Chapter 4

Ren held hands with Scarlet as they approached the dining halls, scanning their IDs at the door. "How did you do on your math test?" he asked.

"I aced it," she replied.

"Aced it?"

"Yep. I aced the sucker."

"Are we talking 4.0 GPA?"

"I'm not getting my hopes up. I'll be happy with Dean's List."

He snorted. "I'd be happy keeping my scholarship. My dinky ten grand scholarship." He carried his tray to the table and Scarlet sat across from him. "Do you remember me saying you remind me of someone?"

"Yeah..."

"I figured out who." He retrieved his cell phone and opened it. "McKenzie Phillips."

"Oh -- she's way prettier than I am."

"I mean young McKenzie Phillips -- from American Graffiti days." He turned the screen toward her. "This is a still from the movie."

"She has a much nicer nose."

"There is nothing wrong with your nose. Look -- there is a resemblance. She has the same chin, the same shape face ... the same high forehead ... same mouth..."

"Same ugly mouth."

"She even has a dimple in her chin like you do."

"Yeah -- rub it in." Scarlet regarded the image. "Her teeth are straight."

"Yours will be, some day." He put his phone away.

"I was talking to my mom," she said.

"About what?"

"About us. Mom said the real test of a man isn't how he makes love but how he makes amends. Mom thinks a man can't help but hurt his woman. Men are by nature selfish and self-centered and they don't think through their actions. It's built into their biology. What counts is how he makes up for it."

"So -- we can't help but screw up."

"That's what Mom thinks."

"What have you told her about me?"

"Everything."

"Everything?"

"Yes -- everything."

"What's her assessment?"

"Well ... She said you'll be my partner, not hers. If it were her call, she wouldn't -- the risks are too high. But -- I said I had a feeling about you and she said those count for a lot. And, she'll support me in whatever decision I make."

"Have I made amends?"

"You've been very attentive, Ren. The past two weeks have been wonderful."

"I've enjoyed the past two weeks, too. Have I earned your trust?"

"You've demonstrated your sincerity and I do trust you, Ren. Trust is so important to me in a relationship."

"Does that mean you forgive me?"

"I won't hold it against you, Ren; but I don't want to forgive you. Forgiving means forgetting and I don't want to forget ... because it was such an important turning point in our relationship."

"Can't you forgive and not forget?"

"Then, you haven't really forgiven, have you? I'd rather say we should look forward and not dwell on what we've left behind."

Ren nodded. "That sounds sensible." He regarded her empty plate. "Are you ready for some soft-serve?"

She smiled. "I'd love some."

Ren returned with two dishes. He handed her one drenched in chocolate syrup and covered with mini chocolate chips and colored sprinkles. "Wow," she remarked.

"To celebrate acing your math test. Then, we need to head over to the Downer, check out that exhibit and be back in time for the movie"

Ren escorted Scarlet from the lecture hall and toward Lawler Hall. "Nine Songs," he remarked. "That's what it was -- nine songs alternating with nine sex scenes. I'm surprised you wanted to see that film. It seemed to me it was nothing but porn -- hard-core porn."

"It was explicit, for sure," she replied, "but it wasn't porn. Porn is puerile and panders to fantasies ... primarily male fantasies. There's no emotion, there's no relationship and the actors are merely objects. This film attempted to portray realistically the physical and emotional stages of a relationship. It's the difference between porn and erotica."

"I get it -- it's the emotional connection between the characters that makes the difference."

"Precisely. I think that's what women want in a film. For example, I resonated with the scene in which the girl was in tears while her man was trying to comfort her."

"I'm sure you would."

"Every woman would. It's like Mom said -- being hurt by your man is part and parcel of having a relationship."

"What matters is how he makes up."

"Right."

"You've been hurt by other men -- haven't you?"

She drew in a breath. "I have."

"Someone who couldn't make amends?"

"Ren -- I'm not going to pry into your prior girlfriends. Please respect my privacy on that score."

"Fair enough." They paused for a walk light and crossed the street. "I didn't think that movie had to show her jerking the guy off like that," he said. "I didn't need to see that."

"Ren -- I do believe you have a streak of prudery in you!"

"Maybe I do." They reached the lobby at Lawler hall. Ren embraced her and kissed her lips. "I had a good time," he said, "as usual."

"I had a wonderful time." They kissed again. Scarlet smiled. "Care to come upstairs?"

"I'd love to."

Scarlet opened the door with her ID card and they climbed the stairs. She let him into her room. "I need to take out my contacts," she said. "I'll give you my ID if you need to..."

"I'm good," he replied.

"Be right back."

Ren noticed her iPod sitting on her desk in a speaker dock. He turned it on, manipulated it and found some quiet music. Scarlet returned. "That's nice," she remarked. "I like that artist."

She approached him and they embraced again. Scarlet kissed him, tugged on his lip with her teeth and covered his face with kisses. She kissed him again, her tongue exploring his mouth.

Ren stroked her face. "What brought that on?" She smiled and shrugged. "Did that film give you ideas?"

She smiled. "Maybe. In general, I don't like watching porn because of the reasons I mentioned."

"But this was relationship porn," he remarked. "Are you telling me that women will respond to sexually explicit, relationship-oriented material?"

