, dark and hot. He looks thirty with those thick whiskers and strong jaw. Maybe we could have some fun together. Ya know?”

Yes. I knew what Olivia meant, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. She caught me off guard.

“Yeah. Sure. If you’re not worried about getting hurt, then whatever.” I pulled on my black Chuck Taylors and slid my keys and student ID into my purse.

“It would be major cool of you to put in a good word for me,” she suggested.

I glanced at my watch. Matt was meeting me out front in less than five minutes. “If you’re only wanting to use my friend for weird-positioned sex, what kind of good word could I possibly put in for you? That you’re flexible?”

Olivia snorted. “Duh. You’re such a nerd. You know what I mean.”

After opening the door, I smiled as if I knew, but I didn’t, nor did I enjoy imagining Ben having upside-down oral sex with her. “Later,” I said, shutting the door.

As soon as I exited the dormitory, I spotted Matt in the grass, watching his feet as he walked in a slow circle, hands tucked in his jeans pockets. His once wavy, dark blond hair was shorter, not a full buzz, but close, and those blue eyes still made me weak in the knees. Matt seemed taller, and his shoulders were definitely broader, he had thicker defined muscles and a mustache, not like Ben’sthick,unkempt whiskers. I giggled at the thought.

Matt was a god. Not my God, butagod.

“Look at you, Gabriella Jacobson,” he said as I booked it down the stairs, straight into his brawny arms for a hug. “All grown up.”

Yes!

I wanted him to see me as all grown up. A woman.Hiswoman.

When he released me, I felt the heat of Mercury in my face. Why did he have to be so handsome?

“You’ve done some growing too. Ya big jock.” I squeezed his bicep.

Matt laughed, and I realized how silly I sounded calling him a jock. Other people, like Olivia, sounded cool saying things like that, but I felt silly.

“Four years of baseball training will do that,” he said.

I clasped my hands behind my back to prevent them from squeezing anything else. “I heard you got injured and you’re done. I’m really sorry.”

“Yeah, it was a labral tear. I didn’t see my career ending in college, but …” he shrugged.

“But law school.”

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