“Bro,” Damian greeted him solemnly. “Glad you could finally fucking make it out. All work, no play, right?”
“Yeah, right,” Matt said, and took one of the bottles of beer from the bucket on the table. “How about I buy the next bucket?”
And that’s how it started. How it ended, though, was something else. Damian had fixed his sights on this sweet little blonde with huge tits and not a lot going on between the ears. Matt had found himself a reluctant wingman, left to entertain the hottie’s plain-Jane pal.
At least she didn’t seem interested in him. They shared a couple of beers from another of the buckets and watched some lame reality show while Damian set to making out with the still-nameless chick. They were both drunk, and normally Matt wouldn’t have thought anything of it, except that it seemed pretty lame to just stick your tongue down someone else’s throat within twenty minutes of meeting them.
Then again, what had he just signed up to do?
He thought about making conversation with the woman beside him at the bar, but she might think he was trying to hit on her, which he wasn’t, so he just drank beer and ate some nachos and watched his friend feel up a stranger.
“Ten bucks says they go home together,” the woman beside him said, watching her friend rub her crotch against Damian’s. “And that’s a sucker bet.”
He grinned at her, but she was already shaking her head and putting some money on the bar. She gave him a slight smile as she passed by him, but that was it. He watched her say something to her friend, who pretty much ignored her, and then she left the bar.
Matt finished his beer and left, too. He didn’t want to be out too late. He didn’t want to be tired for his first session.
For the experiment.
Melissa had gone over the list again and again, folding and refolding the paper so many times it was now creased and faded in spots from the heat and sweat of her palms. Not a great thing, sweaty hands, particularly since the first instructions on the list were “hand holding.”
How bad could this be? she thought as she checked herself in the bathroom mirror one more time before she headed out into the lab for the first meeting with her…well, whatever he was going to be. Partner. Future lover? She shuddered, not entirely in revulsion, at the thought.
There weren’t going to be any introductions from Randy or Ada. Once Melissa and the unknown guy were in the room together, the experiment was considered officially begun. There wasn’t supposed to be any additional information given to either one of them, and they weren’t supposed to meet up outside of the lab, either. If they did bump into each other, they weren’t supposed to acknowledge each other. She couldn’t imagine anything more awkward than pretending not to know somebody she’d potentially been playing tonsil hockey with the night before.
On second thought, maybe it would be more awkward to try to make small talk.
Melissa was the first one in the room, and glad of it. She had time to check it out and make herself comfortable, scope out the space and sort of claim her territory. In one corner was a large bed with a nice comforter and a few comfy-looking pillows. Nothing fancy, but certainly adequate…she shivered a little, though not with chill. Heat tickled her cheeks. Silly, really. It was just a bed.
The soft-looking overstuffed sofa was the only other furniture in the room, along with a thick, plush rug and two small end tables with lamps on them. She didn’t get the purpose of the lamps at first, what with the heavy-duty fluorescent lights providing more than ample light from overhead, but then she got it.
Mood lighting.
All at once this was scarier than she’d thought it would be. She smoothed her hair, then the hem of her blouse, the front of her skirt. She’d dressed nicely, but not too nice. Nothing too low cut or short, nothing too clingy.
Shit. This was—
The door opened and a man ducked in. She caught a glimpse of broad shoulders before he looked up at her with eyes she couldn’t have said were green or brown from this distance, only that they were not brilliant blue, the color she’d noted as her favorite. Nor did he have thick dark hair falling rakishly over his forehead. Instead, he wore his sandy hair in a short cut that emphasized his face—not an unpleasant face, but certainly nothing she’d have bookmarked on her computer to use as her desktop wallpaper. Not cover-model material.
Also, not entirely unfamiliar. It took her a few seconds to figure out where she’d seen him. Ah, the bar just last night when Gina was wriggling around with his friend. They hadn’t said more than a few words to each other, and only those for social nicety. And this was the guy they’d picked out for her?
Huh.
He looked just as surprised to see her, and the blatant way he looked her up and down made Melissa’s cheeks heat. She lifted her chin and crossed her arms. Okay, so maybe she wasn’t cover-model material, either.
“Hi, I’m Matt.” He held out his hand and she took it to shake way too firmly.
“Melissa,” she said.
They stared at each other in silence for a second. So much for her request for “a great conversationalist,” she thought. He was taller than she was, but not by the five or six inches she’d listed as an attribute that melted her butter. Matt stood maybe five foot ten or so, just an inch or two over her. So far, nothing about him seemed at all what she’d said she liked best.
“We met last night,” she offered.
Matt snapped his fingers. “Right, right. Wow. Did your friend make it home okay?”
“I don’t know,” Melissa said with a laugh. “Did yours?”
“Good point. I don’t know. So…” Matt said, and let the word hang.
“So,” Melissa repeated, then figured she ought to take charge, or else this wasn’t going to go anywhere. “You got the instructions, right?”
He nodded and the way his gaze shifted toward the bed told her a lot. So did the way he was surreptitiously checking out her chest. Melissa forced herself to stand up straight and uncross her arms. Let him get a good, long look. She wasn’t ashamed of being an A cup. She could go without a bra any time she liked. Some men liked that.
