Page 37 of The Cheerleader is Off Limits

SLOANE

“Did he respond?” My cousin Delaney asks as she drags her straightener through the last bit of her dark bob, then sprays it with texturizing spray while she prepares for her date. I’m excited for her, but very annoyed with myself for not suggesting tonight for my date with River, because my aunt and uncle are probably outfor the nightand thus won’t be up my ass like they were last night about me being home.

Evidently, they wanted to have a family dinner, and since it was my first week here, it was a very big deal that I wasn’t home.

And an even bigger deal that they didn’t know where I was.

Delaney tried to cover for me as much as possible, but she’s a terrible liar. After not having to do it much, since they rarely cared what she was doing, my aunt was convinced I was in the process of being abducted and was being held captive in some creepy guy's basement. And so she didn’t panic, call my mother, and tell her I was probably dead, I raced home to show proof of life, and very effectively ended the night with River.

They weren’t even mad once I got here. “Just worried, darling!!” my aunt said, while she engulfed me in a hug and tried not to spill her martini.

I know how it looked, and even more importantly, what River is probably thinking, especially after not texting me last night or all day today, so I am trying to clear the air.

“I do not need to be getting involved with this young girl who can’t even stay out past ten p.m.,”he was probably thinking, and I don’t blame him, especially after I was barely down from the high of my orgasm before I had to go. That’s cause for worry, too, because what if he thinks all of that was a plan and I’m just not into him?

“Not yet,” I sigh while lying across her bed as she continues to mess with her hair in her en suite bathroom. I roll over to lie on my back and stare up at the ceiling before holding up my phone over my faceagain.

“I can cancel,” she says, and I immediately snap my head to the side to look at her.

“Absolutely not. You look hot, and you know you like this guy,” I remind her as I sit up, propping my head up on my fist. He’s evidently a guy in our grade who she’s been friends with for the past few years, but as of late, they’ve been talking a bit and flirting even more, and now they’re going on their first official date despite having hung out alone hundreds of times.

“So?” She shrugs even though she’s completely dressed and looks hot as hell in the navy strapless dress we’d gotten a few days ago and white sandals. “I don’t want to leave you here all alone.”

“I’ll live.” I snort before turning onto my stomach and begin to swing my feet behind me as I scroll through Instagram in an attempt to distract myself from the fact that River hasn’t texted me back yet.

“Call me if you need me?” she asks.

I wave her off because I don’t want her to worry while she’s on her date. “I’ll be fine. Go. But text me ifyouneedmeand tell him I’ll kill him if he acts up.” She leans across the bed, pressinga kiss to my forehead before she heads out of the room and I hear her moving down the stairs.

A few hours later, I’m sitting on the couch mindlessly watching television while I scroll through my phone when a text comes through, and I raise an eyebrow at the name on my screen.

River:

I know you’re an adult. The situation just caught me off guard.

Me:

I figured.

River:

I wanted to kiss you and get you off again, and you were going all Cinderella on me, turning into a pumpkin.

The reminder of how good that orgasm sends a flutter through me.

Me:

We’ll circle back to the part about getting me off again… you do know Cinderella doesn’t turn into a pumpkin, right?

River:

You know what I mean.

Me:

Not when you’re fucking up a very easy Disney metaphor.

River: