She's shaken, but not angry

We lie together on the bed without speaking until our breathing finally slows to an almost normal rate. Her slender body soft and warm in my arms and she make no attempt to pull away. Still, I'm relieved when she finally breaks the silence.

“Is this what you do to all your tenants?” Her head turns so I can see her face, she's not exactly angry, but her sweet smile is nowhere to be seen.

“No, not all of them.” Riya takes my answer and digests it for almost thirty second before answering.

“But I'm not the first, am I?” I nod my head slowly.

“You are a right bastard, Mr. Patterson.” The harshness of her assessment is tempered by the sly smile that lights her face and the way she rests her head on my chest. “An old goat, and a horny one at that.” I hold her gently, afraid to do or say anything that might break this fragile moment.

“Are you OK,” I ask remembering what I did and said, “I didn't mean to be so rough.”

“I'll let you know when the throbbing stops.” Her delicate fingers intertwine with mine, “but it wasn't bad, certainly better than most of my mates' first times.” Riya's eyes narrow for just a second, “Were all the others virgins too? Is that what you do, Mr. Patterson, are you some kind of trophy hunter?”

“First of all, there weren't that many,” I protest “and no Riya, none of the others were virgins.”

“So, I was your first ...” she grins at me mischievously, “just like you were mine.”

Over the next several minutes I tell Riya about how it started with Alison; Riya is a surprisingly good listener, prompting me with an occasional question but for the most part just letting me ramble on. I explain how at first it was just a once-a-week transactional thing but that it didn't take long before I was spending more and more nights up here in Alison's bed.

“Why'd she leave?” I sigh and smile.

“She fell in love.” Riya's mouth opens and closes twice but when she doesn't say anything, I explain. “A young man, in one of her classes asked her out, she asked me if it was OK, and what could I say.”

“So, she started dating him even though she was sleeping with you?” Riya seems to find this last bit even harder than the rest of my implausible story. She's not wrong.

“Yeah, it was a little weird,” It was weird, but maybe not as strange as it might sound. “When they started getting serious, we both knew it was time for her to move on.”

“I'd like to talk to her, if you think that's OK?” Riya's question catches me a little off guard. After a moment of thought though I decided it might be a good thing for her to have someone she can talk to about this.

“I'll call her tomorrow, maybe the three of us can do lunch at the Blue Crab sometime.”