She smiled again. "Well," she said sweetly, "This woman does."

"Is that why you wanted to see it?"

"No. I read about it and I was intrigued. When you said it was showing ... I figured, why not?" She opened a drawer. "I have something to show you." She removed the bottle of Bacardi he had left behind. Ren took it from her. "I haven't touched it -- I don't drink alone."

"There's plenty left. Do you have any Coke?"

"I do." She opened her mini-fridge and retrieved a litre bottle. Then, she handed him the glasses.

He poured rum into the glasses and topped it with cola. "Cheers."

"Cheers." They tapped rims and she drank from hers. "Excuse me," she said, holding her fist to her mouth. "Problem with carbonated drinks -- they make me burp. I felt that one in my nose."

Ren sat on the bunk she used as a day bed. Scarlet placed her glass on the window sill and then sat on his lap. They kissed again and he caressed her cheek. "Do you really want this?" he asked.

"Don't you?"

"Yes, I do -- and for the right reason."

"What's that?"

"Because I've fallen in love with you, Scarlet. Do you believe me?"

"I do."

"Trust me?"

"I do."

"Love me?"

"Oh, I do. I've been wanting this, too ... for the same reason. I think you've been holding back. You probably figured I'd assume any move would be insincere."

"You know me pretty well."

"Let's say, I have you figured out pretty well. " She unbuttoned the center button of his shirt, slipped her fingers inside and caressed his chest.

"We have one little problem, though," he said. "Last time I was here I was prepared with a condom in my pocket. Not so tonight."

"That's pretty ill-prepared of you," she remarked.

"If it's not too much of a passion-killer I could run back to my room..."

"You'd do that, Ren?"

"Of course. It's the guy's responsibility to make sure his woman is protected."

"I like your attitude," she replied. "But, no need. I'm on the pill."

"You are?"

"Yes. Mom thought it was a good idea and I like how it regulates my periods. I don't have any diseases, Ren, so unless..."

"I'm clean -- I've never done it without a condom." Ren kissed her again.

"Neither have I."

"Then, in a way you ARE a virgin."

"In a way we're both virgins, Ren."

He traced the neckline of her blouse and then smoothed his hand along her chest and cupped his palm over her breast. It felt like the rest of her -- solid. He began unbuttoning her blouse. She pulled it from the waistband of her skirt and slipped it from her shoulders. Ren traced her bra straps from one shoulder, down and across and back up. He reached around her and unhooked the back strap. Scarlet leaned forward and let the garment slip from her arms.

Ren found himself gazing on her full, round, D-cup sized breasts. "Wow," he said, "you are well-endowed. I think you deliberately wear clothes that minimize your assets."

"I don't like guys looking at me," she replied, "because I know they're not looking at my face."

"There is nothing wrong with your face," he replied. "So what if you don't look like Nicole Kidman. Hell -- I don't look like Brad Pitt but it doesn't bother me. In my eyes there is no other girl in the world more beautiful than you, Scarlet."

"Except for McKenzie Phillips as a thirteen-year-old," she replied.

"Not even." He cupped his hand under her breast and lifted it to his lips. "You keep these cooped up all day ... it's time to let those beauties roam."

Ren ran his fingers across her breasts. Her pink, fleshy nipples firmed and he regarded her wide, tan, oval areolas. He cupped his mouth over her breast, rimmed her areola with his tongue and sucked on her nipple. "Feels nice," she said softly.

"Your nipples got firm," he said. "Are you warm enough?"

"It's not from being cold," she replied.

"Maybe we should move our base of operations to the bed."

Scarlet stood. She picked up her glass and drained it. He carried both glasses to the desk. "Care for a refill?" he asked.

"Okay."

He retrieved the cola bottle from her fridge and mixed it with more rum. She sipped from hers. "I'm feeling it," she said.

"Feel good?"

"Mmm ... Nice." She approached him and began unbuttoning his shirt. Ren slipped it from his shoulders, then slipped off his jeans and stood before her in his briefs. She stepped out of her skirt and stood before him in hers.

Ren scanned her long, robust legs. Her thighs were like her calves -- muscular but nicely formed. Her whole body was a near perfect balance of athleticism and softness. "You are sensational ... gorgeous," he said. "I have never seen a sexier woman."

"Never?"

"Never." He took her hand and pressed it against his lower abdomen so she could feel his firm erection through the fabric of his briefs. "This is what you do to me."

Scarlet turned back her covers and slid between her sheets. Ren joined her. He kissed her lips, nose, chin and neck and he fondled her ample breasts. Scarlet gazed into his eyes and caressed his cheeks.

She relaxed on her back. He knelt near her and worked her breasts with both hands, massaging her flesh and pinching and rolling her nipples. "That is one world-class bosom," he said. "No silicone here." He knelt and covered her belly with soft kisses. "Look at this..."

"What?"

He ran his finger from her navel up between her breasts. "You have a little line of fine, brown hair. It goes all the way up."

"You had to notice! I hate that."

"I love it. It's one of those little things lovers discover ... like a birthmark. It makes you more real."

"This feels really good, Ren. I want to sit up for a minute."

He sat with his back against her pillow and she nestled against him. Picking up her glass she drained it and set it down. "Care for another?" he asked.