The Experiment Read online

  Melissa let him hold her close. They lingered that way for a moment, before she pulled away. “How’re you?”

  “Good. Good. You?” He wasn’t sure where they were supposed to go from here, since you couldn’t really keep up a four-hour hug. Then again, he hadn’t thought he’d be able to maintain holding hands for the full time, either, and they’d managed that with only a little awkwardness.

  “Great.” She grinned and took his hand to lead him to the couch, where she settled in at once, one leg curled beneath her as her fingers curled lightly around his. She didn’t let him go, either, but kept his hand. “I got a call from my future boss. They actually want me to start a month earlier. I was going to take some time off, but now I’ll be able to go right into work after I graduate. It’s going to be awesome.”

  “Yeah? What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going straight into a paid internship with Triple Smith and Brown. It’s an accounting firm,” she said, like he might not’ve heard of the biggest accounting firm in three states. “And after that, it’s pretty much guaranteed to lead me right into a full time job. Which is great.”

  “Yeah. Lucky you.” Matt twisted his fingers in hers, noting again how soft her hands were. He had nothing like that lined up, which sucked. He had a few leads on some engineering jobs, but so far nothing had opened up. “But don’t you want to take some time off before school?”

  She shrugged. “No. Then again, I’d only planned on setting up my apartment and stuff like that. It’s no week in Cancun.”

  “Right.” He thought about spending the week with sand, sun, babes and booze, just like Damian said. That’s what he was here for, to get the money for the trip.

  “So. Hugging.” Melissa gave him a grin. “Not so bad. And I’m not sure why, but it felt easier than the hand holding did at first. You?”

  “Yeah. It did.” It helped that she’d been the one to make the first move. “Should we do it again?”

  “We’re supposed to,” she said. “I guess so. I don’t know how many hugs we’re supposed to have in four hours.”

  “I’d guess a lot.” Matt laughed, already leaning in. “We’d better get to it.”

  They talked as they hugged, pressing their bodies close. They experimented. Standing. Sitting. They tried reverse hugs as they chatted, which might’ve been stretching the definition, but with Melissa’s back pressed up against his front, leaning against him as he stretched out on the couch, it felt okay. They both figured the purpose was having as much body contact as possible.

  They hugged. They talked. And talked, and talked. Without the pressure of trying to get laid – that wouldn’t come until the end of the experiment. If then. Only two days into it, Matt knew he wouldn’t turn it down if the chance came up, but he wasn’t going to expect the same from Melissa.

  “I can’t believe it’s ten o’clock already.” Melissa said this with her cheek pressed to his chest, her arms around his waist. She tipped her face back to look at him. “This was actually kind of fun, Matt. Thanks.”

  He looked down into her face, noticing the spray of freckles over her nose and the pale, almost translucent brown of her eyes. “Sure. It was fun, just hanging out. You know? No pressure. I think I’m going to use that in my report.”

  “Me too.” She smiled. “I’m not sure we’re supposed to tell each other what we’re going to write.”

  “Right, right.” Matt let her go, reluctant to feel her body move from his. It was just a normal reaction, he told himself, to the loss of the soft feminine weight and pressure to which his body was programmed to react.

  But it felt like a little more than that, he thought as they parted ways again at the outside door to the Psych building. Crazy, he knew, but that’s how it felt. He’d make sure to write that down in the report, too.

  He wondered what Melissa was writing in hers.

  Chapter Seven

  Kissing.

  Tonight was kissing. Melissa had flossed, brushed and rinsed three times already and was considering heading to the restroom to do it a fourth time when the door opened and Matt came in. She finished crunching her mint and swallowed. Smiled.

  “Hey,” she said.

  Three days into this experiment, and all she could think about was whether or not she was going to go through with it and have sex with him. It had colored every perception about the entire experience. The hand holding, the hugging. She’d written down all her thoughts and emotions, just as she’d been instructed, but that hadn’t helped. If anything, focusing on exactly how her mind leaped from a simple squeeze of fingers to imagining the size of Matt’s penis had only made it all the more impossible to stop thinking about what his erection might be like.