“Yeah. So, uh…I guess we’re here until ten, right? And we have to hold hands.”
“Tonight, yeah, we just have to hold hands.”
“Awkward,” Matt said.
To Melissa’s surprise, she laughed. Some of the tension between them broke, or maybe it just started to melt. “No kidding. But hey. A thousand bucks, right?”
He grinned. He had a nice smile. A little too crooked, and his two front teeth overlapped too much to be really cute, but overall, not too bad. He was nowhere near what she’d put down that she liked, but it could’ve been worse. He could’ve been a troglodyte.
“Yeah. Can’t beat that, huh?”
“No. I guess not. Do you want to sit?” Melissa gestured, and Matt sat.
She joined him a half a minute later, figuring there was no time to start but now. They faced each other, knees turned in but not touching. She had to scoot a little toward him in order to reach his hands, but he was already holding his out for her.
They both laughed again when they took each other’s hands. Nervous, awkward laughter. There was no way she could’ve subtly wiped her palms before she took his hands, and Melissa winced as they slip-slid against each other. Well, at least he was sweating, too. Which might be gross but meant she wasn’t alone in her anxiety. Somehow, this made it a little better.
“Wow,” Matt said after a second, and let out a shaky breath. “Phew. Who knew it would be so hard, huh?”
“It’s just holding hands. Kids do it all the time. No reason grown-ups should feel strange about it,” Melissa said, though she agreed.
“Sometimes in church they do this prayer circle thing where everyone’s supposed to join hands and send around a squeeze of peace,” Matt said.
Oh, Lord. Was he religious? Melissa wasn’t sure this was going to work out at all if she had to listen to a lecture about church. She gave him a fa
int smile. “Sounds like something we used to do in Girl Scouts. One person starts it while you’re all closing your eyes—”
“And it goes around the circle until it gets back to the leader!” Matt said. “Yeah!”
“Yeah.” Melissa’s smile was a little less excited than his.
Matt nodded. His fingers relaxed in hers. “Tell you the truth, I hate it.”
Melissa’s laugh came more easily and sounded more natural this time. “Do you? How come?”
He shrugged. “Holding hands with strangers? Yuck.”
“I’m a stranger,” she pointed out.
“This is different. And technically, you’re not, because we met last night.”
“It’s not, really.” They both looked down at their hands, linked loosely. “How long are we supposed to do this, anyway?”
Matt shrugged, the motion moving their linked hands. “For the whole session?”
“Four hours?” Melissa made a face. “No offense, but four hours is a long time to hold hands with someone without a break.”
“I guess it depends on who the someone is.”
He smiled and dropped a wink at her that should’ve been totally cheesy. Actually was. But Melissa discovered she didn’t really mind it.
“I guess that’s what this experiment is about, sort of.”
Matt nodded and shifted a little on the couch, which forced her to do the same. Now they both were snuggled into the overstuffed cushions. Holding both hands this way wasn’t going to work for very long.
“This feels awkward. And strained. Maybe just one hand,” she suggested. “Then we can at least get comfortable.”
“Sure, okay.” Matt nodded and looked around the room, his gaze lingering again on the bed. “Do you think they have hidden cameras or something?”
It had occurred to her, except for one thing—there’d been no release form stating that she understood the session may or may not be recorded. “I don’t think so. We didn’t have to sign a waiver or anything, and usually you do even if they don’t tell you for sure if there are cameras.”
Matt’s fingers squeezed hers, gently, though he didn’t seem to have done it on purpose. “Oh, so you do a lot of these experiments?”
“Some. They’re usually pretty interesting and easy enough to do, you know? And they pay well.” She tilted her head, studying him, trying to get a feeling for this guy. “But what about you? This is your first time, I guess?”
“Yep. I’m a psych experiment virgin. Not the other kind,” Matt added hastily, then winced.
Melissa bit back a chuckle. It would’ve been stupid to think they wouldn’t talk about sex at all, given the nature of the experiment, but it was nice to see they hadn’t paired her with a guy who though blow-job jokes were a good way to pass the time. “What made you decide to pop your cherry, so to speak?”
“I saw the notice and really just couldn’t pass up the chance to maybe make enough money to go to Cancun for Spring Break. Some buddies of mine have this great deal on a condo at an all-inclusive place.”
Envy pricked her, though she didn’t know why; she didn’t have time for a vacation. There’d be time for trips after she got her full-time position and all the benefits. It would be worth waiting for. “Well, you picked a doozy for your first one.”
Matt ducked his head for second, but then looked at her with those decidedly non-blue eyes. Greenish-brown. Hazel, really. “Yeah, really. I mean…it’s crazy, huh? That this is supposed to lead to….”
They both looked over at the bed in the corner. Then they looked everywhere but at each other. Their palms clung and stuck, moist.
But after that, the conversation didn’t tangle as much as Melissa thought it would. Matt turned out to have some good stories, ones that made her giggle quite a lot. He had a nice voice, low and deep, and a really nice laugh.
