Chapter 15

We arrived at Brazos House and Leanne ran inside. I sat in her car, worried about the state of my apartment. Jordan and Danielle could still be there, waiting for the beds to be delivered, or they could be packing up more stuff to take over to their place. Barring those issues, there was the fact that the place would probably be a mess. There was even the possibility that they had convinced the delivery men to move not only Jordan's bed, but the furniture in the living room too, which would leave Leanne and me nothing to sit on except the floor. Maybe going to my place wasn't such a good idea.

Then I saw Leanne returning from the dorm. She had changed her clothes and carried two bags rather than one. Her top was made of the same material but rather than conceal her shape with billowing volume, it flowed with her curves, making her look even more buxom. In place of the loose skirt, she put on a pair of shorts that were just as form-fitting as her new top. There was also a difference in her stride. She was nervous but excited, anticipatory. She opened the back door on her side, and dumped the bags on the back seat. Then she got in and started up the car, throwing me another hundred megawatt smile.

All thoughts of my apartment's condition were gone.

We made it to my place without much fuss. I spotted Jordan's car parked in front of her building, so they had apparently allowed me further privacy. After we parked, Leanne retrieved her bags while I unlocked the door and reached inside to turn on the lights. Leanne smiled and walked in past me. I followed her, not sure what to expect.

The components for my new desk were stacked neatly by the wall next to the main door. On top were my purchases from Mass Electronics. The rest of the living room was empty, except for my new desk chair.

Leanne looked at the stack of components for my desk. "Looks like Jordan let you off the hook about getting your desk."

I nodded. "Yeah, that was nice of her."

Leanne looked around. "It's kind of empty."

I shrugged. "I don't own anything, and as busy as I've been with school, I haven't had time to do much shopping." I went over to the kitchen and looked in the fridge. There was a gallon bottle of orange juice and a six pack of watermelon wine coolers. The rest of the fridge was empty. "Would you like something to drink?" I asked, looking up for Leanne. She was gone.

She poked her head out of the bedroom. "Sure, whatcha got?"

I glanced at the fridge again. "Orange juice and wine coolers."

"Oh, what flavor?" she asked.

I pulled one out. "Watermelon."

She nodded and pointed at the bathroom door. "Can I use the restroom?"

I nodded. "Help yourself."

She vanished inside. I set the wine cooler on the counter and looked through the cabinets for glasses. Everything was empty. I sighed and considered running over to Jordan's to borrow a couple and maybe even use her phone to call for a pizza or two, but shook it off as a bad idea.

Through the bathroom door, Leanne said, "It sure is quiet here compared to the dorm."

I nodded and said, "Yup," loud enough for her to hear me.

I walked into the bedroom to see what Jordan and Danielle had done in there. The bed wasn't just set up, which I had expected, but it was made with dark red sheets, a matching comforter, and three pillows. I didn't remember buying a set of sheets for the bed or any pillows. So where did that all come from? It also took up more space than Jordan's bed had. There was only just enough room to walk around it. It looked like Jordan had left me one of her night stands too, complete with a lamp and several candles. There was even one of those fireplace lighters in the drawer.

In the closet, all of my clothes were hung up except for my socks and underwear, which were left in one of the boxes on the floor. All of the other boxes were flattened against the back wall, as I had done at the dorm. My radio and all of my rolled up posters were on the shelf above my clothes. I pulled out the radio, took it over by the nightstand and plugged it in where the lamp was plugged in. If we wanted music, now we had it. Most of the rest of my stuff consisted of things I needed for the bathroom. Since the girls had put everything else away for me, they had probably also put my showering stuff in the bathroom. I would have to wait for Leanne to come out to find out.

"If you want," Leanne called from inside the bathroom, "you can get my papers and look them over."

I picked up her backpack, which she had left just inside the bedroom by the door. The only place for both of us to sit was on the bed, so I sat on the corner of it. I didn't want her to think I was hinting at anything. Inside her backpack, all I found were a spiral notebook and a folder marked "English." In the folder was a printout of her paper for our English assignment. I had always been a fast reader and was almost finished when the door between the bathroom and bedroom opened and Leanne came out.

At first glance, I didn't notice anything different, but as she walked in and sat next to me, subtle differences became clear. She had put on makeup and brushed out her hair. I also noticed a whiff of perfume and realized that her blouse wasn't buttoned all the way up. Tanned cleavage peaked out at me and I fought not to stare.

I found an easy excuse to look away and held up her paper. "Almost finished."

She smiled and I finished reading. "This is really good," I said.

"But?" she asked.

"But, there are a couple of misused words and some sentences that could be made a little clearer."

She nodded and took the paper to look it over. The way she held it, I had an unobstructed view of her cleavage. Unless I looked away from her completely, I couldn't help but see it. I remembered how Jordan had gone out of her way to get me to notice her on several other occasions, the latest of which was earlier today, and now I wondered if Leanne had something similar in mind. She had changed clothes, putting on an outfit that had the exact opposite intent of what she had worn to work, putting her figure out there for me to see. Not to mention the addition of her makeup and perfume.

There was the possibility that she was simply being herself. This may have been how she was used to dressing back home, and since I hadn't reacted like she expected, she didn't think anything would happen if she dressed this way while alone with me.

Of course, there was also the possibility that she was testing me. By dressing the way she was, she could have been trying to find out whether or not I was as lowly and crude as the guys in class, or even if I would respond at all, thus disproving my denial of being gay. I simply didn't know what she was thinking, and I wasn't going to blurt out a question that would embarrass us both.

