Naivete

Chapter 3

Perfection

Thankfully, Tuesday turned out to be a far less active day for Sam than Monday, and she was glad to be able to return to her dorm with enough time to catch a nap and take a nice, long shower before Brent\'s arrival. As she entered the room, however, she was a little surprised to see Sarah laying on the bed, an unfamiliar form covering her. Sam stepped around the bed carefully to get a better look at the two, and discovered that the gentleman currently necking with Sarah was not, in fact, Billy. Neither of them seemed to notice her arrival, and they were being relatively quiet, so Sam decided it might be safe to try and get some sleep. The second she shut her eyes to do so, however, was when the moaning began.

Deliberate, sexual moaning. Angry, rough moaning. Shifting and rubbing. Light moans grew to tremendous groans, which in turn became cries of ecstasy. At the first such cry, Sam flew from the bed and out the door. She made her way down to the commons area on the bottom floor of the building with her book, shaking her head a little.

\'So this is what I can expect from a fun, social roommate, I guess?\' she thought, pursing her lips as she looked for a place to sit.

Finally selecting a spot on a couch near the window, the clock in plain view so that, when the time came, she could return to her room and begin preparing for her sexy fast-food dinner date with Brent, Sam settled in and picked up where she\'d left off on Sunday night. She read several pages, and had become fully absorbed when she suddenly felt hands on her shoulders and a soft, whispered voice tingling in her ears.

\"We have got to stop meeting like this,\" the voice breathed, and she shivered slightly. Turning her head, she saw Mike\'s face smiling at her lazily. He hopped over the back of the couch and sat next to her.

\"Hey, Mike,\" she said, still getting over her surprise. \"What are you doing here?\"

He shrugged, rolling his eyes a little. \"Tutoring a girl on the fourth floor. What about you? Do you live in this building?\"

\"Yeah,\" Sam replied, looking a little sadly towards the elevators.

\"Well, why are you down here in this big, cold, empty expanse of feigned togetherness and not nice and cozy up in your own room?\"

\"Because my own room is filled with the sounds of passion,\" she said with a short laugh.

\"Oh? And it wasn\'t yours?\" he asked, looking pitiously at her. She furrowed her eyebrows in annoyance and glared at him. His mock-compassion melted into a broad grin. \"Well, don\'t worry, Sam. I\'m sure you\'ll get some eventually. Maybe from Captain Cab at the bar the other night?\" His grin turned mischievous as she rolled her eyes and put down her book. She fully intended to shoot daggers at him from her eyes, but the sly twinkle in his only made her laugh and shake her head.

\"Maybe,\" she mused aloud, picking up her book and starting to read again. \"Maybe I will.\"

Mike smiled genuinely and slapped her a bit roughly on the shoulder. \"That\'s the spirit. And with that, I\'m off. I have a long-standing battle for justice with my roommate.\"

At Sam\'s inquisitive glance, he laughed a little. \"Halo,\" he explained. \"The fate of the world is at stake. I\'m sure you understand.\"

Sam nodded soberly and watched him as he left, a small, amused smile on her face. \'He\'s not such a bad guy,\' she thought. \'I can certainly see why women would fall all over themselves around him. But I wonder why he doesn\'t respond to them...oh, maybe he\'s...\' she finished the thought with a little laugh and went back to her reading. Somehow, she didn\'t quite think that was it.

About an hour later, she realized it was time to return to her room, which she did, cringing at almost every step. She liked her roommate, to be sure, and she hoped that they could become close, but that...might have been a little too close. As she approached her room, however, she noticed a form at her door. It was a dark, muscular form, a man just getting his shirt back on over his head as he was shoved playfully from the room. The man turned, grinning victoriously, and Sam immediately recognized him to be Eric - the brooding young man from the bar on Sunday night. He flashed her an acknowledging smile and gave her a nod, then made the rest of his way down the hall whistling a very happy tune. Sam laughed inwardly before approaching the door.

When she entered, she wasn\'t at all surprised to see Sarah laying on the bed, panting and smoking a cigarette.

