WARNING: Slightly mature content is headed your way in this chapter. Don't continue if you're too young to read the words "dick" or "erection." And, as always, this chapter features Alex's POV so there's bound to be some f-bombs headed your way 😉

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If there's a God, he's bound to be screwing with me and laughing his ass off at the trial he's placed in front of me tonight. Mabel came in looking like a fucking goddess, leaving me wanting to be anything but her friend. She's dressed in one of the shortest skirts I've ever seen which makes it quite obvious that her lacy stockings are clasped to a garter belt. A fucking garter belt. Just the sight of her milky white thighs in those stockings is enough to give me a coronary.

Seeing Dave fucking Miller with his grimy paws all over her made me see red. All of a sudden I was jealous over something that's not exactly mine, and I just had to intervene. The kid isn't even a bad guy; he has a pretty even head on his shoulders, especially for being freshly nineteen, but I didn't like the way he kept touching her. Not when that's literally the only thing I've been wanting to do all night.

Mabel waltzes out of the bathroom, her green eyes wide and alert. She looks relieved that I'm still blocking the entrance, and a small smile tugs at her lips.

"Hi," she breathes out, staring up at me.

I reach out a hand without thinking and brush her bangs back from her face. Goddamn she's gorgeous. The perfect mix between adorable and sexy. "Hi."

"Can we talk?"

"Of course," I reply with a curt nod. I lead her away from the bathrooms and down a short hallway so we're away from the loud music, along with most of the crowd. "What's up?"

There's a heat in her pale green eyes that I'm not used to seeing, and I almost do a double take. The way she's looking at me...I've seen this look on quite a few other women before, but I never in a million years thought that Mabel would be giving me this look.

"My therapist always told me that I should voice my feelings without holding back," she says softly.

Mabel extends a hand and tentatively places it on my bicep, her thumb rubbing lazy circles into my skin. The scent of her shampoo tickles my nose. Peaches and cream? It suits her: sweet and innocent.

"She says that I should make what I want clear to others."

My breath hitches, sticking in my throat. "Yeah? And what is it that you want?"

"You." Clear determination is set in her expression, so much in fact, that it's startling.

"Mabes, you're drunk," I mutter, reaching out to place a hand on her waist.

Except she's not. I know as well as she does that she hasn't had anything to drink in the last hour and a half or so, and she didn't even have that much to drink to begin with.

She leans back, staring up at me with those unbelievably innocent green eyes of hers. "Is it so bad that I like you, Alex?" Her full lips twist into a defiant pout.

My gaze lowers to her mouth and I can't help but wonder what it would feel like to press mine against it. I haven't had much to drink either, only the one shot and half of a beer, but somehow being so close to her like this has me feeling intoxicated. Her skin is so soft it's addictive, and I can't stop my hand as it dives further up the back of her shirt. No bra?

"Fuck," I breathe out. This woman is undeniably sexy, and she doesn't even know it. Or maybe she does. She couldn't have put on that short skirt of hers and not known how impossibly long and touchable it made her legs look.

What did she just say? She likes me?

Goddamn I must have done something right to deserve this. At some point in my life I had to have pleased the man upstairs enough to be blessed with the woman before me.

"Alex?" she asks softly. She's second guessing herself, I can see is as clear as day in her expression. Her eyebrows knit together, pinching the skin of her forehead.

"Do you want to get out of here?"

"Okay," she replies, sucking her lower lip between her teeth as she glances towards the main area of the bar. "I'm just going to go let Hazel know."

She ducks out of my hold and scurries across the bar to the booth where Hazel sits with their friend Mia and Tyler. Her lack of proximity finally gives me a moment of clarity.

What am I doing? Mabel deserves a hell of a lot more than what I'm used to doing with other girls, but I'm not sure what all that entails. A date? But all I want to do is take her home and explore every inch of her skin.

I shake my head at myself, feeling like an idiot. It's then that a hand claps me roughly on the shoulder and I turn to find Lucas standing beside me. His eyes are hazy so I know that he has quite a strong buzz going on.

"Are you sober enough to drive?" he slurs, leaning heavily into my side. "I think I've had enough."