  “Hi.” Matt’s smile got wider. “So. You ready for this?”

  “I don’t know. I think so.” Melissa patted her belly. “I avoided garlic all day. I hope you did, too!”

  “Of course.” Matt leaned in to say confidentially, “brushed my teeth about ten times, too.”

  She laughed. It seemed natural by this point to let him take her hand and to follow him to the couch, where they settled into a snuggly position, arms and legs tangled up. The idea was to progress further into intimacy every session, and Melissa was glad Matt was making it so easy. So not-weird. It easily could’ve been, with someone else.

  Funny, too, how she’d first thought he wasn’t much to look at. After all this time getting up close and personal, it wasn’t that her idea of what was attractive had changed. It was her opinion of Matt that had. His smile, the way the corners of his eyes crinkled, his laugh – those more than made up for his hazel eyes and sandy hair.

  He was smiling now, his fingers linked loosely with hers. “If I tell you something, will you promise not to laugh?”

  Melissa laughed, anyway. “Umm…oops.”

  Matt shook his head a little. “I haven’t been this nervous about kissing someone since I was in eighth grade playing Seven Minutes in Heaven in the closet.”

  Melissa hadn’t played that game. “Spin the bottle, for me.”

  He tilted his head, just a little. “You too?”

  “I can honestly say I’ve never thought about kissing someone with as much trepidation and anxiety as I’ve been thinking about this all day long,” Melissa admitted.

  Matt’s fingers squeezed. “You don’t want to?”

  Did she imagine he sounded disappointed? Melissa shook her head. “No. I want to. I mean…do you want to?”

  “Yeah. A thousand bucks, right?”

  Melissa took a deep breath. “Right. It would be stupid to get all this way and then bail.”

  They both nodded.

  Neither of them moved.

  “Maybe if we both went for it at the same time,” Matt suggested. Then, “God, you must think I’m such a pussy.”

  “No!” Melissa laughed at that. “No, Matt. Wow. Not at all. Believe me, I’m nervous, too. This isn’t really the normal way anyone goes about kissing someone for the first time, you know. I’m trying to remember all the details to put in the report, first of all. Usually that first kiss is just…sensation, you know? Not logic. Not analysis.”

  “Count to three,” Matt murmured, eyes gleaming. “Then we’ll go for it.”

  “Deal.”

  One. Two. Three…

  It was spectacularly bad. Teeth mashed against gums in a hard, dry peck that had nothing resembling passion whatsoever. They both pulled away from each other, and Melissa touched her mouth to make sure she wasn’t bleeding. It sure felt like her mouth was at least bruised.

  “Wow,” Matt said. “That sucked.”

  Yet Melissa laughed again. “It sure did.”

  Matt ran his tongue over his bottom lip and eased a tiny bit closer. “Let’s try it again. Slower this time? Maybe…you should go first.”

  “Me? Why me?” Melissa heard a squeak in her voice and swallowed hard.

  “I just…erm…” Matt looked embarrassed. “I think it would be bett
er that way, that’s all.”

  Melissa eyed him. “Why?”

  He looked down to where their hands still linked. It had become such second nature she’d barely noticed. “Because you’re the woman, and I want to make sure you…um…you know. Really want to, and all.”

  “A thousand bucks, remember?” she teased.

  Matt looked at her. “Yeah, well…aside from that. I want to make sure you’re okay with it.”

  This touched her, and Melissa nodded, even though the idea of being the one to move in first for the kiss made her stomach clench. “That’s very sweet, Matt.”

  “Hey, I’m a sweet guy.”

  “And so modest,” she said.

  “So? You’ll do it?”

  Melissa drew in a deep, long breath. “Sure. Okay. I’ll do it.”

  Had she ever been the first to make the move? If she had, Melissa couldn’t remember it. Of all the first kisses she’d ever had with someone, this was certainly shaping up to be the most memorable. That’s when she decided she was going to make it memorable, not just because they were doing an experiment, but, well, just because.

