To This Day

Chapter Six: Chemical Attraction

"Sydney," Carter said against my lips.

I kissed him harder in response and for a moment he gave in, kissing me back, then pulled away slightly. I pouted, already missing the contact. His face was flushed pink and it was clearly taking substantial effort for his to maintain his composure long enough to speak.

"I just need to check, have you... uh... are you a..." He trailed off in a rare moment of awkwardness.

"A virgin? No, I had a boyfriend for like six months, remember? You're not quite every single one of my firsts."

Carter smiled, probably a little relieved that our encounters wouldn't have any more emotional significance than necessary.

"I think I can safely assume that you're not either," I added, which was an obvious understatement.

He shook his head, then lowered himself closer to me, kissing me slowly. One of his hands snaked around my back to my bra clasp, pausing there for a moment. When I shifted to give him easier access, he swiftly unclasped it. Yeah, he'd definitely done this more than a few times.

I could feel my pulse throbbing in my throat as we rolled over, a little clumsily on my part, so that was on top of him. One of my hands strayed down to his jeans, managing to undo his belt without losing my rhythm in making out; Carter may have had more practice but that didn't mean I was totally inept at all of this. He swore under his breath, voice gravelly, making me smirk for a moment before I moved my lips to his jaw. I placed small kisses along it, working my way down his neck to his collarbone then beginning to trail down his chest and torso.

Heart pounding ever more erratically in my ears, I was so caught up in the moment that it took me a while to register the sound of knocking at my door.

"Hey, Sydney, do you know where my – Oh my God!"

I screamed, springing away from Carter and snatching up my blanket to cover myself with. Maya was stood frozen in my doorway, shock etched onto her features. I scrambled to put something on, not even realising I'd grabbed Carter's t-shirt until after I'd shoved it on. Maya's eyes darted between the two of us in disbelief. Next to me, Carter quickly did up his belt then sat awkwardly on my bed, still topless.

"I... I knocked!" Maya exclaimed finally.

My cheeks burned; you heard about the exciting side of a secret relationship, but never the embarrassment of your friend walking in on you topless mid-hook-up. "I'm so sorry. We were, uh, preoccupied."

"I can see that," she said, shock finally turning into amusement.

Then, Carter stood up, looking around for a moment before picking up his sweater from where it had become a permanent feature on the edge of my desk. He pulled it on quickly and stepped into his shoes, which I'd been so distracted I hadn't even noticed him taking off in the first place.

"I'll get going," he announced. It was rare to see Carter looking uncomfortable, but at that moment it seemed to be consuming him. "Sydney, I'll text you. Maya, I'll see you in class tomorrow."

I winced, remembering their friendship that existed beyond me and the fact they couldn't avoid seeing each other. With that he left, scrambling away from the embarrassment without looking back. I didn't blame him, if I could run now, I would.

But, to my surprise, the moment Carter left a grin broke out on Maya's face. At last, she moved from where she'd been fixed in place and came to sit beside me on the bed.

"Oh, my God, Sydney! I can't believe you're sleeping with Carter!" She sounded surprised, of course, but there was pride in her voice too.

"Not technically, I mean, we were interrupted," I replied, giving Maya a pointed look. "But yeah, it's only casual, though."