"How much have you had to drink?" I groan, irritation rising within me.

Lucas shrugs and brings a beer bottle close to his face to study it. It's definitely not your average piss-water beer either, that's for sure. "I don't even know, man. Three of these and maybe four shots? No, I think I had five. Maybe a couple of them were doubles. Who knows?"

"Luke we've only been here for two and a half hours," I point out. "That's quite a lot for such a short period of time."

I am not in the mood to deal with Luke's dumb ass getting alcohol poisoning tonight.

He rolls his eyes and pats my head. "Are you going to give me a ride or not, Woodsie? I can always walk home."

"You don't have to walk home," I tell him with a sigh.

Mabel returns, her head cocking to one side when she notices the way Luke has wrapped an arm around my shoulders for support. He raises his head and tips his beer at her in greeting.

"Hey Mabes, are you having fun?" Luke releases me and stumbles towards her, grabbing her by the shoulders.

She laughs, holding onto his forearms to steady him. "Yes, I've had lots of fun, Luke. Thank you for being such a great host."

"No problem, babydoll," he slurs.

"Alright that's enough of that. Let's get you in the truck," I interject, pulling Lucas off of her by the back of his shirt. "You coming Mabes?" I suddenly find myself terrified to look back at her for her reaction. Tagging along while I bring my drunk roommate back home probably isn't how she thought tonight would go.

"Of course," she chirps back, hurrying to grab Luke's other arm to assist in leading him out the front doors.

"No puking in the truck," I warn in a grumble as we arrive at my vehicle.

He waves me off with a laugh. "Real men know how to hold their liquor." He crawls into the back seat and lies down immediately, his eyes fluttering shut.

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To his credit, Luke does manage to hold it in throughout the ride across town and back home. When we make it back home though it's a different story. The fucker doesn't even make it inside the house before letting the vomit loose. Steam rises from the frost covered grass as he spews bile all over the front lawn.

If Mabel coming with me to take my drunk teammate home wasn't enough of a mood killer, us having to dive out of the way of his projectile vomit definitely is.

"Jesus dude." I pat his back awkwardly, unsure of what I can do to help.

Luke lets out a groan and staggers to a clean patch of grass to lie down. "This sucks. Megan was totally into me at the bar too."

"Then it's a good thing you made it here," Mabel teases with a giggle. "No girl wants to be puked on."

"I blew all chances of getting laid tonight," Luke grumbles. He rolls over, his gaze drifting up Mabel's slim frame. "Unless..."

"Don't even think about it. She's off the market," I tell him a little too quickly.

Lucas may have just puked his guts out, and he might not always be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he's sobering up enough that he catches the edge to my voice. "Oh really? You two finally—"

I cut him off by snatching his wrist and jerking him to his feet. "Let's go, jackass. You'll get frostbite if you sleep out here."

It takes another fifteen minutes before Mabel and I are alone again. After we've helped Luke to his bed and brought him a bucket in case he blows chunks again, I lead her by the hand up the stairs to my room. I start to feel like a nervous schoolboy with his crush, unsure of himself or how to proceed. It ticks me off a little to be honest. I'm not some fumbling idiot when it comes to women, but for some reason I am when Mabel is said woman.

"I think I expected your room to be a little more...eccentric," she says as she twirls around in the center of the room to take in her surroundings.

I let out a chuckle. "Eccentric? What, like nude posters of chicks?"

"Well, yeah actually," she admits sheepishly. Mabel crosses the room to my dresser to look at the frames that line the top. She picks one up and smiles warmly at the photograph. "Is this your sister?"

I peek at the photo and shake my head. "No, that would be my mother." I grab another photo and hand it to her. "This is my sister." It's a photo of Lizzie and I, we had to have been in our early teens, and I had buried her in sand at the beach while she was sunbathing. Only her face is visible.

"Is that a penis?" Mabel asks, holding her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. "You made a penis out of sand?"

"Don't worry, she deserved it. Lizzie gave me hell while we were growing up. Up until I hit puberty and became bigger than her that is."

"It must have been nice to grow up with a sibling," she replies fondly. "I'm guessing she's older than you then?"

