On an Edge of Glass

can manipulate the clasp.  I unravel in a series of unintelligible sounds and shivers as he works his mouth over me.  
    Pausing, Ben’s eyes close and he inhales through his nose.  He’s holding his weight above me with one hand.  “You are…” He murmurs as he shifts down further, slowly trailing his soft lips over the terrain of my body.  “So beautiful.”
    I answer with a moan.  I am lost and full of wanting at the same time.  He stops at the dip of my stomach to taste my belly button, and I let my eyes flutter closed. 
    “I think about this all of the time,” he says breathily against my skin.  “I think about how you taste, and the sounds that you make, and the way that you smell.”
    “I—I…”  I try to say something, but no words will form.
    Ben chuckles.  “It’s torture.  I can hardly sleep when I’m not next to you.  My brain is so full of you, it’s like there’s not room enough for anything else.”
    His kisses continue until my breath is coming so fast, I worry that I’ll start to hyperventilate.
    “Ben,” I say , digging my hands into his hair.
    He breaks contact for a moment and looks up at me with eyes that are on fire.  I try not to writhe under him.  “Ellie,” he mirrors my tone.  
    R eaching sideways, I fumble one-handed with the drawer of my nightstand until I find what I’m looking for.
    “ You’re positive?”  Ben’s hot misty breath swirls against my skin.
    I say nothing.  I just rip op en the packet and pull him closer.
    W hen he rocks into me, speaking low into my mouth and cradling my face in his hands, every part of me feels awake and alive.
     
     
    After , our feet entwined under the covers and my head resting on his bare chest while the dark jagged shadows of my room at night hover, Ben tells me, “I think we should say something to Ainsley and Payton right away.”
                  Inwardly, I cringe.  In my contentment, I’ve forgotten about the tiny detail of the girl pact with my other housemates.  I run my index finger over the bumps of his ribs.  “Maybe we should wait a little while longer. Just until after exams.  That will give them all of winter break to adjust to the idea of it.”  Translation: to get over my hypocrisy. 
                  He’s twirling the ends of my hair between his thumb and finger.  “Okay,” he says, pressing his lips to my forehead.  “If that’s what you think is best.  But, I do want to take you on a real date.  And I won’t take no for an answer.”
                  I smile into the dark.  “A real date?   Like, where you come to my door with flowers and have to have me home safe by midnight?”
                  “Well, I wouldn’t want you to turn into a pumpkin.”
    This makes me laugh.  “I think you have the details of the fairytale mixed up, but okaaaay… When would you like to go on this proposed date?”
    His arm curls around me , lifting me higher so that my cheek scrapes against the stubbly growth that covers his jaw.  “You take the LSAT on Saturday morning, right?”
    “Yep.”
    “Then Saturday night it is.”
    I look at him.  “Ainsley will be at that social and Payton mentioned something the other day about going to see a concert with Hedda and Megan, so I don’t think she’ll be home either.”
    He touches the tip of my nose lightly.  “Perfect.  I’ll pick you up a t your bedroom door and I’ll have something better than flowers for m’lady.”
     

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    Hedgehogs Love to Lunch
     
     
    The cool air kicks up around me when the glass door opens.  After that stuffy room of ticking clocks and circular questions, it’s like a flood of water after a long, earth-cracking drought.  I pause to the side of the entryway, slipping into my burgundy jacket and switching my phone ringer back into the on position. 
    “There she is!”  I hear a familiar voice.
    “Ellie-bear, over here!”
    I spin and scan the bodies moving past, threading out of the building where I’ve just spent the longest three hours of my life.  There, huddled underneath the grey stone archway, backlit by the midday sun, are Mark, Payton and Ainsley. 
    I laugh out loud.  M y three friends lurch toward me—Ainsley squealing, Mark asking a thousand questions, and Payton pulling my arm. 
    “W ait—what in the world are you guys doing here?”
    Payton leans in .  “Well, babe, we came to see how you did on the