Page 4 of The Defenseman

Eric looked at the pictures she had been staring at, wondering why Alexa was here in the first place. If it was an emergency, surely she would have said something about it by now? She wouldn't be waiting to tell him. Unless she couldn't find the words to say. Unless she was trying to buy time.

Eric shook his head, turning from the mantel. Whatever the reason she was here, it wasn't in his best interest to speculate. If anything, he needed to be patient. Alexa wasn't the sort of person who just turned up for no reason. She would be here and she would tell him what was going on. Hopefully, it wasn't anything serious.

The sound of shuffling tickled his ears, and he stepped back to see Alexa step back into the living room, her arms carrying her wet clothing. Somehow, Eric was paralyzed just watching her move in his clothing, the way they swallowed up her petite frame. And yet, he couldn't help but think just how beautiful she truly was. There was something about her, something he couldn't quite put his finger on, and that inability to figure her out at first glance made him want her more.

Which was definitely a very bad idea.

"So," he said when she walked in. There was an awkwardness between the two of them. They had never hung out before without Dan, without someone else, and the fact that they were together now made things seem slightly heavy. "Is everything okay, Lexi?"

Alexa opened her mouth to respond, her eyes on the ground, arms crossed over her chest, looking both sad and…ashamed. Ashamed of what, though? Alexa was not the sort of girl who did the wrong thing. If anything, she was the quintessential good girl. An angel, so to speak. So for her to look like this… For her to come to him… Something terrible must have happened.

"Tim broke up with me," she said, finally lifting her eyes to meet him.

He furrowed his brows before he could stop himself. Break-ups were never fun—one of the reasons why he didn't partake in being with someone at all—but that didn't explain why she was here at his place alone. Shouldn't she be crying over a tub of ice cream?

"I know I shouldn't be here," Alexa said, crossing her arms over her chest and crossing back over to the fire place. "But honestly, I felt like I couldn't go anywhere else. Tim broke up with me because I'm a virgin."

Well. That was a surprise. Not the fact that she was a virgin, but that she would share this information with him without hesitation.

"Actually, he said he had been waiting too long for us to have sex and he was over it." She began to fiddle with the hemline of the shirt he lent her. "And maybe he's right. I am inexperienced. And I don't want to be inexperienced anymore. I came to you because you're one of the most experienced guys I know who doesn't already have a girlfriend. And I want your help."

"My help?" Eric asked slowly. He wasn't sure where this was going or if it was a good thing.

"I need you to teach me how to please men," Alexa said. Her voice was firm, not shy like he expected it to be. "I need you to give me that experience. I promise I won't get feelings for you or anything. I just, I want to know how to do these things so this won't happen again. Please, Eric. Will you help me?"

He should say no. His first reaction was to say no.

And yet, as he kept looking at her, he couldn't seem to find that word.

Instead, he took a step towards her and nodded his head. "If that's what you want," he said, "I can help you."