"By about two and a half years. She just turned twenty-four recently." Thinking of my childhood, growing up alongside my sister, fills me with a sense of nostalgia. The photos have been on my dresser since I moved in, but I never take the time to actually look at them. It makes me miss my family, but I'm grateful that I'll have time later this week to see them for the upcoming holiday.

"She's really beautiful," Mabel murmurs, running her fingers along the frame's glassy surface.

"Don't let that fool you. She's a pain in the ass."

She elbows me lightly in the side with a grin. "Much like her brother I presume."

I shrug, running a hand through my hair. "I guess you could say that."

She puts down the picture carefully where she found it, and turns to me with a hesitant expression. "Um, do you want me to stay the night?"

"If you'd like to," I reply, pressing my lips together to keep from spilling out the rest of the words I want to say. Of course I want her to spend the night. It's something that I haven't had happen in years, having a girl sleep in my bed with me I mean, but with Mabel I find myself wanting her there. Needing her there.

She ponders the idea for a moment, lowering her green eyes to the floor. "Do you have something I can wear to bed?"

I nod and pull a gray long-sleeved shirt from my dresser. She takes it with a shy smile and heads into the bathroom across the hall.

Holy shit. Mabel Carter is going to spend the night. In bed (hopefully). With me (also hopefully). I silently plead with my dick to behave and not get over-excited, but as soon as she returns from the bathroom in just my shirt it's no use. The fucker strains against my jeans to greet her.

She looks gorgeous, which she always manages to do, but even more so in my clothes. The simple shirt is baggy and long on her slim frame, nearly reaching her knees. She's washed off her makeup and pulled her shoulder length hair up into a bun, exposing the pale column of her throat. She crosses the room to the bed and I can tell her freckled cheeks are flushes even though she keeps her head down in an attempt to avoid eye contact.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something?" I ask. My voice sounds gruff and strained even to my own ears, and Mabel notices it too.

She visibly gulps as she sets her clothes down on the floor before crawling under the blankets. "Sure," she answers in a small voice.

I strip down to my boxers, shedding off my shirt and jeans once I've pictured my grandmother enough times that my erection subsides, and shut off the lights. I grab the remote from the TV stand and climb into bed next to her, making sure to give Mabel a comfortable amount of space between our two bodies.

But it's her who closes the gap, scooting closer so our sides are flush up against one another. I scroll through the channels, picking the first movie that shows up on the TV guide, already knowing that I'm not going to be able to pay attention to it.

Mabel curls closer, the top of her head brushing against my jaw. It tickles, but not in an uncomfortable way.

I can't even remember the last time I had a woman in my bed and just held her. Maybe back when I was a teenager and first getting into relationships? Either way, there's no denying that lying in bed like this with Mabel just feels...right.

"Can I ask a question?"

I prop my head up with one of my arms so I can see her face better. "Go ahead."

Mabel pauses for a moment, and then turns her head so we're facing one another. Her movement catches me by surprise, as I'm sure it does for her too, since it brings us so close that our noses nearly touch.

"Is it true that you don't do the whole dating scene?" She maintains eye contact as she asks, those green orbs never once leaving my face. It's unnerving how she can go from shy to confident so effortlessly.

My brow furrows in response. Have I really made such a name for myself around campus?

"That's how I used to be I guess, yeah," I reply cautiously.

She tilts her head to one side. It's fucking adorable. "Has something changed?"

Has it? The reason I had avoided relationships in college that went further than just pure lust had been because I was unintentionally attracting the wrong types of women. Mabel and I started out as friends so I know that she's not just staying around me because she thinks I'm some kind of trophy that will boost her image. She's genuinely interested in what I have to say, and who I am as a person.

I clear my throat audibly. "Yeah, I think something has."

My gaze falls on her full lips and I watch in fascination as her pink little tongue flicks out to wet her lower lip. Dammit I want to kiss her. Every nerve in my body is pulsating with the need to claim her mouth.

"So you'd be interested—" she cuts off her own sentence the moment my hand comes up involuntarily to cup her face. "Alex," she murmurs, leaning into my touch as her eyes flutter closed.

