Crushing Lust

Two: In which they talk

 Aria groaned and let her head fall onto the lunch table with a bang. Noah quirked an eyebrow at her.

"You still alive, babe?" he asked, poking her shoulder. He received another groan. "Was it that Titus guy?" She groaned in a higher tone. "Ah, I see. Too hot for you to handle?" Another groan, this one deeper and tinged with disgust. "So you can handle him?" Her arm reached up and smacked the back of his neck without her having to look. "Ow," Noah whined. "Why'd you tell him you had cramps when you won't get your period for another two weeks?" She shrugged her shoulders. "'Ri, pick ya' damn head up and speak," he snapped.

She turned her face so that her cheek was pressed on the table instead of her forehead. "The guy is weird," she pouted. Lifting her head, Aria glanced around the lunch table. All of their other friends had various activities or friends they were with, so that day they were by themselves. Leaning closer to him, she whispered. "You know how I have those weird ass wet dreams all the time?"

"Yeah," Noah answered nonchalantly. "Always different bodies, but still the same person."

"I haven't had one in like three weeks and suddenly Titus shows up acting like the man from my dreams," she hissed worriedly. "I feel like I'm going fucking crazy, Noah, crazy!"

Noah tutted softly and pat her on her sandy blonde head. "Aria, darlin', you need to get laid," he said.

She pushed his hand off. "You're fucking ridiculous," she scoffed. "I need Titus to-"

"Hey guys."

Aria screeched and jumped up in surprise. Several people looked over to see what the commotion was. "She saw a spider," Noah reassured them, getting the attention away from her.

Titus waved lightly to her. "Sorry I spooked you," he said, flashing a swoon-worthy smile. "I just wanted to know if I could sit with you guys."

Noah said 'sure' at the same time Aria snapped 'no'. They gave each other irritated looks, then switched answers. For a moment they stared angrily at each other. Noah broke eye contact first, and Aria hooted.

"Fuck yes! I won that time!" she said triumphantly.

"You can sit here, Titus, we don't mind," Noah said, giving his friend a look that clearly said 'deal with it'.

"Thanks guys," he said, slipping into the seat across from Aria. "I don't really know anybody, and you two seem like cool people." He nodded to Noah's jersey. "Football team?" he asked, taking a bite of his food.

Noah puffed up his chest, and Aria rolled her eyes at his dramatics. "Yup," he said proudly. "Finally made captain this year. We're gonna beat those assholes at C. Milton this year, I can feel it."

"He's said that for the past four years," she whispered loudly to Titus, who chuckled. She smiled at him. "Why'd you transfer halfway through the semester?" she asked.

He shrugged. "My parents finally bought a house," he said. "It's actually not that far from your address, Aria."

She bit her tongue to keep from asking him to say her name again. It seemed to roll off his tongue so naturally, like it belonged in his mouth.

That's not the only part of you that belongs in his mouth.

"That's great," she said cooly. "Like, walking distance or a short drive?"

"Hoping for a late night rendezvous, minou?" he asked teasingly. "It's about a three minute walk from what Google says."

Fighting the urge to bang her head against the table, she shook her head. "Maybe not late night," Aria said. "We have that project to work on, and my car got totalled in August. It's nice that I don't have to worry about driving across town."