Jennie's POV
After lying in Lisa's arms for a few minutes, I begin to think about my agreement to stay with Lisa tonight.
"What about my shower in the morning?" I remind her.
"You can take one here, down the hall." Her lips meet my jaw, trailing kisses up and down. Her lips on my skin cause my judgment to cloud; she knows exactly what she is doing.
"In a frat house? Who knows who will come in."
"One, the door locks, and two, I would accompany you, obviously," she says between kisses.
I scowl at her tone but decide to ignore it. "Fine. But I'd like to take a shower now, before it gets too late."
She nods and stands up and reaches for her jeans. I climb off the bed and do the same, leaving my panties off.
"No panties?" She smirks.
Ignoring her, I roll my eyes and say, "Do you have shampoo? I don't even have a hairbrush." I am starting to get anxious thinking of all the things that I don't have with me. "And Q-tips? Dental floss?" I continue.
"Relax, we have Q-tips and floss. We probably even have an extra toothbrush, and I know there is a hairbrush or two in there. There are probably even extra panties in every size lying about somewhere, if you want some," she informs me.
"Panties?" I ask before I realize she means they were left by other girls. "Never mind," I say and she laughs. I hope Lisa doesn't have some weird collection of underwear from girls she has slept with.
She leads me to the bathroom. I feel more comfortable in here than I imagined, only because I have been in this bathroom quite a few times.
Lisa turns on the water and pulls her shirt over her head.
"What are you doing?" I ask. "Taking a shower?"
"Oh, I thought I was taking one first." "Take one with me," she says casually.
"Um . . . no! I won't." I laugh. I can't take a shower with her.
"Why not? I've already seen you, you have seen me. What's the big deal?" she groans.
"I don't know . . . I just don't want to." I know she has already seen me naked but this just seems so intimate. More intimate even than what we just did.
"Fine. You go first, then," she says, but her voice has picked up a slight edge.
I smile sweetly and ignore her sour tone and undress. Her eyes scan my body and then look away. My hand reaches behind the curtain to check the temperature of the water and I step in.
Lisa stays silent while I wet my hair. Too silent. "Lisa?" I call. Did she leave the bathroom?
"Yeah?"
"I thought maybe you left."
She pulls back the curtain a little and pops her wavy head in. "Nope, still here."
"Is something wrong?" I ask her, frowning sympathetically. She shakes her head in response but doesn't say anything. Is she really pouting like a child because I won't take a shower with her? I almost want to tell her to join me, but I want her to get the point that she can't just get her way all the time. Her head disappears from the shower and I hear her sit down on the toilet.
The shampoo and body wash are both strong musky scents. I miss my vanilla shampoo, but this is fine for one night. It probably would have made more sense for Lisa to stay with me in my room, but Wendy would be in there, and it would be awkward to explain everything, and I don't imagine Lisa would be as affectionate if she was around. The thought bothers me, but I push it back.
"Could you hand me a towel?" I ask her and shut off the water. "Or two, if you have enough." I like to have one for my hair and one for my body.
Her hand pushes through the curtain holding two towels. I thank her, and she mutters something that I don't understand.
She pulls her jeans down as I dry off and turns the water back on. Her long arms pull back the curtain and I can't help but stare at her naked body. The more I get to see her this way, the more beautiful the designs printed on her skin are to me. I continue to stare as she steps into the shower. The water sprays onto her dark hair and she closes the curtain. I should have taken one with her, not because she is pouting, but because now I really want to.
"I'm going to go back to your room," I tell her, figuring she's ignoring me anyway.
She jerks the curtain back, causing the rings to scrape against the rod. "No, you're not."
"Okay, what is your problem?" I snap.
"Nothing, you're just not going back by yourself. There are thirty guys living here, so you don't need to be wandering the halls."
"No, there's something else; you have been pouting since I said you couldn't take a shower with me."
"No . . . I haven't."
"Tell me why or I will go out there in this towel," I threaten, knowing I would never actually do it. Her eyes narrow and she reaches out for my arm to stop me, splashing water on the floor.
"I just don't like being told no." Her voice is low but much softer than it was moments ago.
I imagine that when it comes to girls Lisa hardly, if ever, hears the word no. My mind tells me to tell her to get used to it, but I haven't told her no until this point, either. As soon as she touches me, I do whatever she wants.
"Well, I am not like the other girls, Lisa," I snap, my jealousy coming forward.
A small smile plays on her lips as the water runs over her face. "I know, Jen. I know." She closes the curtain and I pull my clothes on and she turns the water off.
"You can wear some of my clothes to bed," she tells me and I nod. I barely hear her because I am too focused on her glistening body in front of me. She rubs the white towel against her hair, leaving it sticking up all over her head, she looks like pure sex. It feels like the temperature in the bathroom has risen twenty degrees. Bending down to open a cabinet, she pulls out a hairbrush and places it into my hand.
