“Quinn?”
Finally, she looked up at him. “I have to tell you.” she whispered. “Now.”
Jared sighed. “Should I pull over for this, or can I keep driving?”
She hesitated. “You can probably keep driving. Honestly, I might be making a big deal out of nothing. But I doubt it,” she muttered.
“Quinn, you’re scaring me.”
She bit her lip. “I know you’ve liked me for a while now. I started to notice, I don’t know, a few months ago?”
Jared sucked in a breath. “And the feeling isn’t mutual, is it? Is that all?”
“Not exactly.” She fidgeted with her dress. “It’s why.”
“I thought you said you were straight.”
“I am. That’s part of the problem.” When he looked confused, she took a deep breath. “I’m obsessed with sex.”
He should’ve pulled over. He had to swerve to avoid crashing the car, and he pulled off next to the curb. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” She stuck her chin out. “I had a terrible porn addiction until this recent January. It’s on my mind all the time — basically non-stop. At least… When I’m around you.”
He shook his head slowly. “Quinn, I never would’ve guessed. You’re… You…”
She held up her hands. “I know. I tried to make sure that you would never know. I didn’t know what your reaction would be if you found out. I never wanted to let you down, and your standards are so high. You have no idea how hard it was to resist.”
Jared rubbed his forehead. “How bad is it on a scale of 1-10?”
She thought it over. “Maybe an 8? I can still think straight, but it’s incredibly distracting. If you hadn’t been my friend when it all started, I might be a hooker by now.”
Jared gaped at her. “What about college? You’ve always wanted to go to college.”
“I still probably would.” She shrugged. “It would’ve been a convenient way to pay for it.” Her smile faded. “That’s why I’m not so sure I love you. It would make sense to, but I can’t really differentiate between ‘love’, ‘friendship,’ and ‘I want to bang you.’ See my problem?”
“So what am I supposed to do with this information?”
She turned away. “I don’t know. I guess I just thought you should know.” She bit her lip. “And ask you what I should do about it. You have… I don’t know, a few hours to do the deed, right?” She touched his arm. “I figured it would be better to tell you before anything else happens.”
When he didn’t answer, she spoke again. “It could be a good thing, right? I popped my cherry on a cucumber a long time ago, so that won’t be an issue.”
He blinked. “You did what? Is that a euphemism?”
Quinn stared at him. “Tell me you’re joking. You don’t know what a girl’s cherry is?”
He shook his head. “It’s not like Mom was very forthcoming about sex.”
Quinn pursed her lips. “So… how much do you know?”
He held up his hands. “I don’t know, the basics? The penis goes in the vagina. It feels good, my stuff goes in you, end of discussion. What else is there to know?”
Quinn gave a low whistle. “You have absolutely no idea.” Her eyes softened. “But I guess you feel guilty for even thinking about this stuff, huh?”
He sighed. “I guess I shouldn’t, right? You’re my wife now.” Saying that felt very strange. “We can have sex now. It’s just…”
“You’re repressed.” She nodded understandingly. “You’re so used to viewing sex as a bad thing, that even when you know it’s okay, you feel bad.”
Jared buried his face in his hands. “Yeah. I guess so.”
Quinn folded her arms. “I could teach you. I’m not ‘experienced,’ per se, but I know a few things. Just because we have to do it doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy ourselves. Unless you think there’s a rule against that?”
Jared hesitated, then shook his head. “No. Not that I know of, anyway.”
She rolled her eyes. “Good. Take us home.”
Jared pulled out back into the road. “Look at us,” he said soberly. “Five minutes in and we’ve already had our first fight.”
“That bodes well,” Quinn added sincerely. “You didn’t yell or anything. That’s a good start.”
He chuckled. “I could never yell at you, Quinn.” He glanced away from the road to look into her eyes for a moment. “I love you, you know.”
She smiled. “At least you said it.”
He groaned. “Do you think you’ll ever love me back? I guess it doesn’t really matter, but it sure would mean a lot.”
“That’s what I’m hoping to find out. I think our first bang will help.”
Jared shook his head. “I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that you’re…”
“A nympho.” He raised his eyebrows. She explained. “Short for nymphomaniac. It’s disorder for people with unusually high sex drives.”
“You’re not disordered, are you?”
“Not medically, I guess.” She squared her shoulders. “I identify as a nympho.”
“No arguing with that.” They pulled into his driveway. Their driveway.
Quinn was the first out of the car. As they entered the house, Jared excused himself for a bathroom break. She had gone at breakfast, but he hadn’t gone since he left the house this morning. “I’ll be waiting in the bedroom!” Quinn called after him.
When he finished, he peeked into the bedroom first. To his relief, Quinn was sitting on the bed, still in her dress. After their conversation, he had been half expecting her to already be naked.
When he entered, she lit up and patted the bed next to her. His heart pounded as he sat next to her. “So… What am I supposed to do?”
Quinn laughed. “First of all, relax. There’s no use doing this if you’re going to be mopey about it.” She paused. “Or I guess there is, but I’d rather you relax.”
Jared flopped backward. “How am I supposed to relax? You’re just going to compare me to every pornstar you’ve ever seen. I don’t know what I’m doing. And I still feel so guilty about this.”
“I thought we discussed that having sex was perfectly fine.”
“It is! I mean,” he said, sitting up, “Forcing you to marry me.”
She shook her head. “You didn’t force anything. This was my idea, remember?” She reached up to touch his face. “Even if my motives weren’t entirely pure.”
He flinched, and she pulled away. She looked down. “You aren’t the one who should be feeling guilty. I took advantage of your situation. Look at me. You don’t want to have sex with me, do you?”
“Of course I do!” He took a deep breath. “That’s why I’m scared. I don’t want you to feel like I just like you for the sex.”
“You mean like how you think I view you?”