The Original Sinners: The Red Years

“Can’t sleep?” he asked.

“There’s a monster in my room,” Nora whispered unnecessarily.

“Big baby.” He threw back the covers. “Get in.”

Nora dived in with juvenile glee and wriggled next to him flipping and flopping over like a fish on land until Wesley grabbed her by the arms and pinned her down.

“Why, Wesley. I never knew you cared.” She batted her eyelashes at him.

“If you’re gonna sleep with me, woman, you have to behave yourself.”

Nora tried to ignore how good it felt lying beneath Wesley with his hands on her upper arms and his naked chest in front of her face. She wanted to raise her head, kiss his shoulders, his strong neck.

“Yes, sir,” she said meekly.

Wesley raised a hand and brushed her hair off her face.

“Your hair’s damp,” he said. “You took another shower.”

Nora heard the worry in his voice.

“I didn’t have sex with Zach. Or S?ren. Sometimes a shower’s just a shower, Wes,” she said, conveniently omitting Michael.

“Was he there?” Wesley asked, letting her go and stretching out next to her. Nora lay on her side to face him. It was funny how much more comfortable she felt in Wesley’s far smaller full-size bed than her huge luxurious king-size.

“He was. We talked some. We didn’t play. He wanted to but I stopped him.”

“You actually told him no?”

Nora sat up and switched on the lamp on the bedside table. She turned her back to Wesley and unbuttoned her pajama top.

“Nora, you don’t—”

But Nora didn’t stop. She let her shirt fall off her arms. She lifted her hair and showed him her naked back.

“See?” she asked. “Not a mark on me. You can check the rest of me if you want.”

She waited for Wesley to speak but instead he grazed her bare back with his fingertips. His touch was so tenuous that it almost tickled.

“Okay,” he said. “I believe you.”

Nora pulled her shirt back on and buttoned it. She turned off the lamp and lay down again. For a few minutes they lay in silence together.

“You stopped him because Zach was there?”

Nora opened her eyes. Wesley was looking at her. She ran her hands through his tousled blond hair.

“No. I stopped him because I promised you I would.”

Wesley took her hand from his hair and held it.

“You did?”

Nora squeezed his hand and met his eyes. “Yeah, I did. Wes, I can’t lose you.” Reaching out, she laid her hand on Wesley’s chest over his heart. She leaned forward and kissed Wesley on the forehead. She wanted so desperately to lower her head and kiss his lips. But she remembered S?ren’s warnings. She wanted to believe she could be trusted around Wesley.

Wesley rolled over on his side so she could no longer see his face. She tried to settle in and let herself fall asleep. But Wesley’s body was so close, so warm and so inviting. Just to tease him, she reached out and ran a finger down the center of his back from his neck to his hip.

“Nora, did you already forget the ‘behave yourself’ rule?”

“Just returning the favor,” she said. “You touched my back. I get to touch yours.” Nora ran her finger up his back to his neck again. She delighted in the little shivers she instigated with every pass. “Why are you still a virgin, Wes?”

He’s waiting for you to grow up. Nora heard S?ren’s voice in her head and pushed it away.

“Are you seriously asking me that?” Wesley grabbed a pillow and pulled it tight to his chest.

“I’m very seriously asking you that. I want to know.”

“Well, I’m a Christian and—”

“I’m a Christian, too. And I’m not a virgin. Then again, I’m a bad Christian.”

“You’re not a bad Christian,” Wesley said. “You’re just doing the best you can.”

“That’s very gracious of you.” Nora grinned at the back of his head. “But you’re avoiding the question. Are you really waiting until your wedding night?”

“Not necessarily.”

Nora flicked him on his back.

“What do you mean ‘not necessarily’? That’s not very devout of you.”

“I’m not a fundamentalist, you know. I’m a biochemistry major. I do believe that evolution and global warming are real. I just think God’s real, too, and He wants us to be, I don’t know, honorable with each other.”

“Honorable…that’s a very good word. So when do you plan on honoring some lucky girl with your virginity?”

“Nora, this isn’t a very comfortable topic of conversation.”

“Wes, we talk about sex all the time.”

“No, you talk about sex all the time. I live with you and am forced to listen to it.”

Nora flicked him again. “Come on. Tell me. I want to know.”

“All right, fine. If you’ll stop flicking me.”

Nora started lightly massaging Wesley’s neck and shoulders. She thought it would help with his tension but his muscles seemed to get more rigid the more she touched him.

Wesley exhaled slowly.