"Come," she says and I shake my head, trying to clear the dirty thoughts from my mind. We walk down the hall and turn the corner as a tall blond guy almost runs into me . . . I look up at her face and my bones chill.
"Haven't seen you in a while," he purrs and I feel nauseous.
"Lisa," I squeak and she turns around; it takes her only a moment to remember this is the same guy who tried to make a move on me before.
"Get away from her, Neil," she barks and Neil pales. He must not have seen Lisa before he turned the corner. His mistake.
"My bad, Manoban," he says and walks away.
"Thanks," I whisper to Lisa. She wraps her hand over mine and unlocks her door.
"I should just beat the shit out of him, yeah?" Lisa says as I take a seat on the bed.
"No! You shouldn't!" I beg. I can't tell if she is serious, but I don't want to find out. She grabs the remote off her dresser and switches the television on before opening the drawer and tossing me a T-shirt and a pair of boxers.
I remove my jeans and pull the boxers on, rolling them a few times at the top.
"Could I maybe wear the shirt you wore today?" I don't realize how weird it sounds until the words are out.
"What?" She grins.
"I . . . well . . . never mind. I don't know what I was saying," I lie. I want to wear your dirty shirt because it smells good? That sounds strange and crazy. She chuckles and picks the shirt off the floor and walks over to me.
"Here, babe," she says and hands it to me. I am glad she didn't embarrass me further, but I still feel a little silly.
"Thanks," I chirp and pull my own shirt off and remove my bra, then slip her shirt on. I inhale and find it smells just as amazing as I knew it would.
Catching this, her eyes soften as she looks at me. "You are beautiful," she says and looks away. I get the feeling she didn't mean to say the words out loud, which makes my heart swell even more. I smile at her and take a step toward her.
"So are you."
"Enough of that," she says with a laugh as her cheeks flush. "What time do you need to be up in the morning?" she asks and sits on the bed, browsing through the channels.
"Five, but I will set my own alarm."
"Five? Five in the morning? Your first class is at what, nine? Why do you get up so early?"
"I don't know, just to be prepared, I guess?" I rake the hairbrush through my hair.
"Well, let's get up at seven; my body doesn't function before seven," she tells me and I groan. Lisa and I are so different.
"Six thirty?" I try to compromise. "Fine, six thirty," she agrees.
We spend the rest of the evening watching random television shows before Lisa falls asleep with her head on my lap, my fingers running through her hair. I slide down and lie next to her, trying not to wake her.
"Jen?" She groans and her hands move in front of her as if she is reaching for me.
"Here," I whisper from behind her. She turns to her other side and wraps her arm around me before falling back to sleep. She says that she sleeps better when I am around, and I think that's true for me as well.
THE NEXT MORNING, my alarm goes off at six thirty and I rush around to try to put yesterday's clothes on and get Lisa up and dressed. She's so hard to wake up. I feel flustered and unprepared, but we make it to my room by seven fifteen, giving me plenty of time to change and brush my hair and teeth again. Wendy sleeps through it all, and I prevent Lisa from pouring a glass of water on her head to wake her. I'm also really happy that Lisa doesn't make any rude comments as I pull on one of my long skirts and a plain blue shirt.
"See, it's only eight; we have twenty minutes before we have to leave to walk to the coffeehouse," Lisa brags.
"We?"
"Yeah, I thought I would walk with you? If not, that's cool, too," she says and looks away.
"Yeah, of course it's fine." I am just not used to whatever this is that has changed between Lisa and me. It will be nice not to have to avoid her, or worry about running into her. What will Jisoo think? Will we even tell Jisoo?
"What should we do with our twenty minutes?" I smile.
"I have a few ideas." Her lips turn to a smirk and she pulls me onto her. "Wendy is here," I remind her as she sucks the skin under my ear.
"I know, we are only kissing," she says, laughing, and she presses her lips to mine.
We leave before Wendy wakes, and Lisa offers to carry my bag, which is a nice but unexpected gesture.
"Where are your books?" I ask her.
"I don't bring them. I just borrow one every day, in every class. Keeps me from having to carry one of these," she says and gestures to my bag on her shoulder. I roll my eyes and laugh at her.
When we reach the coffeehouse Jisoo is leaning against the brick and seems surprised to see Lisa and me together. I give her an "I will explain everything later" look and she smiles.
"Well, I better get going, I have classes to sleep through," Lisa says and I nod. What should I do, hug her?
But before I can decide, she drops my bag and hooks her arm around my waist, pulling me to her chest before kissing me. I didn't see this coming. I kiss her back and she releases me.
"See you later," she says with a grin and looks at Jisoo. This couldn't be more awkward. Jisoo's jaw is practically on the floor and I find myself embarrassed by Lisa's bold move.
"Um . . . sorry about that." I don't really care for public displays of affection. Kai and I have never done anything like that, except when I tried to kiss him at the mall to get Lisa off my mind.
"I have a lot to tell you," I tell Jisoo, who picks up my bag.