Lauren took the phone and unlocked it. She flicked through a number of images and videos until she found the latest ones—the ones of her.
“I brought these as well,” Ryan said, handing her a pair of ear phones. “You were pretty…well, let’s just say I recommend wearing them.”
Lauren did not reply. She simply placed the buds in, wary of what she was about to see. She felt a tensing in her stomach as she positioned her finger over the first video. Finally, she tapped it.
Immediately her ears were engulfed with gasps and cries of lust like she had heard earlier. This video left nothing to the imagination either. This particular one was filmed with Ryan behind her, working away with gusto. Every thrust brought a new gasp and moan, every move brought more swearing from her. The camera phone barely moved, concentrating only on what a guy would want to see when watching porn. The other clips were different only in what positions they showed. All of them surprised Lauren. She could never remember having been this vocal before.
But there was something unnerving about it.
There were the usual moans and groans, but every so often she would whimper like she was crying or about to, and literally scream herself hoarse. If it wasn’t for the encouraging words and phrases she said, or even the breathless repetitions of “oh god…oh fuck,” she would’ve sworn she was in severe pain, no, perpetual agony.
Briefly she wondered a second time if this was really her. She knew herself, and no matter how drunk she was she was never this much out of control. Yet just as the thought crossed her mind, it left again for the same reason. She knew herself, she knew her own body. Every lustful curve and every unsightly blemish, and they were all there.
When she had watched all the videos, she pulled the earphones out and slowly, deliberately wrapped them around the phone.
“Cracked pepper?”
Lauren looked up at the waitress that she hadn’t even known was there, who was clearly waiting for a reply. Lauren looked to see her salad was in front of her, and Ryan was eagerly twirling his fork full of pasta.
“Um, no. Thank you.”
The waitress left and Lauren decided she must think this was the strangest lunch meeting ever.
“So…” Ryan began, swallowing his food and licking his lips. “What did you think?”
“I’m not sure,” she replied, holding the phone in both hands. This was true; she was confused as to how her reaction to the videos should be. She thought she should be angry, but last night she obviously did not offer any protest, and he hadn’t even been the one holding the camera the whole time. One video showed him with his head between her legs; who else could’ve filmed it but her? “You didn’t show my face.”
“That’s the one thing you told me last night I couldn’t show,” he replied, raising his wine glass and sipping it. “Wow, you seem really…mortified.”
“I’m just shocked. I never thought I would let a guy do that with me.”
“It’s not what you think. I mean, yeah, I wanted to do it for obvious reasons but the truth is you were pretty drunk, and the only reason you even talked to me was because I gave you the chance to make the other guy jealous. Don’t think I don’t know that you were drunk, angry and horny, which is why I got lucky. I was hoping I would wake up before you. I didn’t want you waking up next to the guy you were ready to slap the night before and accuse me of slipping you something. But in case you did, I could show you the videos. I really didn’t want you thinking I was a creep, that’s all. Make sense?”
Surprisingly yes. It was also thoughtful, but she would never tell him. She picked the phone up and paused, wondering what to do. Finally she moved the phone back to him.
“Keep them if you want. A present from me to you.”
“Thanks, but now you know I’m not a psycho, I’ll probably delete them anyway.”
“Why?”
“They would be awesome to look at for a while, but the urge to call you would be too hard to resist.”
Lauren’s shoulders relaxed a little. She jabbed at the salad with her fork and took a bite. “A booty call, huh?”
“Who am I kidding? I would call to wake you up at three in the morning just to hear you yell at me.”
Ryan bent his head to take another bite of pasta, and completely missed Lauren’s hint of a smile. In a weird way, that was probably one of the nicest things a guy had ever said to her.
*
Ryan had driven Lauren home. He chatted and joked with her all the way to the front doors.
“Thank you for today, for everything. You surprised me and it was…really nice,” Lauren said, facing him.
Ryan gave a tiny nod. “You’re very welcome.”
Then silence. Oh god. What a time to run out of conversation.
“Well, I better be getting up…”
Ryan gently leaned in and gave her a soft kiss. She kept still but let him continue, her mind in two very different places. “I want to see you again,” he said.
“Look, I— I’m not good at this,” Lauren blurted, trying to explain without knowing how. “Relationships, lovey dovey stuff.”
“Don’t worry,” he said, thumbing her ear. When his hand came into view again he held a heart-shaped, foil-wrapped chocolate in it. “I am.”
Her lips curved. Smooth bastard. “That’s a nice trick.”
Ryan pushed her gently to the wall, pressing against her body. “I’ve got more.”
“Really?” she asked, running her hands up and down his arms.
“Yes, really. Besides, don’t you want to remember some this