  Because she could.

  Letting go of Matt’s hand, Melissa pushed up onto her knees. The couch cushions dipped underneath her as she moved in front of him. She took his face in her hands, cupping his jaw. His skin was bristly, just a little, though he looked fairly clean-shaven. Her fingers brushed the bottom edges of his sideburns while her thumbs pressed the curve of his chin.

  Matt’s mouth opened the tiniest bit, but he didn’t say anything. He looked deep into her eyes, and though they’d spend oodles of time hugging and holding hands and talking about everything that could be talked about in four-hour increments, this was the first time he’d ever looked so deeply into her gaze.

  It rocked her, that look. Right down to the middle of her gut, and lower down, too. Yes, this was artificial, she thought as she studied his face. But that didn’t make it any less real.

  And then, Matt closed his eyes. This touched her, too, the way his insistence that she be the one to start it had. This was not Matt the frat boy, bent on getting up to trouble in Cancun. This Matt seemed more vulnerable than that, and what could she say? Melissa was a sucker for vulnerable.

  Truthfully, she felt more than a little vulnerable herself, sitting here with the responsibility of making the first move forcing her to overthink something that ought to have been so simple. That’s when she decided it should be. No more thinking. Just doing.

  She closed her eyes, too, looking out from beneath the fringe of her lashes. She leaned forward, her mouth parted the way his had been, and brushed her lips just gently over his. Softly. Barely there. Then again in the opposite direction.

  Matt shivered. She felt it. Her eyelashes fluttered, and Melissa made to move away, but before she could he’d put his hands on her hips and held her in place. The kiss deepened. Nothing harsh or awkward, still just a simple press of lip on lip, but she was no longer the only one in charge. Matt was kissing her back. Responding.

  It only took a few seconds before they both broke it at the same time. He swiped his lips with his tongue, his breath coming a little faster. Hers was, too. She still had his face in her hands, was still kneeling. She could still look deeply into his eyes.

  “Wow,” Matt breathed.

  “Yeah,” Melissa said.

  “We should do that again.”

  She nodded. And did. A little longer this time.

  Matt’s gaze had gone a little hazy when she pulled away. Melissa put her hands on his shoulders. She had to catch her breath. Her heart had started thumping harder, and heat had begun swirling in a lot of different places inside her.

  The next kiss was even better. Their mouths opened. His tongue slid against hers, a startling and delicious, sexy turn of events. Melissa moved and found herself on Matt’s lap with his hands still gripping her hips and her thighs pressing his sides. Her hands moved from his face to hold onto his shoulders.

  “Is this okay?” He breathed against her between kisses.

  “Fine. Good, it’s good.”

  “Good.”

  The kissing went on. When she tilted her head, his went the other way. Their noses bumped every so often, but most of the time they shifted and moved in perfect coordination. He didn’t try to eat her face off, didn’t steal her breath away, didn’t force his tongue so deep it tickled her tonsils.

  Matt, as it turned out, was a very, very good kisser.

  “I haven’t done this in so long,” Melissa gasped as they parted to catch their breath.

  “Kissed someone?” Matt’s eyes were bright, his mouth wet. His cheeks were pink, something Melissa noted with amusement.

  “Well, no…I’ve kissed guys, sure, but not like this.” Melissa shifted on his lap, ignoring the bulge she was certain was his erection. “Not just kissing, you know?”

  Matt laughed and leaned back against the couch. “Yeah. Damn. I know what you mean. Just kissing without moving on, right?”

  “Right.”

  Melissa thought about getting off his lap, but didn’t want to make this awkward. Besides, she liked being there. “You’re a good kisser.”

  He looked at her. “I am?”

  “Yes. Very.”

  Matt kissed her briefly. “You are, too. You’re a great kisser, as a matter of fact.”

  She laughed. “Oh, well, thank you, sir.”

