Learning Curves
Chapter 2

Copyright© 2017 by Jay Cantrell

Romantic Sex Story: Chapter 2 - Hailey Warren brutally rejected Phil Warner during their first days on campus and sent the young man into a tailspin that lasted months. Now necessity and desire have brought them together. It might last - if they can put aside their anger and distrust long enough to get to know one another.

Caution: This Romantic Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa   Fa/Fa   Teenagers   Consensual   Romantic  

Hailey wasn’t particularly bothered by Philip’s assessment of her. She fully understood that being popular automatically made you unpopular with certain elements. What she couldn’t understand was why Philip had been openly hostile toward her from the moment she had spoken to him.

She would do her best to impress his parents – David and Beth, she reminded herself – and they would make sure that Philip made room for her on his travels home. It would be much more convenient – and reliable – than having her mother come to pick her up.

Picco’s was a very upscale restaurant and she wondered if she should change clothes. She was wearing a cashmere sweater and stylish pants and she hoped her hosts didn’t expect her to have a dress handy.

She had one in her garment bag but that was for the next evening’s festivities. She couldn’t possibly wear it two nights in row.

“Excuse me, Beth,” Hailey said when she came back outside. “Am I dressed appropriately? I’ve never been to Picco’s but I know it’s a very nice restaurant.”

“You’re fine, dear,” Beth replied. “Philip, however, is not. Go change into something presentable while I let your father know where to meet us.”

Phil bit back a reply but did as he was bid. The sooner he got on with things the sooner the night would be over. He returned a few minutes later wearing a pair of cotton pants and a pullover rugby shirt. Beth frowned slightly but the look on her son’s face let her know this was the best she was going to get from him.

She ignored him and went back to her conversation with Hailey Warren as they headed for the garage.

The drive into the city went exactly as Phil had expected. They took his mother’s car, newer and roomier than Phil’s, and Phil took the backseat so his mother would be the one forced to engage Hailey in conversation.

Hailey regaled Beth Warner with life on campus, the awards she’d won and the people she’d met. It was more than Phil had offered his parents in the few times he’d been home. His parents expected college to be exactly like high school had been.

Phil had been popular in high school. He was friendly with a variety of groups, ranging from the fashionistas to the pseudo-Goths. He played on the soccer and baseball teams. He was Homecoming King and class president.

College was different.

At Heilman, he was nobody. In fact, he was less than nobody. Part of the problem was that he lived off campus. He didn’t get a ready-made set of acquaintances – who might later become friends – by living in a freshman dorm.

He also was taking a heavier class load than most of the freshmen. He had taken every Advanced Placement course offered at his high school and had picked up a class or two each summer at the SouthPointe branch of the state university.

Thus he had most of his core requirements out of the way and was taking second- and third-year courses. That meant most of his classmates were sophomores and juniors. They already had a group of friends and they didn’t really want an 18-year-old freshman tagging along with them.

But in Phil’s mind there was one main reason he had no real friends at Heilman College: Hailey Warren, bitch extraordinaire.

“Philip, are you listening to me?” his mother asked – apparently not for the first time.

“No,” Phil replied. “Not in the slightest.”

The response seemed to catch both Hailey and his mother off guard as both were silent for a moment or two.

“Hailey was telling me about the courses she’s taking this year,” Beth recounted. “She’s a business major just like you but she says you’re not in any of her classes.”

“Not a one,” Phil answered. Hailey looked at him as though she expected him to elaborate. He didn’t.

“Why aren’t you?” Hailey asked. “I mean, Heilman only offers one course on Introductory Business Principles and one ethics course. You have to take both of them in order to start 200-level courses.”

Sophomore courses were designated 200-level.

“I took equivalent courses last summer at the university,” Phil replied. “I didn’t want to waste time on freshmen courses. Heilman is too expensive to take five years to get through there.”

Hailey didn’t know exactly how much it cost to go to Heilman College. She earned a partial scholarship – and she considered her mother to be relatively well-off. But she could see where Philip’s family might have trouble paying his way. She was surprised when Beth broke out into laughter.

“Oh, yes, Philip, I’m sure you’re worried about where the money will come from,” she said. “I’m positive you’re checking in your couch cushions for grocery money every day.”

“Mother,” Phil said warningly. The topic of money wasn’t something he wanted to get into – particularly not with Hailey Warren around.

“Fine,” Beth said as they pulled into Picco’s parking lot.


The hostess greeted Beth Warner warmly – which surprised Hailey somewhat.

“Your usual table?” the young woman asked with a smile.

