Page 108 of Going Viral for Christmas
“Swear on my PhD.”
Ava’s nodding. “I’ve read the draft. It’shot.”
“You’re telling me your best friend—” Fisher points between them, scandalized. “—writes academic sex essays by day and scorching fuck fiction by night?”
“Multitudes.” Emily stands, takes a bow.
“Where do you get your inspiration?” Fisher leans in with the same curiosity he reserves for gossip and glitter.
Emily sips her drink, eyes glinting. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“I would.Desperately.Are you pulling from real life? Academic journals? Late-night Reddit threads? Volunteers? I’m available.” Fisher winks.
“My research focuses on digital intimacy—more specifically, online hookups and how technology mediates sexual exploration.”
I sit next to Ava. “So...Tinder.”
“Bumble, Grindr, secret alt Tumblr accounts, but Romance Roulette is my main focus right now,” she says. “There’s a whole world of anonymous desire out there. And it’s all data.”
Fisher downs his drink, signals the waiter for another. Ava’s laughing now, her hand lightly brushes my knee when she scratches her leg. My cock jumps at the contact. She doesn’t seem to notice she touched me, or she’s pretending not to. Either way, I’m not about to move.
“Don’t let her fool you,” Ava says. “Emily once created a fake dating profile as part of her research at Amherst. She went on fivedates and ended up in a swingers bar crawl in Detroit posing as a couple with some guy named Vlad.”
Emily snickers. “That guy’s back tattoo said‘Penis Precision’—in Old English font. Like a medieval dick sniper.”
Fisher wheezes. “I would marry him on the spot.”
“He was very flexible. Definitely knew where to aim.” Emily chuckles.
“You’re the most fascinating person I’ve ever met,” I tell her.
“I know,” she says, without a trace of shame.
We all laugh again, but the energy has changed. The alcohol has warmed our limbs–and loins. The neon of the axe-throwing lanes casts a strange intimacy, and there’s a magnetic pull in the air that keeps bringing my attention back to Ava.
Her hand is still near mine, resting on the seat of her chair. Her thigh brushes against mine every so often. And every time, my body reacts, the touch continues to shoot straight to my cock.
Ava catches my eye with a crooked smile. “You’re good at this.”
“At what?”
“Throwing sharp objects. Winning over my family. Making Emily blush.”
“I haven’t even started with Emily,” I say. “Give me time.”
Emily points at me. “You’re on thin ice, Pembry.”
“Good thing I broughtThe Blade.”
Ava groans, but she’s grinning. That’s when I lean into her and drop my voice an octave. “I meant it, you know.”
Her smile slips. “Meant what?”
“What I said earlier. To your family.”
Her skeptical expression flits between longing and fear, both of them cycling in an instant. “Soren…”
“I’m not trying to trap you.” My words are gentle. “Just asking you to stop running…foronesecond. Maybe catch your breath.”