I had to stop over-thinking the situation. If she wanted something to happen, she would have to make the first move. It was that simple. I was too set in my certainty that if I tried anything, she would get upset. Besides, I didn't invite her over to seduce her. If that had been the intent, I would be wearing my Fetish.

Leanne looked up. "Where's my drink?"

I blinked and then slapped my own forehead. "I'll be right back."

She smiled and nodded.

When I returned, she had scooted up to sit at the head of the bed with her back to the headboard and her legs stretched out in front of her. I handed her drink to her and contemplated where to sit without making myself look like a letch crawling up to do something she might find unwelcome.

Leanne looked up. "I think I see what you were talking about."

She had been looking at her paper, so I thought she was talking about that. "Did you find the words?"

She shook her head and set the paper aside. "No, I mean what you said back at the store about how you act around girls sometimes."

I closed my eyes and shook my head, fighting the urge to run off and find someplace to hide. "Great, you must think I'm creepy."

She laughed and sat up, pulling her legs into Indian style. "No, you're not creepy." She patted the bed next to her. "Sit down. It's your bed."

"Yeah, a bed," I said, feeling dejected. "Not exactly the best place to sit to get school work done."

"That's why you bought the desk and chair, isn't it?" she asked.

I nodded. "But then I invited you over and I don't have any place for you to sit."

"I'm fine right here," she said. "Besides, I already finished those things you found wrong."

I looked past her at the papers on the bed. "When?"

She leaned toward me. "Yesterday. I just haven't printed them out yet."

I sighed and shook my head. "Then why did you want me to look at it."

She shrugged. "It was just an excuse."

"For what?" I asked softly.

"To talk to you some more," she said, leaning back on her arms.

I couldn't stop my eyes from dropping to look at her cleavage.

Immediately, I closed my eyes and turned away. "Dammit, I'm sorry."

Leanne grabbed one of my belt loops and pulled at me hard enough to make me plop down on the bed. I caught myself and looked at her with surprise. She leaned forward quickly, caught my face with her hands and said, "You don't have anything to be sorry for. You treat me like a person, not a walking pair of tits." Then she leaned closer and I knew what she was going to do.

The feel of her lips on mine sent sparks through my brain. All of the feelings of self-loathing melted away and I didn't feel as squeamish anymore. I kissed her back, softly, almost chaste. Then we kissed again, adding just a little more pressure. Another kiss, and she was pulling me to her. Another kiss and she sucked on my bottom lip. With the next one, her tongue met mine. And when we met for the next one, I wrapped her up and guided her down onto my bed.

My self-loathing side screamed at me that this was wrong, but it sounded like it was yelling from the other end of a football field. I could hear it, even understand it. If I was really Leanne's friend, if I really respected her, I should get up from the bed and put some distance between us, allow her the chance to change her mind so I didn't mess up her life.

I did respect her. I didn't know her that well, but the more we talked, the more I would get to know her. She was smart, driven, and knew what she wanted to do. Based on that, I knew that if she didn't want to be lying here with me now, she wouldn't be. So, I ignored my self-loathing. I hadn't heard any good advice from it since I met Jordan and I was beginning to believe I never would.

I don't know how long we were there, lying together and kissing, but it was really nice, very peaceful. It felt good to be accepted, even desired, and without the Fetish no less. I could hear Jordan's sing-song voice, "I told you so!" and fought not to laugh out loud lest Leanne ask questions about my sanity.

Leanne gave me a small push and we rolled over. She broke our kiss and sat up enough to look into my eyes. She smiled softly and said, "I'm not the only one happy to be here."

I knew what she was talking about, but I hadn't planned on doing anything about it.

Leanne shifted around on top of me, apparently feeling me with her belly. She kept her hands on my shoulders. "Mmm, I never thought I'd like the feel of..." she focused on me. "I'm sorry..." she pushed herself up to get off me.

I snagged her arms and pulled her back down. She looked at me and said, "What?"

I kept my eyes on hers. "Do you like how it feels?"

She swallowed and nodded.

"There's nothing wrong with that," I said. "I'm forced to admit that I like the way you feel on me."

She shook her head. "I don't know if I'm ready for this."

I shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with that either."

She stared at me. "You're not going to try to talk me into it?"

"I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do," I said. Then I rolled us over and kissed her again real quick. "Not unless you want me to talk you into it."

"I might," she said softly. "But you've got to promise to stop if I say stop."

I nodded. "You have my word. If I try anything you're not comfortable with, all you have to do is say stop, and it ends."

She nodded, but was still wary. I couldn't believe she dressed like she did to come over and now wanted to take things slow. It wasn't what I had learned from my girls. However, I didn't say anything. This wasn't about me finding another Fonte. It was about two people experimenting with one another. I studied her eyes and thought I understood what she wanted to avoid though. "There are a lot of things we can do without going all the way."

"Like what?" she asked.

"That depends on you, but we'll start out slow. We could just ... touch and kiss. Nothing, or everything."

She moaned lightly. "You make it sound so easy. Just do it and everything will be okay."

"Everything will be okay," I said, "but it won't be the same."

She narrowed her eyes. "And how many women have you been with?"

I shook my head. "I'm not going to talk about that. If you're looking for an excuse to say stop now, then say it. You don't need an excuse."