\"Ha, are we allowed to smoke in here?\" Sam teased as she headed towards the bathroom, removing her shoes as she went.\"

Sarah didn\'t reply. She sat up and looked at Sam inquisitively. \"Did you come in here earlier? I thought I heard someone come in, and I figured it was you, but I wanted to make sure we don\'t have any voyeurs on campus.\"

Sam leaned her head back outside the bathroom door, her shirt and pants on their way off. \"Who said I\'m not a voyeur?\" she asked slyly, one eyebrow shifting upwards slightly. The last thing she heard was Sarah\'s high, tinkly laugh before she shut the door and turned on the hot water.

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An hour later, she was primped to perfection. With Sarah\'s help, her hair was perfectly sculpted into tousled curls that brushed the tops of her shoulders and bounced when she moved. Her makeup was beautiful, subtle and sexy. And the dress...the dress was ridiculous. A strappy red number, the flared skirt hung just above her knees, and the rest clung beautifully to her body. A pair of black kitten-heel sandals topped it off, and she appraised herself admiringly in the mirror.

\"Well, I\'d certainly want to fuck you,\" Sarah said approvingly from behind her. Then, there was a knock at the door. Sarah\'s eyes widened and she let out a little scream of anticipation. Sam laughed at her friend\'s over-excitement, but couldn\'t deny the adrenaline coursing through her own veins. It had been a long time since she\'d been on a date like this, and she was not only excited, but nervous as well. She took a deep breath before opening the door.

Standing before her was what she was sure was the most gorgeous sight she\'d ever beheld. Brent stood there, leaning on one hand against the door frame, wearing jeans, a pair of boots, a white button-up shirt and a black blazer. His hair fell over his eyes in a way that made him appear almost shy, and her heart skipped a beat when he brought his other hand from behind his back to hold out a bouquet of carnations.

Behind her, she heard Sarah let out a little whimper at the gesture, but she didn\'t care. She took the flowers with a shaking hand and mumbled something about putting them in water. She turned to find a container for them, but was stopped by Brent\'s hand clutching her own.

\"You know what? It doesn\'t really matter. The flowers seem...I dunno...trivial now that I\'m looking at you. Come on,\" he said, giving her hand a gentle tug as she left the flowers sitting on top of the dresser. \"Let\'s go. I hope you\'re hungry.\"

Sam literally floated out the door, vaguely hearing Sarah\'s squeals of jealousy above her own heart. She had never received treatment like this from a date before, and she was frankly unsure how to handle it. However, it seemed that all she really needed to do was just relax and let Brent take control. After all, he truly seemed to know exactly what he was doing.

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\"You weren\'t kidding, were you?\" Sam laughed before taking a big bite out of her burger.

\"About what?\" Brent answered through a mouthful of fries.

\"The fanciest, most romantic fast-food dinner I\'ve ever had,\" she responded. She gazed at the table in front of her. Spread out on the surface was a large buffet of fries, burgers, chicken nuggets, sodas and ice cream. Right in the center of it all was a long, tapered candle and holder which Brent had magically produced from his jacket pocket. True, they were getting some very strange looks from the other patrons of the restaurant, but neither of them cared. This was already turning out to be the most fun she\'d ever had on a date. The casual atmosphere of the restaurant made for relaxing, familiar conversation. She began to realize that this was the problem with a lot of other first dates she\'d been on. In an effort to impress her, her date had always taken her to a fancy restaurant with illegible menus and twenty dollar entrees. These types of places were not conducive to good conversation, which made the romantic atmosphere decidedly not so.

But Brent apparently had realized that he\'d already impressed her. He acted as if there were no pretenses between them - and in truth, there weren\'t. Each of them was exactly as they normally were...Sam full of mirth and shy wit, Brent charming and protective. She felt safe.

\"So, you were telling me about Katy?\" he asked, cramming another handful of fries in his mouth.

\"Oh yeah,\" she said. \"Katy. Haha...um, think small suburban area just outside a big urban area. It\'s pretty boring...not really much to talk about, I guess. What about you? Are you a student at Berklee?\"

\"I was,\" he answered dismissively. \"Up until last semester. I had to drop out because I just couldn\'t support myself anymore. So I\'m working, saving up, trying to break back in.\"

\"Oh? What was your major?\" she asked interestedly.

