Late Night Return*

I came home to Alexis sprawled out on my couch. She was breathing heavily, the light from the TV flickering as the animations on screen played on repeat. The controller had fallen to the floor near where her hand was hanging off the couch.

Setting my bag down, I walked over to stand next to her and looked down. Her loose halter top didn’t cover much and she wasn’t wearing a bra. My eyes did a slow once over before I bumped her arm.

“Go home, Alexis.” She could pretend all she wanted, but her Noise never lied.

Her right eye popped open as a smile appeared. “You looked.” I said nothing, walking away as I heard her sit up behind me. “You totally looked!”

“Home, Alexis,” I repeated as I went to my room. I closed and locked it before she could follow me in.

“You’re late,” she called out through the door. “It’s been sooo boring waiting for you!”

I went through my usual routine of removing my uniform.

“Then don’t.”

“Don’t be like that! Come on, why so late? It’s not like you.” I said nothing as I changed. After hanging my uniform, I headed back to the door. “Don’t tell me it was a girl,” she said in a teasing voice as I opened the door. She was leaning against the wall, arms crossed in a way that accentuated her breasts. After spending so much time with Chloe tonight, it was refreshing to be able to read someone’s Noise. It was normal and familiar.

I knew she wanted me to look, so I did. My efforts were rewarded by a tickling of pride and happiness dancing through her Noise. One thing I’d learned early was that Alexis liked when guys looked at her—especially if she found them attractive.

“It was,” I said as I moved past her. I didn’t need to be looking at her to see the turmoil in her Noise. She hadn’t expected that, which is why I didn’t elaborate and left it vague. What I didn’t expect was the cascade of numerous emotions those two words started.

“Oh-ho?” she said in a **** voice. She fluttered after me as I went to the kitchen. “She hot?”

“Yeah.”

“Hotter than me?” I paused to glance over my shoulder. She had her butt against the table, a knowing smile on her face. I thought for a moment.

“About the same?”

“Chickenshit.”

“What?”

“Such a chickenshit answer. ‘’Bout the same,’” she said in a deeper voice that was meant to mock mine. “I’m a big girl. I can handle other girls being hotter than me.”

“Telling the truth. You both have your charms.”

“Hmm.” Walking over to me, I faced her as she reached out to rest her arms against my shoulders. Tilting her head back slightly to look me in the eye, she had a sultry smile on her face. “I put out though,” she whispered with a wink.

I didn’t answer right away as I examined her Noise. I didn’t know what to make of it. She was enjoying teasing me, and there was plenty of sexual desire and lust floating around. That was only about half of it. Insecurity, concern, worry, and more took up the other half.

My response was to place my hands on her hips and pull her against me. She gave me a defiant look, daring me to do it. Her Noise on the other hand…

Sighing, I released her.

“What?”

“I’m not in the mood,” I lied as I turned back to get something to eat. It was technically the truth in the sense I wasn’t aroused like normal people were. Mostly it was to give her an out to save face.

“Coward,” she whispered.

“What?” I asked, turning back around. I’d heard her, but I still didn’t believe it.

“You’re a fucking coward, Jake.”

“What do you want?”

She stared at me. “You seriously don’t know?”

“No, I don’t.”

“I know you aren’t that dense, asshole.”

“Alexis…” I started, taking a step towards her.

“You know what? Why do I even bother?” she asked as she matched my step backward. She looked me in the eye as her Noise roiled around us. “You know what I’ve been wanting? I’ve wanted you to fuck me. There. That clear enough for you?”

I think she expected me to fire back at her. Her words did the equivalent of splatting against the Earth from ten stories—and I was the Earth. My face remained as passive as ever and it was throwing her off. Her hot anger was dissipating against cold steel.

“Do you?”

Those two words caused her Noise to flair. “You dense mother fucker. You can’t seriously—”

“No, I understand,” I said with my calm and measured voice. “Your actions and innuendos have always been clear to me.”

This wasn’t going in the direction she expected as her anger was mixed with confusion. “So then why—”

“Because your actions and words say one thing, but your eyes tell me otherwise.” I didn’t tell her the real reason was because I saw it in her Noise. Maybe in her mind, she convinced herself it was what she wanted but her emotions didn’t lie. There was something holding her back and if she wasn’t a hundred percent behind it, I wasn’t going to push it. I wanted to believe it was some noble action on my part, but I had a feeling a large part had to deal with the lack of drive. Sex was something I wanted to experience and Alexis was someone I would be comfortable experiencing it with, but I didn’t have the normal emotional impulses to kick my body into action. She was the closest one to ever get me going, but that was because she had no issues getting physical.

She shook her head. “That makes no sense.”

“Then shall we put it to the test?” I asked as I walked up to her. She said nothing, head tilting back to look up at me. “My room is right there,” I said with a nod in the right direction. “If you want, we can go back there right now and we can piss off your sister while she tries to sleep.” In a way, it would be **** for the times she did it—though Alexis was the worst offender by far.

I held her gaze, letting her know how serious I was. She quickly realized that the ball was in her court and she was holding it. Suddenly, she was faced with the real possibility of having sex with me. I was curious where this was going to go. This was what she said she wanted after all.

Her hands pressed against my chest as I felt her push me away. “You ruined the mood,” she said, storming off towards the balcony. I said nothing as I watched her go. Even if her words had an angry bite to them, I saw what dominated her Noise. Fear.

The door slammed and I was alone.

For the life of me, I couldn’t understand what she was so frightened of.