Page 36 of Love Lessons

Those musings left him in an even weirder place. Was Lena really not going to talk about last month? Was he just supposed to act like it hadn’t happened?

There was an awkward pause until Ash decided to fill it. You didn’t finish your story. How many people came to the event?

The rest of the munch only got more confusing. Not because it was different. But because it was exactly the same. He’d known that she saw it as a meaningless hook-up, a single lesson to help out the new Dom, but it was different being confronted with it.

Lena flitted around the table like she had the last time, joining conversations and checking in on everyone. She walked with a gentle, rolling swivel to her hips, an unconscious grace that Dustin couldn’t tear his eyes away from.

And then, when she sat back down next to Dustin, she started flirting again. Their knees brushed under the table and Dustin could feel the soft fabric of her dress falling over his thigh. She playfully stole his fries, and he playfully fed her one. She ran one hand up his leg, under the table where no one could see and made him shiver.

But then she would trounce off to laugh and flirt with someone else. Lena was still gorgeous, and still completely out of his league. She sparkled and shone, not with her natural makeup and softly glowing skin, but with that inner light that drew everyone to her.

The whole morning was fun and arousing and confusing as fuck. He knew that other people had hookups, but now he was certain that it wasn’t for him.

As the event broke up, he watched her as she leaned over to plant a kiss on someone’s cheek. He completely gave up on holding a conversation with Ash. What was it about her?

She was flirty, but not in a pushy way. It was more like she naturally liked people and wanted them to like her. But there was something performative about it, too. No, not performative. And compulsive was too strong a word.

He watched her more closely as she gave out hugs, shared advice, pulled out her phone to make notes or contact someone, and made sure that another newbie was settled with some information for next time. She seemed to thrive on that as much as the flirting.

And she was clearly good at it. She seemed to be the social center of the group, but as far as he could tell, she didn’t interfere where she wasn’t wanted or step on toes. Bruce, the other moderator of the group, was talking to someone and he watched Lena as she tried to read their lips, trying to determine if they needed her.

Speech reading was exhausting, and he couldn’t figure out how she had the energy for it.

And that was when he started to figure it out. Lena needed to be needed. Dustin tried to remember if there was some kink for that, something about serving people. But this seemed a little too mundane for that, or at least by what he understood of the kink world.

It made him wonder if anyone ever did praise her, though. Outside of a scene and for more than her looks.

Not that it mattered anyway. He’d gotten a “lesson” out of this that he’d never forget, and apparently that’s all it would ever be. He caught her eye, gave a brief nod, and started for the parking lot.

He pulled his ear plugs out now that he wasn’t going to be overwhelmed by a din of voices. It was nice not to have them heavy in his ears.

He heard the soft shuffle of footsteps behind him but didn’t turn. Today had just been weird.

But as he reached his car, he heard the steps get faster and closer and felt a hand on his arm. He turned to find Lena, looking a little shy.

He gave her a polite smile but didn’t extend it any further. Funny how we keep running into each other here.

She seemed to take that as an invitation, though, and he watched her dial up the charm. He enjoyed her flirtatious side, because it was a fun game to play, but he hated that it seemed to be something she fell back on when she was nervous.

She didn’t need to flirt to get his attention. He would rather that she showed more of herself. But that wasn’t really his place to worry about.

I had fun last time, she opened, before running a hand down his arm. Want to come over for another lesson?

Fuck. Did he? She was stunning and untouchable, too attractive and outgoing for his boring, plain self. It was really that hint of vulnerability and neediness that drew him in. The way that she’d opened up to him and given him that look of awe when he’d showed her that he was paying attention.

But could he handle another month of being ignored and then propositioned in the parking lot? Another month of not knowing if someone was treating Lena like she deserved to be treated and taking care of her?

The thought burned.

He grabbed her arms and wheeled her around so that her back was lined up with his car. Then he stepped forward. And again. Until she was pressed up tight against the metal and glass and he was a hair's breadth away from pressing his whole body against her inviting warmth.

But he didn’t touch her, loving the way her eyes grew wide and her breath grew heavy as she imagined it anyway. He ran his lips just over her bare collar bone, breathed along her ear. She shivered and arousal pooled inside him.

He pressed the side of his foot gently against her ankle, noticing that she was wearing slim ballet flats instead of the heels he would have expected. He liked that, because Lena was already tall and he wanted, at least figuratively, to tower over her. She widened her stance, and then widened it again at another nudge.

He pressed his palms against the windows and his knee into the empty space between her thighs, trapping her but still not touching her.

She snuck a hand up to her chest, signing PLEASE.