Beth agreed and the young woman looked past Hailey to Phil. Hailey decided the woman was plain-looking. She didn’t have to be, she thought, but she seemed to choose to be. It put her off slightly to be completely ignored by a restaurant employee but she decided it had more to do with the woman knowing her hosts and not knowing Hailey.

“Hi, Phil,” she said brightly.

“Hey, Lauren,” Phil replied. “Still working here weekends, I see.”

“I sort of enjoy it,” the young woman answered. “I took your advice. I’m taking hotel and restaurant management courses. Dad is really happy. Thanks.”

Phil smiled at the young woman warmly and she led them to a private room in the back of the restaurant. Hailey was suitably impressed but she maintained her air of disinterest. She hoped Beth didn’t have an idea about trying to fix her up with Philip. He was a handsome man but she was only interested in guys who had status on campus or money. Philip, it seemed to her, had neither.

It was only a few minutes later when an older version of Philip came walking in. He greeted his wife with a kiss on the cheek and gave his son a hug. Then he extended a hand in Hailey’s direction.

He had barely sat down when he pulled a vial out of his pocket and passed it across to Hailey.

“Here, smell this and tell me what you think,” he said.

“David!”

“Dad!”

David Warner glanced at his wife and his son sort of sheepishly.

“It’s not the skunk-berry cologne I gave you last year,” he told Philip. “I swear. It’s a new fragrance of shampoo we’re working on. The company wants to market it to the college-age female crowd. It’s lavender and chamomile. I figured I’d get some research done.”

“I don’t mind,” Hailey said, holding out her hand. David unscrewed the top from the vial and passed it across. “This is pretty nice. You say it’s for shampoo?”

“Shampoo, body wash, maybe lotion,” David said, smiling.

“David is a chemist for a cosmetics firm,” Beth related. “You’ll have to excuse him. Remember what I said about that single-minded pursuit of a goal.”

Hailey laughed pleasantly. She started to tilt the vial to put a little of the liquid on her finger. Phil reached across and stopped her.

“Don’t do that!” David said urgently.

Hailey looked confused. The mixture smelled really nice and she thought it might make a nice perfume.

“It’s hard to tell what he’s used to make it smell that way,” Phil said, rolling his eyes. “He’ll have to break down the compositions to make sure it won’t melt your skin away when you use it.”

Hailey’s eyes widened.

“It’s not that bad,” David said, taking the vial back and screwing the top back on. “It’s not like I used battery acid and strychnine. But it still needs FDA approval before I let you put any on your skin. I just hit on the combination this week. I’ll have the approval in a month or so and this should hit the market right about Christmas time. I’ll make sure Philip gives you a sample of it beforehand.”

Hailey nodded her agreement as the waitress came and took their drink order. She was surprised that neither David nor Beth ordered anything alcoholic, sticking with iced tea and water with lemon instead. Her mother would sample about half the wines in a place like this before choosing something appropriate. But she didn’t say anything. Perhaps it was a religious thing.

Dinner conversation revolved around Heilman College and David’s work. Hailey knew that Beth worked somewhere but it couldn’t be anywhere interesting because she contributed little to the conversation about her own day. In fact, she directed the conversation away from her activities when either her husband or her son asked. Hailey decided she was probably embarrassed by her occupation.

Hailey was also surprised that Philip, who had been surly the entire time she had known him, was pleasant during dinner. He seemed to be able to hold his own in the conversations that ranged from women’s fashions at college to the city’s beleaguered baseball franchise. He was also polite to Hailey during the entire meal.

She was surprised that she found herself enjoying the company of the entire family. They went out of their way to include her in conversation and they treated her as if they’d known her for years.

Of course she noticed they treated the wait staff the same way. They were midway through dessert when Hailey’s cell phone buzzed. She had noticed that the others had turned all their phones off while they dined. But since she was still waiting to hear from her mother, she turned hers to vibrate only. Beth assured her that they understood completely. But when it buzzed, Hailey politely excused herself and moved to the back of the room to talk to her mother.

Despite her politeness, the Warners overheard her end of the conversation. It started out well enough.

“I’m dining in a private room at Picco’s,” she told her mother. Phil rolled his eyes at his parents at the evident glee in Hailey’s voice. Hailey listened to her mother’s reply before she spoke again.

“The family of the guy I rode home with invited me,” she informed her mother. Phil tried to restart the conversation with his parents but his mother tuned out when she heard Hailey’s voice raise slightly.

