Page 24 of Sex Positive

He tilts his head. “Care to elaborate, Rogers?”

“No.”

There’s no way she’s admitting that she was thinking abouthimwhile Nash’s tongue was in her mouth.

Wes flashes a wry grin, unaffected. Rising from his stool, he makes his way around the counter, his fingers trailing over the cover of her journal. Her stomach swirls at the gesture, like he’s touching a part of her.

He stands in front of her, their bodies inches apart. “Do you want to know whatIthink?”

She lifts her chin. “If I say no, are you going to tell me anyway?”

He laughs. “Ithink the reason you haven’t had any satisfyingresultsis because you haven’t found a partner who knows what they’re doing.” He leans forward, his lips so close to her ear that his breath sends an insuppressible shiver down her spine. “Who listens to your needs and knows how to make you feel good.”

A buzzing fills her ears. They stare at each other for two, three, four seconds until she blinks, realization striking her like lightning.

His eyes track the heat that is spreading across her cheeks.

She steps back, putting space between them. “You can’t possibly mean you.”

He flashes his most charming smile. “What an excellent idea. Yes, Rogers. I am, of course, referring to myself.”

She’s shaking her head before he finishes, a hysterical laugh bubbling in her throat. “Why would you want to do that? Withme?”

His grin vanishes, replaced by confusion. “Why wouldn’t I? You’re not hideous, you know. It’s not like it would be a chore—”

“You don’t like me,” she blurts, and then wishes she could evaporate into thin air.

He stares at her, then makes a noise in the back of his throat. For a moment, he appears angry. But why would he be angry? Does he not remember what hesaidall those years ago?

Wes runs a hand down his face, and Charlie does not focus on those long fingers.

“I understand wanting experience,” he says. “But it’s just sex.” He waves a hand through the air. “Or foreplay. Or whatever you want to call it. Anexperiment.” He says this like he’s relaying the weather or the score of a sports game. “It doesn’t mean anything unless youwantit to mean something.”

No, it wouldn’t mean anything for him, would it?

For Wesley Quinn, sex is easy, simple.

“Yeah,” she lies. “It wouldn’t mean anything. But it’s still an intimate act, right?”

He nods, crossing his arms over his chest. Her mind whirls as she stares at his powerful arms. She raises her eyes to his neck, the sharp line of his jaw, his full lips, locking her gaze with his.

“I want it to feel good,” she whispers. “There should be mutual respect and trust. But with my other partners, that felt like too much to ask.”

“It’s not,” he says. “That’s not too much to ask for, Rogers.”

His quiet words land like a punch in the gut.

She considers him. The whole point of her sex education curriculum is to empower her students and reduce shame, teach people about their own desire and how to feel confident going after it.

Wes is offering her something she’s only ever dreamed of. Is this the perfect opportunity for her to chaseherdesire?

What aboutfeelings,Charlie?a quiet voice whispers in her mind.What about yourheart?

Can she pretend to be indifferent toward him? And when the time comes, will she be able to walk away with her dignity intact?

She’s come a long way from the naïve freshman who practically wore her heart on her sleeve and offered it to Wes without asking for anything in return.

“How about,” Wes says slowly, “we conduct our own experiment?”