By the time the buzzer sounded, alerting them to the end of their time, Melissa had forgotten she was holding Matt’s hand. Well, not forgotten exactly, since every time they shifted position or got up to use the restroom or grab a snack or a drink from the stocked minifridge, they had to make the conscious effort to rejoin hands. But she’d forgotten that it should feel strange to link their fingers together, press palm to palm.
“Have you ever heard of bundling?” she asked just before they left, when they’d both released their hands and stretched, heading for the door.
“Sounds familiar.” Matt held the door open for her so she could step through.
“It’s something they used to do with courting couples. It would be cold, so they’d allow the couple to be in bed together, under the blankets, to keep warm, but they’d put a bundling board between them to keep them from doing anything inappropriate.”
He laughed as they entered the lab’s quiet, dim hallway, every other light turned off in honor of it being after hours. The only sound other than their footsteps was the shush-shush of the janitor’s mop on the floor ahead of them. She noticed they’d fallen into step naturally, him shortening his stride to match hers.
“Sounds…sexy,” Matt said. “And that reminded you of tonight?”
“Sort of,” Melissa admitted. “Because those young couples didn’t necessarily know each other when they started, but the long-term goal was getting them together in the end. For marriage, of course, not just…you know. But still.”
Matt was silent as they reached the end of the hall and the doors to the psychology building. Once they passed through them, they were no longer supposed to have any contact. He paused, hand on the metal bar that would push the door open.
He looked at her. “So…what do you think’s going to happen here?”
“I don’t know,” Melissa said. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
Well, she wasn’t blond. Not blue eyed. And she definitely didn’t have a D-size rack, not even a single D. Her hands had been small and soft, though her grip was firm and strong when she shook hands and sweeter, more relaxed later, after they’d spent the four hours talking.
Actually, it wasn’t a bad first “date,” Matt thought as he showered and shaved, brushed his teeth and picked out clothes for the next night’s session. He’d been on worse, and even though Melissa might not’ve turned his head at the bar, spending those four hours with her had been pretty nice.
He was looking forward to tonight, if for no other reason than it meant he had a reason to blow off Damian and the other bros, who were all hanging out at the frat house with the underclassmen. They were having something called a “poker party” with one of the sororities, where everyone was given half a playing card, and the goal of the night was to find the person with the other half of your card, then spend the rest of the night hooking up. Matt wasn’t really interested in spending the night trying to get into the pants of some sophomore or junior…or worse, a freshman.
Anyway, tonight on the list was holding hands, with the addition of hugging. Matt had no idea how this was going to go, but he was up for it. It beat the hell out of some other ways he’d spent his nights lately, namely up to his ass in unpaid bills or in schoolwork.
She smelled good. Like, really good. He noticed that right away as soon as they both got in the room and Melissa stepped up to him without any more than a second’s hesitation. She fit right up against him, too, her breasts pressing against his chest in a way that meant he had absolutely no issue with the fact she was less than a DD.
Too soon, she’d stepped away with a nervous little laugh. “Hey.”
“Hey.” On impulse, he snaked an arm out to grab her around the waist to pull her in for another hug. That’s what they were there for, after all.
Melissa let him hold her close. They lingered that way for a moment, before she pulled away. “How’re you?”
“Good. Good. You?” He wasn’t sure where they were supposed to go from here, since you couldn’t really keep up a four-hour hug. Then again, he hadn’t thought he’d be able to maintain holding hands for the full time, either, and th
ey’d managed that with only a little awkwardness.
“Great.” She grinned and took his hand to lead him to the couch, where she settled in at once, one leg curled beneath her as her fingers curled lightly around his. She didn’t let him go, either, but kept his hand. “I got a call from my future boss. They actually want me to start a month earlier. I was going to take some time off, but now I’ll be able to go right into work after I graduate. It’s going to be awesome.”
“Yeah? What are you going to do?”
“I’m going straight into a paid internship with Triple Smith and Brown. It’s an accounting firm,” she said, like he might not’ve heard of the biggest accounting firm in three states. “And after that, it’s pretty much guaranteed to lead me right into a full-time job. Which is great.”
“Yeah. Lucky you.” Matt twisted his fingers in hers, noting again how soft her hands were. He had nothing like that lined up, which sucked. He had a few leads on some engineering jobs, but so far nothing had opened up. “But don’t you want to take some time off before school?”
She shrugged. “No. Then again, I’d only planned on setting up my apartment and stuff like that. It’s no week in Cancun.”
“Right.” He thought about spending the week with sand, sun, babes and booze, just like Damian said. That’s what he was here for, to get the money for the trip.
“So. Hugging.” Melissa gave him a grin. “Not so bad. And I’m not sure why, but it felt easier than the hand-holding did at first. You?”
“Yeah. It did.” It helped that she’d been the one to make the first move. “Should we do it again?”
“We’re supposed to,” she said. “I guess so. I don’t know how many hugs we’re supposed to have in four hours.”
“I’d guess a lot.” Matt laughed, already leaning in. “We’d better get to it.”