“Where am I supposed to go?” she asked her mother. “I already have him driving me all over the city just to get home. I’m supposed to tell him to wait until midnight to drop me off? Why can’t I come to your office?”

Beth pursed her lips while pretending to be interested in whatever her husband and son were discussing.

“Where are you?” Hailey asked and then waited for the answer. “Mother!”

She was silent for a moment.

“Mother, I don’t know these people,” Hailey said as softly as she could. “I don’t even know the guy who brought me home. I can’t just invite myself to spend time with them. Fine, I’ll make some calls. I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”

Beth sighed deeply and knew she was going to impose upon her son’s good nature once again.


If Beth Warner hadn’t been eavesdropping on Hailey Warren’s conversation, she would have overheard what her son and husband were discussing: Hailey Warren.

“She’s pretty,” David told his son. He shifted his chair over to sit next to Phil.

“It is only skin deep, Dad,” Phil said. “I think Mom picked up on it. Hailey thinks the whole world revolves around Hailey.”

“When we all know it revolves around you,” David replied with a practiced smile. His son knew he was joking. They had never allowed Philip to get too high an opinion of himself.

“It should,” Phil answered. “I’ll tell you about it sometime. But she is not the type person you want me bringing around the family very frequently. In fact, Dad, I think she is exactly the type woman you and Mom always warned me away from.”

“Really?” David asked. He hazarded a glance at Hailey. He had bought enough presents for his wife to know that the young woman was wearing $400 in clothing and probably another $250 in jewelry.

“Maybe not that type,” Phil admitted. “But she is fake, Dad. She gets by on looks and reputation. Again, this isn’t really the place for this conversation. I’ll tell you about it later.”

David smiled at his son. He was glad that college hadn’t changed his personality. He also thought back to how Beth had changed the topic whenever it came around to her. With a shrug, he turned the conversation toward other things just as Hailey sat back down.

“Problem, Dear?” Beth asked when she saw the look on Hailey’s face. Hailey had tried to mask her frustration but Beth was a master of seeing through facades.

“My mother is not going to be back until later tonight,” Hailey admitted. “And it appears that my friends are all still at school.”

“Well, we have a spare room and you’re welcome to it,” Beth said. Phil bit the inside of his lip to keep from exploding.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Hailey said.

“And you haven’t,” Beth assured her with a smile. “I offered it to you. Philip can drive you home in the morning just as easily as this evening.”

“Are you sure?” Hailey asked. It was the perfect solution to her problem but she preferred to have someone else point that out.

“Of course,” Beth said. “Philip won’t mind at all. Will you, Philip?”

Phil was seated opposite his mother. He saw the look on her face and knew it was risky to defy her when she looked at him that way.

“I was planning to meet up with some friends this evening,” he said, throwing caution to the wind.

“I’m sure Hailey won’t be averse to seeing some of the hotspots of SouthPointe,” Beth said, giving Phil her warmest smile. “If fact, why don’t you take your father’s car. He and I have some errands to run before we head home. You have your keys, right?”

Phil closed his eyes for a moment before the perfect opportunity came to him.

“Sure,” he said, finally. “Hailey, are you okay with that?”

She wasn’t but she couldn’t very well say that to a family that was being so hospitable.

“That sounds like fun,” she said in her brightest voice. It was the last response Phil had expected.

“Perfect,” he muttered.


The ride back to SouthPointe was, thankfully for Phil, shorter than the trip into the city. It was also relatively silent. Hailey seemed content to pretend she wasn’t unwanted baggage. Phil seemed content to pretend that Hailey wasn’t really there.

Neither said much of anything until they pulled into a parking lot near a nightclub.

“We can’t get in there!” Hailey said. “We’re not 21. I didn’t bring my fake ID with me.”

Phil started to ignore the outburst but decided he should clarify some things. About the last thing he needed was to try to bail Hailey Warren out of jail on an early Saturday morning.

“They’ll stamp your hand when you enter,” he said. “Under no circumstances should you attempt to purchase alcohol. You shouldn’t accept a drink anyone else offers you. They are either a narc or they will expect you to put out for it. Most of the people will be nice to you. Some of them might be overly nice to you. A lot of the people in there are our age but some are in their 30s. I advise you to stay completely away from anyone old enough to remember the 1980s. They’ll view you as fresh meat.”

“So I’m supposed to hang out with you and your dork friends?” Hailey asked.

“Normally I would avoid you like herpes,” Phil replied. “But since my mother has apparently made it my responsibility to ensure your safety I think you should avoid people I don’t know. Rest assured, most of them aren’t dorks.”

