Prologue

The shrill sound of a cell phone pierced the air. Two people, sleeping deeply, started showing signs of waking up. A girl’s bright green eyes suddenly snapped open and she glanced around the unfamiliar room. She wasn’t scared at the unfamiliarity, but she found she couldn’t move. Looking down, she realized this was because there was an arm wrapped around her waist. Sighing, she started to gently extract herself from her lover’s arms. Finally managing this, she went to get dressed and try to find her cell phone, which had by now stopped ringing.

When she reached for her purse and found her phone, she saw that she had one new voicemail. Her eyes slipped to the sleeping figure on the bed. He was good, it was true, but she really had no need to see him again. He was too clingy in his sleep, and that made Natalia uncomfortable. She sighed softly, putting on her shoes and slipping quietly out of the apartment. She walked out to the street and hurried to the subway, checking her voicemail as she did.

“Natalia! Where the hell are you? I wake up and you’re not here! Again! This is the third time this month! Honestly, Natalia Marie, I will tell Mom. She’ll get pissed at you, you know. Get home soon, or else I’ll let Mom know where you spend your nights!” Natalia rolled her eyes, deleting the voicemail. Her twin brother was so protective of her. She was a big girl and could take care of herself.

Natalia knew that he was just that way because their father had left when they were three, and he had to grow up being the man of the family. When their mother had remarried when they were sixteen, he hadn’t known how to deal with it. Natalia knew, at the same time, that he wouldn’t really tell their mother about Natalia’s habits of sleeping away from home; their mother had been hopelessly worried when the two of them had decided to go to college in Washington, DC. They were from a small town in southern Ohio, and her mother was very suspicious of large towns. Justin wouldn’t tell their mother anything like that, because he knew that she would have Natalia back home in about a day, and then shortly after, insist that he move home.

She quickly punched in his number and waited for him to answer. Finally he picked up, saying a very angry “what.”

“God, Justin, you are so over dramatic. I’m on my way home right now, okay? I’ll see you in about fifteen minutes, assuming a train is soon.”

“Natalia—“

“And don’t pull that shit about telling Mom. She’ll make you move back home with me. Anyway, what’s the big deal? I’m old enough to take care of myself. God, I’ll be home in about fifteen, okay? See you soon.” She hung up as soon as she said that, tossing the phone into her purse.

The subway was already fairly busy with people even though it was only seven in the morning. When she got to her stop, she hopped off, stopped for a coffee, and headed up to her apartment. She waited for the elevator, and when it opened, she saw her neighbor. He was heading to work, but he nodded coolly at her. Caleb was friends with Justin more than her, and they had met in one of the courses that Justin had taken as a freshman. It was a three hundred level class, and was in Caleb’s class. Caleb and he had landed in a study group together, and they quickly became friends; Caleb had, in fact, told them about this great apartment opening in the building. He had never liked Natalia because Justin always seemed to be worrying about her. She walked past him and went up to her apartment on the tenth floor.

“Hey Justin,” she said, smiling at him.

“Where were you?”

“I went out to a bar, and met a guy. We went back to his place,” she said dismissively.

“Natalia, this is the freaking fifth time this month this has happened!” he raged. She rolled my eyes at him. It was almost the end of September, and she didn’t feel that she was that horrible.

“Fine. Would it make it better if I found one guy to fuck regularly?” she spat. “It’s not like I’m not on birth control and he doesn’t use a condom. It’s not a big deal. It’s not like you don’t try to get in any girl’s pants all the time. Why can you sleep around, and I can’t?”

“When was the last time I had sex, Natalia?” he asked. Natalia was quiet for a while, biting her lip. “Yeah, that’s right. When Katie dumped me, so don’t talk shit about me going out trying to have sex with everyone. I don’t like it when guys are like that either,” he pointed out. She sighed, glaring at him.

“Look, Justin, you know that I have a few issues about this, and I can’t really help it,” Natalia bit out. Justin looked stricken for a moment, before nodding.

“Fine, you do whatever the hell you want to do. Forget about me.”

“If it makes you feel a little better, I’ll get someone to fuck regularly,” she offered. That was the closest she would get to compromising with him about anything. He sighed, but nodded.

“Please, Natalia. You have to take care of yourself, and this would be the best thing for that, I guess. If you won’t stop having sex, this is the best.” Natalia bit her lip, thinking about whom she would chose. There were quite a few cute guys in her classes, but she wasn’t sure about them.

“I’ll get someone,” Natalia promised, kissing his cheek, before going to get ready for her classes. She and her brother were close, and she respected him. They were always close and even though he was completely overprotective, he allowed her to make her own decisions about her life and whatever would be best for her.

At school that day, she watched all of the people in her classes, but didn’t know whom to ask about her relationship. When she went to get lunch, she ran rather forcefully into someone. Looking up, she saw bright blue eyes and golden blond hair framing a handsome face.

“Hey Lia!” he exclaimed. Natalia groaned slightly, hating that nickname. The guy she did know, but she couldn’t quite remember how.

“Hey Jason,” she said. “What’s up, how have you been?”

“Good, good. I had a great time the last time I saw you.” Natalia raised her eyebrow slightly, before finally recalling the last time she saw him. They were at a fraternity party and she had been kissing him, before her brother pulled her away.

“Me too. Say, Jason, how would you feel about us having a little arrangement?”

“What kind of an arrangement?”

“Join me for lunch, and I’ll let you know!” she said, smiling coquettishly at him. He nodded, and we went to get our lunches and met up to sit down together.

“What’s up, Lia?”

“Well… I tend sleep around,” Natalia said, opting for the direct approach. He nodded. “I’m safe, don’t get me wrong. It seems to bother my brother that I go home with these guys, so I agreed to find one guy. Just one, to sleep with. I was hoping that you might want to be my one and only in the sexual aspect.” He raised his eyebrow, looking into my eyes.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why me, why do you sleep around, why do you want to do this, all of this?”

“I chose you because I think that you could handle it. What I remember from making out with you was very, very satisfying. I need someone, Jason. If it isn’t you, I’ll find someone. Not all guys are very particular. I thought that you were probably safe with your sexual history and you wouldn’t be completely against this idea,” she said softly. “Why am I doing this? Justin. He’s my best friend and he’s my brother. I care about him and respect his opinion. Why do I sleep around… that’s a harder matter, and I’ll talk about it later. I don’t trust you with my baggage,” she said.

“But you trust me with your body?” he asked sardonically. “Seriously, something had to fuck you up seriously. I’ll wait for that. I will accept your offer, but we should have some time of rules.”

“Like we can still date if someone catches our attention. Dates aren’t necessary. We can do this at your fraternity or my apartment.”

“Sounds good. Here, let me give you my number. When do you want this agreement to start?”

“How about tonight?” He nodded, leaning over to give me a quick kiss.

“See you later.”

A/N: This story popped into my head listening to music this afternoon. I hope you enjoy it. It’s quite different from the style of my other stories, so I hope you like it. Let me know what you think.