Charlaine Harris owns these characters.

Sookie

I'm graduating from college next week. It's very exciting for me. I have a new job waiting for me in Los Angeles—my dream job, actually. It's just an entry level position, but it's with a big public relations firm. I majored in Communications at Shreveport College, hoping to go into public relations and the fact that I landed this position is…well…it's just amazing. And moving to L.A….it's going to be a blast, I just know it.

My roommate and best friend, Amelia, is moving with me too. How lucky is that? She was a drama major, and now she's going to seek her fame and fortune as an actress. We've already decided to get an apartment together. She has a lot of waitress experience, so it should be fairly easy for her to get a job while she auditions and waits for that big break. Hollywood, here we come!

Hopefully, I'll have better luck in California with my love life. When I started here as a freshman, I was so innocent. I'd had a few dates in high school, and quite a few heavy make out sessions, but that's about it. I guess I was just waiting for the right guy to come along. Then I met Bill. We had several classes together that first year. He was very bright but needed some help with English Lit, so I offered to tutor him. He was extremely cute with dark hair and eyes and had a certain charm. He offered to pay me, but I suggested he buy me lunch instead. Within a few months or so, he was my official boyfriend. I guess you could say we were happy while we were together. He was my first real boyfriend, my first lover, my first everything, so I really didn't have anything to compare him to.

Bill shared a big house near campus with three other guys. Amelia and I had an apartment together but it was a fifteen minute drive from campus, so I spent a lot of my time between classes at Bill's. That's where I met Eric. He was one of Bill's housemates. Yes, I had a boyfriend, but it was hard not to notice Eric. He was tall with long blond hair (the same color as mine, actually) and had the most perfect physique I had even seen. But his most striking feature was his eyes. They were that icy blue color that you just can't help but get lost in. With looks like that, I figured he was a lady killer and I was right. There were always girls hanging around the house drooling over him, and I saw a different face emerge from his bedroom almost every weekend morning. As beautiful as he was, I was grateful that he wasn't my boyfriend. I recognize trouble when I see it.

Eric was definitely a flirt. When Bill was around, he was a perfect gentleman. But sometimes I would be in the house studying between classes and Bill wouldn't be there, and Eric always sat a little too close to me on the sofa while he read his own book. He would stand and stretch, showing off that spectacular body. Sometimes I would catch him watching me and then he would go back to studying. More than once, he'd find me in the hallway or the kitchen and he would stand too close to me when he talked, making me very uncomfortable. I know he could tell I was nervous and he would kind of get a little smirk on his face, like he'd won some sort of contest between us. He probably just thought he was working his usual charms on one of a zillion girls and thought very little of it beyond the thrill of making me blush. What he didn't know was that I had developed a serious crush on him (I know, I know, get in line…). He was also the frequent star of many x-rated dreams I'd had. You can't imagine how tense I felt sitting beside him, trying to concentrate when my mind kept wandering to my dream the night before where he had me spread eagle on the kitchen counter licking chocolate sauce off of some really important spots. I would just have to shake it off. I was always very grateful that public arousal for a girl was easily concealed because most of the time when he was in the room, I was extremely wet. There were many weekend nights I lay awake in Bill's bed fantasizing about just sneaking into Eric's room and wordlessly seducing him. Sometimes I thought that the only thing that stopped me from actually doing it was that he never seemed to be alone in there.

There was one girl that hung around Eric more than the others and I assumed she was his semi-regular squeeze even though I had never seen her spend the night. Her name was Pam and she was a gorgeous blonde with one of those perfect figures with the tiny waist and the hourglass shape. She had a wicked sense of humor and always looked like she knew everybody's secrets. I really liked her, but doubted if anyone as cool as Pam would ever want to be friends with a study nerd like me. But I was wrong. We did become friends. Or at least we were friendly. I was secretly jealous of her relationship with Eric until the day she told me she preferred girls. My jaw dropped and she had a big laugh at my small-town reaction. I had never met a girl that was openly gay before, but then once I knew that about her, it all seemed to fit. No wonder she was Eric's favorite. They were best friends. She told me that they had dated all through high school and when she came out of the closet, the two of them stayed friends and in a way became even closer. She was fiercely loyal to him and loved to watch the endless stream of wannabes come and go from his bed. She told me once that she wished that I wasn't with Bill because I was just the kind of girl she would want for Eric. I dismissed it immediately, hoping she didn't notice how flustered I got.

On the weekends, Bill's house became party central. There were several fun coffee houses near campus that we liked to hang out in, but when we were feeling a little wild, we hung out at the house. There was a lot of drinking and pot smoking, but things rarely got too out of hand. One night there were about ten or twelve people at the house and we were getting low on beer. Bill asked if I would go and pick some up. I never got carded probably due to the fact that I was quite well-endowed. It had always made me seem a little older looking I guess. "Hey, Sookie, why don't you take your courtesy enhancers down to the store and get us another case of beer? I'm buying." But I noticed that he wasn't offering to go with me.

Eric jumped up off the sofa and said, "Actually, I think it's my turn to buy. I'll go with her." And then he gave me such an intense look that I felt my heart flutter and suddenly it seemed to get very hot in the room.

"Sure thing. I could use some air anyway."

We walked down the street and around the corner to a convenience store. Eric gave me the money and waited behind the building. I started to walk away when he grabbed my hand and pulled me back to him. His eyes scanned my face as he stood just a little too close. I felt my breathing speed up as I smelled his scent so close to me. Then I held my breath as he raised one hand up to my chin, trailed his finger down my throat, to the soft skin just above my cleavage and unbuttoned the top two buttons of my blouse. He leaned in a little closer so that I could feel his warm breath on my lips and said, "For good measure."

I floated into the store and bought my case of beer without a hitch. I rarely went into this store so the guy behind the counter didn't know me. He seemed to like the flesh that Eric had revealed though and got a good look as he rang me up. I didn't even care. I was still so high from the scene behind the store. Eric had me so worked up that when I went back out, I walked up to him to hand him the case of beer. He took it from my hands and I kept going until I slammed up against him, grabbed his head and pulled him to me as I crashed my lips into his. I immediately stuck my tongue into his mouth and we were kissing the hottest kiss I had ever had for I don't even know how long until I realized that he couldn't put both of his arms around me while holding the beer. That kind of snapped me out of it, and I took a step back and said, "We'd better be getting back." He just kind of nodded, breathing heavily and had the sexiest look on his face—mostly shock, but also pure lust. It was all I could do to keep from ripping his clothes off and climbing onto him with my legs wrapped around him. But I didn't. I just turned and started walking back to the house. You know, the house where my boyfriend lived. Right.