“Please,” Hailey groused. “If they’re friends with you, they’re probably dorks. I mean, God, you started college at 16.”

“Whatever,” Phil said. “If you want, I’ll take you to Stony Ridge and dump you off. But I wish you would have told me before we headed in this direction.”

Hailey glared at Phil. Phil didn’t appear to care.

“Fine,” Hailey said.

“Fine what?” Phil asked. “Do you want to go home or do you want to go in?”

“Let’s go in,” Hailey said. “I can put up with lame-o’s for a little while.”

“Believe me, it will be a bigger trial for them to be nice to you than for you to ignore them,” Phil replied.

The pair walked in silence to the club. There were a few people waiting outside but Phil didn’t stop to stand in line. He walked up to the doorman. Hailey figured he was going to ask how long the wait would be – or even if a dork like Phil stood a shot at getting in at all.

The people outside were dressed well. Although SouthPointe wasn’t as affluent as Stony Ridge, it was still an upscale suburb.

“Phil, I’ll be damned!” the man at the door said. “How’s the world treating you, college boy?”

“Like a dog treats a fire hydrant, Roy,” Phil said with a wry smile. “How’s the little one?”

“Not so little now,” the man replied with a laugh. “I got another one on the way.”

“You know, there are ways to avoid that,” Phil joked.

Roy looked over Phil’s shoulder.

“She with you or is she trying to sneak in on your coattails?” he asked. Phil glanced back and saw Hailey standing there. For a moment he had forgotten her presence.

“With me, I guess,” Phil replied. Roy stepped from in front of the door and opened it. Phil let Hailey lead the way. She stopped almost as soon as she crossed the threshold. The place was a lot nicer than she expected – particularly since Philip had no trouble getting in. In fact, it compared favorably to some of the clubs she frequented at college.

There was a large bar in the center of the large room. The tables were on raised platforms along three walls. An open area behind the bar provided a roomy dance floor. She glanced around and saw a wide age range among the patrons. But most of them looked around college age.

“Come on,” Phil said loudly to be heard over the music. He headed off toward an area on the left side of the bar. He got about halfway across the room when an enormous black man stepped in front of him.

“Mind if I dance with yo’ date?” he asked in an exaggerated manner.

“Uh, no,” Phil replied. He cast a nervous look at Hailey who looked terrified. “But she’s not my date.”

“What fun is that?” the man asked as he grabbed Phil and gave him a hug. “Good to see you, man. This town just isn’t the same without you.”

“I figured you’d be in spring practice,” Phil said.

“Next week,” the man said. “This is the end of my quarter break. Who’s your friend?”

Phil glanced again at Hailey who was watching the exchange with rapt attention.

“Just a girl I go to school with,” Phil said.

Hailey’s eyes narrowed at the description.

“Hailey Warren, meet Terrence Grant,” Phil said. “He goes to Wisconsin.”

“Wisconsin?” Hailey asked.

“Big state, just north of Illinois,” Phil replied.

“I know where it is,” Hailey groused. “It just seems pretty far away. Jeez, I thought Heilman was far away.”

“She’s not a fan,” Phil said to Terrence. He turned to Hailey. “Terrence is a linebacker on their football team – second-team All-America last season.”

Hailey was impressed. She had dated a football player (during the season only, of course) and she knew that a school the size of Wisconsin had to have much better players than Heilman.

“Thanks to Phil,” Terrence told Hailey.

Hailey glanced at her host again. She couldn’t possibly see how a guy Phil’s size could help a behemoth the size of Terrence at football. Her puzzlement showed on her face.

“My dad threw me out of the house my last year in high school,” Terrence explained. “I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. Phil saw me sitting on the curb with my shit spread out around me. He took me home with him, introduced me to his parents and they let me stay.”

“Do you still live with them?” Hailey asked. She didn’t mean to be insensitive but she had been promised a spare bed in the house.

“Nah,” Terrence said. “I did my freshman year at Wisconsin. But my Mom got fed up with Dad’s shit and gave him the boot. But it was more than just giving me a place to stay. They, I don’t know, they cared about me. They didn’t care about football. They cared about me, Terrence Grant. I didn’t have that before.”

Hailey noticed the big man’s eyes got a little wet.

“They still do,” Terrence said. “I always stop in to see them when I’m home. They ask me about my love life. They ask me about my studies. They ask me about almost everything but football. It’s not that they aren’t interested but it’s not their only interest.”