\"Undecided. I just want to figure out how I can play guitar professionally.\"

\"Ah, a guitarist. I should have guessed,\" Sam teased.

\"That obvious, is it?\" Brent asked with a smile.

\"A little. Are you any good?\"

\"I like to think so. Maybe I\'ll play for you sometime.\"

\"I\'d like that,\" she said, sipping on her soda.

After several more minutes of lively conversation, Sam sat back in her seat. \"Ugh, if I eat any more I\'m going to burst right out of this dress.\"

One of Brent\'s eyebrows shot up. \"More ice cream?\" he asked, holding out a spoonful.

\"Ha ha,\" Sam answered sarcastically. \"I had a really good time,\" she said then, in a more genuine tone.

\"Hey, now, it\'s not over yet,\" Brent said, appearing a little offended at the notion. \"We still have to go see the show.\"

\"Show?\" Sam asked curiously.

\"Come on,\" he answered with a smile, taking her hand gently. She shivered at his touch, and wondered if this \"show\" would be as fascinatingly original as dinner had been.

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\"This is amazing,\" Sam breathed as she looked at the scene before them. They were sitting on a park bench on top of a hill, and below them, standing near a beautifully lit up fountain, stood a small jazz trio, playing soulfully to the gathering crowd and bowing their heads slightly as small bits of change fell into the open saxophone case.

\"Yeah,\" Brent answered, but his eyes were on her. She shivered a little when she met his gaze, and he stood and began removing his jacket.

\"Are you cold?\" he asked.

\"No, I\'m - \" she started before he gently slid the jacket over her shoulders. She hadn\'t been cold - not yet anyway - but she decided to give him the benefit of being a gentleman. She sighed happily and snuggled a little closer to him, and he eagerly wrapped his arm around her shoulders. His other hand reached between them and took hers, the pad of his thumb gently stroking the soft spot between her thumb and index finger. She shivered again, and he hugged her closer in response. She rested her head on his shoulder, and he instinctively turned and kissed it, inhaling the sweet scent of her lush curls.

Her eyes closed by themselves, and after a moment, all other thoughts besides the two of them and the music fell away around her. She wasn\'t sure how long they sat there like that, but by the time she opened her eyes again, the trio was packing up their instruments and bidding one another goodnight. She lifted her head from his shoulder and turned to look at him. She almost gasped at the look in his eyes. She didn\'t get much of a chance to look at them, however, because he closed them and moved his head forward, capturing her lips in a soft, chaste kiss. He pulled back and looked at her again, biting his lower lip. His eyes questioned her, asking if that had been an okay move to make. She ran her tongue across her lower lip and took only a second\'s hesitation before reaching up and kissing him again, putting quite a bit more passion behind it this time.

He moved quickly, lacing his fingers through her hair and pulling her closer to him, and her arms found their way behind around his neck. His hands moved down to graze the nape of her neck, then down to her lower back. After a gentle pull, she found herself sitting on his lap. She felt his tongue trying to work its way into her mouth, and after a moment she allowed it, parting her lips. She almost gasped at the level of intensity that action took their kiss to. It wasn\'t long before she noticed what was likely an uncomfortable bulge beneath where she was sitting. This was what brought her back to reality. She broke the kiss hesitantly and met Brent\'s confused gaze.

\"Um...\" she started, an embarrassed smile playing on her lips. \"I\'ve really had a great time tonight,\" she murmured, hopefully indicating that this was as far as they were to go this evening.

Brent smiled begrudgingly and reluctantly released her. \"So did I. I\'d really like to see you again.\"

\"Me too.\"

\"I\'ll take you home.\"

The drive back to the dorm was quiet, but comfortably so. Sam\'s eyes were closed, and a dreamy smile was still on her lips, which were swollen and red from the kiss. Once they reached her dorm room door, Brent took her hand and kissed it shyly.

\"Goodnight, Sam.\"

\"Goodnight, Brent,\" Sam responded, her heart hammering in her chest as he walked down the hall towards the elevator.

She hardly got a wink of sleep that night.


A/N: How\'s this for a long chapter? Hope everyone enjoyed it. Thanks for the comments and reviews everyone! It helps to keep me inspired to get any feedback, good or bad.