I take that as a yes and close the distance between us, my lips brushing against hers softly at first, and when she doesn't pull away I shift to deepen the kiss. Mabel lets out a soft whimper as my tongue meets hers, and the sound vibrates through me down to my very soul. Everything about her is sweet, even the taste of her mouth.

My tongue glides against hers at a languid pace at first, and then more passionately. She arches her back and hooks a leg over my hip, one tiny hand tangling in my hair and the other coming up to dig her short nails into my bare back.

A deep groan echoes off the walls, breaking through the sound of ragged breathing, and I'm slightly embarrassed to find that the sound has come from me. My hips rock against her, searching for her most intimate place. I'm overwhelmed with the need to touch her, my mind clouded with lust, but I know deep down that doing so would more than likely only startle her. I want to feel the weight of her tits in my hands, and feel her soft little hands wrapped around my...

I break the kiss, pulling my head back to catch my breath. "Shit. Sorry," I mutter.

Her eyes flash open, staring back at me like mirrors to the lust I feel growing down below. "Why are you sorry?" she asks breathlessly. "I'm not."

"For fuck's sake," I grumble, dipping my head into the crook of her neck. Her heart hammers in her chest and I can feel the vibrations of it against my skin.

"What's wrong?" she asks softly, running her fingers through my hair.

"I don't want to fuck anything up," I admit roughly.

"You're not going to fuck anything up," Mabel whispers, and my head shoots up at the sound of the curse word leaving her mouth.

I've always been one to have a mouth like a sailor, but Mabel hardly ever swears, so the sound of the dirty word leaving her perfect lips packs more of a punch.

"Now probably wouldn't be a good time to tell you I've never done this before, right?" A nervous giggle bubbles out of her.

"Wait, what?" I pull back fully, shifting so that I've rolled back over onto my side, as I struggle to keep the right head focused on what she's saying. "You haven't...?"

"Done anything," she finishes. "I've been on a few dates and kissed a few guys, but it's never been like that."

I have to agree. Not about being a virgin as I'm pretty sure she's implying, but I've never kissed someone and had it feel like that. I've been with plenty of women in my twenty-one years, but it's never been so heated. And yet it just felt so natural, like her lips were made for mine. The discovery of that startles me down to my very core.

"Mabes are you a virgin?" I have to ask. I have to know if I'm the only one she's allowed even half as close to touching her like this.

"Yes," she squeaks. "Is that okay?"

"Of course it is," I reassure her earnestly. "But that just strengthens my resolve." I roll over onto my back, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and tugging her into my side.

Mabel peeks up at me from beneath her dark lashes. "What do you mean?"

A dry laugh rumbles in my chest. "It means I'm not having my way with you tonight."

Maybe not any night. It's like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. The thought of being the one to "deflower" Mabel excites me, there's no doubt about that, but at the same time I don't want it to be me. I don't know if I'm the right person to do it. She deserves so much, especially for her first time, and I don't know if I can give it to her.

"Is that what you wanted to do?" she asks, and I don't think she realizes just how seductive her question sounds. "You want to have your way with me?"

Her nipples are hard against the fabric of the thin shirt she's wearing, and they rub against my chest as she leans closer.

"Mabel," I say her name slowly, a warning in my tone. "Despite what you might have heard, I am capable of having a woman in my bed without boning her."

"Well, good to know." She pats my chest twice and places a chaste kiss on my cheek before rolling over onto her side, pulling a good portion of the blankets along with her. "Goodnight Alex."

"Night," I choke out.

This woman is going to be the death of me. This incredibly sexy, funny, smart woman is going to literally cause me to combust.

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Ah yes, the long awaited "kiss scene."

Is it everything you hoped it would be? Let me know in the comments!

I would just like to say that this chapter is VERY rough around the edges so don't feel bad about pointing out spelling/grammatical errors I might have missed. It's been a long time since I've updated this story, longer than I wanted anyway, so I'm sorry if it feels rushed 😔

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Make sure to vote/comment/add this story to your reading list if you want more!

Happy holidays to those who celebrate!