  Matt wiggled a little on the couch, shifting her weight, but not in a creepy “let me push my dick up on you” way. He swallowed and relaxed against the couch. “This is some pretty weird shit, though, Melissa, admit it.”

  “It is. That’s the nature of psych experiments.”

  His grin was a little crooked. “Are you sorry you signed up for this one?”

  “No. Are you?”

  “Nope. Hell, no.” He drew her closer, seeking her mouth with his. “Call me a perv, but this is a pretty fucking fantastic way to spend a few hours.”

  Heat flooded her again, though she knew that Matt meant the making out part, not necessarily the bit where it included her, specifically. She let him kiss her, let him lead. Melissa let herself get lost in the kiss and the sensations of lips on lips, tongue on tongue.

  They kissed. And kissed. Soft and slow, harder and faster. They tried out all the variations of kissing the same way they’d done with holding hands and hugging. By the end of the session, Melissa wasn’t sure she’d be able to walk when she got up from the couch – her knees had gone so weak. Her entire body was liquid and sensitized to every shift, every twitch.

  “I just…never…kissed this long,” Matt murmured in between kisses, “without, you know. Trying to….”

  “I know,” Melissa breathed as their mouths met and parted. The buzzer signaling the session’s end went off, and they both jumped a little. “Without doing other stuff. I know.”

  Boy, did she. Her nipples were tight and aching, and every time she moved, slickness and heat between her legs distracted her. She’d barely been able to stop herself from grinding against the long, thick bulge in Matt’s pants, and she’d caught him stopping a subtle thrust against her several times.

  “Time’s up,” Matt said in a hoarse voice.

  “I know. I just need a couple seconds,” Melissa whispered, still tasting him with every word.

  “I’m going to have a lot to write about,” Matt whispered back. His hands slipped up her back to press against her for a second before letting go.

  “Me too.”

  They finally both managed to get up and rearrange themselves, smooth their hair and clothes. Melissa wasn’t sure what walking was going to be like until she tried a few steps, surprised to find her knees would keep her upright. She bit her lip on a smile, looking away as Matt spent quite a bit more time adjusting himself.

  They didn’t say anything as they walked down the hall they’d walked together three times already. Nor when he held the door open for her, and she stepped through. Melissa was d
isappointed then, because the agreement was that once they went through the door they were strangers.

  His voice stopped her when she got to the sidewalk. “Melissa!”

  She turned. “Matt?”

  “Tomorrow night,” Matt said.

  “Yeah,” Melissa said. “Tomorrow night.”

  Chapter Eight

  She was usually there before him, so when Matt opened the door and found the session room empty, his stomach hit the floor. The door swung closed silently behind him. He took a few steps into the room, looking, but there wasn’t any place for her to hide, even if she were trying to.

  She wasn’t coming.

  The thought should not have made him want to kick something, but it did. It was just a stupid psych experiment, right? It wasn’t like he couldn’t find some other chick to make out with, hell, someone who’d want to fuck him just because she wanted to, not for money or for an experiment or whatever. He could go to any party at the frat house and pick up a freshman just dying to get into an older guy’s pants…

  The door opened behind him. Matt turned, heart thudding, sure it would be Randy or Ada, telling him he could go home.

  It was Melissa.

  She was in his arms in about two seconds, her mouth open beneath his, her arms around him. Matt wasn’t sure if he kissed her first, or she kissed him, only that when he put his hands on her ass and pulled that she jumped at the same time.

  Nothing like this ever happened in real life. No woman had ever jumped into his arms, wrapped her legs around him, sucked on his tongue so sweetly he thought he might come from just that alone. But here he was with an armful of soft, sweet-smelling woman and his cock was already hard enough to drill brick.

  No, not woman. Melissa. His arms and mouth and body were covered in Melissa, and that, Matt realized with something close to amazement, was the difference.

  “I thought you weren’t going to show,” he said against her mouth as he back-stepped them both toward the bed they’d never yet even sat on.

  “I was running late, I’m sorry.” She clung to him, eyes bright.