Phil was uncomfortable with the open praise of his family. He had been a freshman in high school when he saw the team’s star player sitting on a curb looking lost. He hadn’t intended for the guy to live with him. He only knew that his Mom or Dad would have a solution to Terrence’s problem. He was right and Phil didn’t regret having a surrogate big brother for a couple of years.

“I’m going to get us something to drink,” Phil said. “Hailey, do you have a preference?”

“Uh, I’m not sure,” she said.

“I’ll wing it,” Phil decided. “Tee, can you hang out with her and keep the ‘Over the Hill Gang’ away from her?”

“Sure, Phil,” Terrence answered. He led Hailey to a table and they sat.

“Phil is a damn fine person,” Terrence said with obvious emotion as they sat down.

“I don’t really know him,” Hailey admitted.

“You really should take the time to get to know him,” Terrence replied. “I swear, he could run for Mayor and win in a landslide. I’ll bet there aren’t 100 people in this town who don’t know him. And if you know Phil, you like him. The same with his folks.”

He glanced at Hailey.

“If you don’t know him, what are doing here with him?” he asked.

Hailey explained her situation. Terrence started nodding and smiling. It sounded exactly like something the Warners would do.

“They’re solid,” Terrence said with a firm nod. “With everything they got going on, they still make time for each other and for anyone who needs a hand.”

“Everything they have going on... ?” Hailey began but Terrence was on his feet.

“Shit!” he said. “The Barracuda’s here.”

“The who?” Hailey asked, glancing in the same direction at the larger man.

“Emily Rayford,” he said with a groan. “Her family used to be the biggest name in town. Her dad works for the governor and she was super popular, I guess. Then Phil and his family moved in and she fell down the totem pole, you know. She did whatever she could to cut him down but he never took the bait. Once she hit high school, she figured out her way back to the top was to hitch her wagon to Phil. She has chased him for four years now.”

“She’s pretty,” Hailey said, eyebrows arched.

“She’s trouble,” Terrence said. “Phil’s always polite to her but she won’t take no for an answer. I hoped she’d find someone at college and let him be. He’s got too good a future to let her drag him down.”

Hailey looked at the larger man. His words made absolutely no sense to her. The guy was just a dweeb freshman. Sure, his family was sweet but a lot of kids had nice families. A worried look crossed the big man’s face.

“She caught up to him,” he said. “Damn it.”

“So go help him,” Hailey said.

“That’s not Phil’s way,” Terrence answered. “He’d never let someone step in front of a bullet for him. Emily is vengeful.”

“I’ll do it,” Hailey decided. “He doesn’t like me either.”

She sauntered across the room, giving her hips an extra sway and unbuttoning the top button of her sweater.

Phil was doing his best to keep a civil tone but it was becoming more and more difficult.

“Hi, sweetie,” Hailey said, taking a blue drink from his hand and putting her arm around his waist. “Is this another of your friends?”

She handed the drink back to Phil and extended her hand to Emily.

“I’m Hailey,” she said brightly, “Philip’s girlfriend.”

Emily’s gaze swept from Hailey Warren back to Phil Warner and then down to the hand extended in her direction. She grudgingly took the hand and shook it.

“I’m Emily,” she said in a frosty voice. “You’re his girlfriend?”

“Oh, yeah,” Hailey said. “I’m so lucky. Philip has his pick, you know. Well, you already know that. I mean, you can’t live here and not know Philip and his family. I live in Stony Ridge. Once we found how much we had in common, we just hit it off. I’m really lucky.”

Emily glanced toward Phil for a moment before looking back at Hailey.

“Well, that’s great,” Emily said. There was no friendliness in her voice. “No one has ever caught Phil before. You must have something the rest of us don’t.”

“Oh, I doubt it,” Hailey said, her eyes narrowing dangerously. “I think it’s more a matter that I didn’t throw myself at him like a common street hooker. I took the time to get to know him rather than simply focus on what he and his family might be able to do for me. It’s really that simple.”

Emily’s eyes flashed as Phil bit off a chuckle.

“I saw your friend Terrence over there, sweetie,” Hailey said, putting a hand on Phil’s elbow. “It was nice to meet you, Amelia.”

“Emily!” the other girl said but Hailey and Phil were already on their way across the room.

“We’re even,” Phil said.

“What?” Hailey asked absently. Her mind was focused on the absolute lie she had just told the Barracuda. She realized she was exactly like the young woman she’d just pulled Phil away from.

“We’re even for the ride,” Phil said. “Thanks. I don’t really like to be nasty to her but she really can’t take a hint.”

Edited by Pixel The Cat and BlackIrish; Proofread by Zom.

Chapter 3 »

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