True by Erin McCarthy

between my legs and I was wrapped around it like he was a seesaw.
    Suddenly I heard laughter and a pointed cough. I remembered where we were.
    Turning my head, I broke away, panting. He was breathing hard, too, his eyes dark and glassy with desire. “Let’s get out of here. We can go to Nathan’s apartment.”
    I hesitated. A week ago I had been painfully getting loaded on that dingy sofa with Grant while Tyler was in Bill’s bedroom with Jessica. I couldn’t go there. I couldn’t do that. Not yet. Because if I went to Nathan’s, then sex, while not expected, was at least an option. Shaking my head, I said, “I’m not ready to have sex with you, Tyler.” I felt like an idiot for saying it out loud, but it was the truth and I couldn’t pretend otherwise. My emotions were too jumbled, my body too tense, with both anxiety and lust, to go where I knew he wanted to take it.
    “That’s not what I meant. I already promised you we’ll only do what you want. I just want to be alone so we can talk.” The corner of his mouth turned up. “And I’m not opposed to making out. We’ll go old school.”
    How could I say no to making out?
    I nodded.
    If he had been feeding me a line, promising me that we’d be together or have a relationship or anything else that smacked of bullshit designed to get a free pass into my panties, I would have said no. But he’d been pretty straightforward with me, and he wasn’t offering anything more than exactly what he had said—making out and talking. I could live with that. It might never be offered again, and I was going to damn well take it.
    “Excellent.” He leaned forward and kissed my neck. “Mmm, you smell good. Now let’s get the fuck out of here.”
    A girl dressed like a sexy Ernie gave me a knowing smirk as Tyler pulled me by the hand down the hall. I refused to be embarrassed considering she was dressed in an outfit no self-respecting stripper would even wear, her ass spilling out of denim shorts, an orange-and-blue striped bra barely covering her breasts, and a fuzzy orange Ernie face strapped to her head.
    We found Nathan standing under the keg, mouth open as the arch of beer shot up from the toilet and straight down into his mouth. “We’re going to your place, man.”
    Nathan turned long enough to see our hands clasped together and nod. He pulled back and swallowed, making a gargling sound. “Where’s Kylie?” he asked me.
    “Sorry, I haven’t seen her. If I can’t find her I’ll text her that I’m leaving. Do you want me to tell her you’re down here?”
    But he shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me.”
    Sure it didn’t.
    We did actually find Kylie and Jessica together on the couch talking to a group of girls. I was opening my mouth to explain what we were doing, but Tyler beat me to it. “We’re going to Nathan’s. See you tomorrow when I bring Rory back.”
    Wow. Way to be discreet. Now not only did Kylie and Jessica know, but so did everyone within the immediate area. I shouldn’t care, but I did. I wasn’t sure how I even felt about any of this, I didn’t want to deal with other people’s reactions and opinions.
    Mortified, I stood there and blushed. Fortunately, Kylie stood up and hugged me. “Have fun,” she whispered, her voice excited. “Make him use a condom.”
    I didn’t bother to correct her assumption. We could talk about all of this tomorrow when we didn’t have ten girls gawking at us. So I just nodded.
    Jessica hugged me, too. And then we were leaving, Tyler pausing in the backyard to scoop up the remains of his beer from Brandon, who was still guarding it intently.
    “Who is Brandon?” I asked him as we went out the front door and started down the street.
    “He’s some guy I met in the EMT program.”
    Somehow I didn’t think I wanted Brandon to hold my life in the balance in an emergency situation, but I stayed silent. It wasn’t my business to be judgmental of a socially awkward guy, given I might be considered his