I don’t seek out that type of hero-worship because I admit I’m not a hero to anyone.
I’m a guy who works hard to keep those around him safe and happy, and the kicker is that I get to enjoy that and make a living doing something I love.
My comment about doing things that would rate high on her blush factor scale did indeed send a rosy hue over her delicate cheeks, but I need to stop myself because this is wrong in so many ways.
I hang my head to catch my breath.
She’s a virgin.
She is a virgin.
I’m not.
I almost laugh aloud at that because I lost my virginity a hell of a long time ago. Long enough to forget many of the small details that brought me to that moment, but I do remember that it was special even though the entire thing was quick.
“Like what?”
My head snaps up when I hear those two words come from her mouth.
“What?” I ask, knowing full well what she just said.
“Like what?” she repeats in a soft tone edged with a nervous tremor.
I sit in silence, weighing the consequences if I tell her that when I was twenty-one, I was seeking out pussy like it was my next meal.
It was sometimes. At that age, I would have gladly given up food for days just to fuck. I often did just that.
Much of that is a blur, but some of it is still crystal clear to me.
“You said that Professor Stein helped you when you were in college,” she begins before she takes a pause, “Did you know her when you were twenty-one?”
She’s hopped back on the fishing boat and is navigating into the murky waters that are past that I share with Erin.
“Yes,” I answer simply. “We knew each other.”
Something shifts in her expression. I can read most people, but this pink-haired beauty has me perplexed.
“She’s a very intelligent, successful woman,” she states.
Erin is all of that and more, but we’re friends, and I can’t tell if Faith wants or needs to hear that, so I offer it up on a silver platter just in case. “She’s been a good friend to me.”
Her brows pop up. “Oh, a friend.”
“A mentor,” I add. “A confidante at times. We’ve seen each other through some difficult moments, triumphs as well.”
I stop there because tooting Erin Stein’s horn is not the reason I invited Faith to my home tonight.
I wanted her here so I could stare at her and learn more about her.
So far, I’ve nailed the first part of that, and the only knowledge I’ve gained is that she prefers the long-winded ramblings of a neuroscientist to a pop playlist.
“It’s good to have a friend like that,” she says as if she’s reassuring herself that it’s a positive thing.
Since I read a fair number of her recent diary entries, I ask a question I already know the answer to, but it does lead me away from temptation, which is all I want at this moment.
“Do you have a friend like that, Faith?”
Her perfect lips dip into a frown. “No. I don’t have a lot of friends.”
I didn’t dive into the pages of her diary written when she was a teenager, because eww, but I know from what I read that there’s a Gwynn in her life and the woman I met the other night, Sadie.
“Sadie seems great.”
A smile tugs at her mouth, and I want to keep it there, so I continue talking, “The fact that she sent you home with enough food to last at least two weeks shows she’s looking out for you. Beyond that, she’s a doctor. She understands what you’re going through.”
Listen to me being all supportive and shit.
It would be admirable if I didn’t keep stealing glances at her tits.
“That’s very true,” she agrees with me. “I’m super lucky I met her.”
“I’m sure she feels the same way about you.”
Her blue eyes search my face. “You’re just as fascinating as I am.”
Something cracks deep inside of me because that has to be one of the kindest compliments I’ve ever received. Misplaced? Yes, but still kind.
“I’m glad you think so, Faith.”
She busies herself by scrunching the linen napkin in front of her in her fist. “I guess I should go home.”
“To study?”
Nodding, she sighs. “One day that will be over, right?”
“One day,” I assure her. “But, you’ll still have the urge to learn. You crave it, don’t you?”
I silently scold myself for sending this conversation back to a place in my filthy mind where she asks me to teach her things, things that my cock will like very much.
“Knowledge?” she asks hesitantly. “Are you asking me if I crave knowledge?”
“And experiences,” I add on for good measure.
For the first time since we met, I see a fire in her eyes. Those brilliant blue eyes open wide, and desire is there, swimming in their depths as she studies me with stuttered breaths falling from between her lips. “Yes, I crave those things.”