Chapter 254: A Helping Hand
Liam’s head was nodding forward in class for the third time when Kelvin elbowed him sharply.
"Bro, why do you look like shit," Kelvin whispered, leaning in close enough that Miss Kelly wouldn’t catch them talking. "We got back early yesterday. You had all night to sleep."
"Didn’t get enough," Liam muttered, straightening up in his seat and rubbing one eye with the heel of his hand.
He thought about why.
He and Miss Kelly had gone straight to her place after the park and barely slept at all, round after round until the sun had been threatening to come up before either of them admitted defeat.
He looked up at her now, standing at the front of the class, fully dressed in a fitted blouse and skirt, fully composed, writing something on the board with handwriting that hadn’t lost a single bit of its precision.
At the front of the class Miss Kelly was mid-sentence, pacing slowly in front of the board, one hand gesturing as she spoke. "Cognitive dissonance happens when two beliefs sit in direct conflict with each other," she said, turning to face the room, her eyes moving briefly across the rows. "The mind doesn’t like holding both at once. So it resolves the tension, usually by changing one belief, sometimes by justifying the contradiction entirely." She tapped the board behind her without looking at it. "Think about people who know smoking is harmful and smoke anyway. They don’t sit comfortably with both facts. Something gives.".
’How does this woman do it,’ he wondered, watching her turn to address the class with the same energy she always had, her voice clear and even, not a hint of the night before showing anywhere on her. ’I’m sitting here barely conscious and she looks like she slept ten hours and had a green smoothie this morning.’
Kelvin nudged him again. "You’re drooling a little."
"I’m not drooling."
"You’re close to it."
"You need actual sleep," Kelvin whispered.
"Yeah," Liam said. "I do."
---
After class Kelvin drove him home, the radio playing low, the city moving past the windows, Liam’s head resting against the glass for most of the ride. Kelvin glanced at him a few times but didn’t say anything else, just let him sit there.
"Get some rest man," Kelvin said as Liam got out at the curb.
"Yeah," Liam said. "Thanks for the ride."
He walked into the building, his bag heavy on one shoulder, his eyes barely staying open against the brightness of the hallway lights. He pushed through the front entrance and stopped.
His apartment neighbor was there.
She was wearing tight black leggings and a white singlet, her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, several strands already escaping it. She was bent forward over a large cardboard box sitting on the hallway floor, both hands gripping the sides, trying to lift it with no success. The position put her ass directly in his line of sight, full and round, the fabric of the leggings stretched tight enough to show every shape of it clearly.
Liam stopped walking.
He rubbed his eyes with one hand.
’I don’t know if it’s the sleep deprivation,’ he thought, looking at her still struggling with the box, ’but I think I’m looking at a genuinely incredible ass right now.’
She grunted, adjusting her grip, still not noticing him standing there.
He walked over. "Need a hand?"
She straightened up fast, startled, one hand going to her chest. "Oh. Liam." Her cheeks went pink immediately. "No, no, I’m fine, I’ve got it, you don’t have to—"
"I insist," he said, already crouching toward the box.
"I can manage," she said, though her hands had loosened their grip slightly, like part of her had already accepted the offer before the rest of her caught up.
He smiled and grabbed it before she could argue any further.
It was heavy. Genuinely heavy, the kind of weight that made his arms register the effort immediately, his shoulders adjusting to take the load. She said nothing about what was inside it, just watched him lift it with an expression that was somewhere between grateful and nervous.
"Let’s go," he said. "Lead the way."
She walked ahead of him toward her apartment, glancing back over her shoulder a couple of times, and he followed with the box pressed against his chest, getting his first proper look at the number floating above her head.
[70/100]
’Seventy,’ he thought, adjusting his grip on the box as they walked. ’That’s high for someone I’ve barely spoken to outside of hallway small talk. I wonder if she’s been doing something to herself to get it that high already.’
They reached her door.
"This is the second time you’ve helped me," she said, fishing her keys out of her leggings pocket. "I’m Britney, by the way. I don’t think we’ve actually exchanged names properly before."
"Liam," he said, even though she clearly already knew that.
"I know," she said, a small smile pulling at her mouth as she unlocked the door. "Everyone in this building knows your name somehow."
She pushed the door open and stepped back to let him through first. He carried the box in and set it down where she pointed, near the wall by the window.
"Thanks," she said, already moving to take it from him fully. "Don’t worry about it from here. I’ve got it."
’I can’t let him stay any longer,’ she thought, her eyes flicking toward her bedroom door for half a second. ’I’m pretty sure I left it out on the bed this morning. If he sees it I will actually die right here in this apartment.’
He set his bag down on the couch, dropping it onto the cushion right next to a throw pillow, and as it landed he heard a faint buzzing sound coming from somewhere nearby.
"I think your phone’s ringing," he said, already reaching toward the pillow.
"No, that’s not my phone," she said quickly, stepping forward, but she was a half second too slow.
He had already lifted the pillow.
Underneath it sat a vibrator, buzzing softly against the cushion, large but not particularly oversized, certainly nothing extraordinary, sitting there in full view with absolutely nowhere to hide.
Liam looked at it. Then at her.
"I can explain," she said, her face going completely red, her hands coming up like she might physically intercept the situation somehow.
She opened her mouth to continue.
Time stopped.
[Option 1: You don’t have to explain to me, I understand. But it’s kind of small compared to mine though. | +10 Lust Points]
[Option 2: I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have reached there. | +5 Lust Points]
Liam looked at both options for a moment, weighing them.
He picked the first one.
Time resumed.
"You don’t have to explain," he said, picking it up and turning it over once in his hand, examining it casually before setting it back down. "I get it." He paused, looking at her directly. "It’s kind of small compared to mine though."
Britney stared at him, completely frozen.
’I ordered the biggest one they had in stock,’ she thought, her cheeks burning even hotter now, her mind racing. ’So exactly how big is his?’ A small involuntary smile tugged at the corner of her mouth despite the embarrassment sitting heavy in her chest.
"Anyway," Liam said, setting the pillow back over it like it had never happened, "let’s get this equipment sorted for you instead."
He turned his attention back to the box.
She knelt beside it and started pulling out the contents piece by piece, a set of resistance bands still in their plastic wrapping, a small folding workout bench, a pair of weighted handles. "It’s for my home routine," she explained, not quite meeting his eyes. "I’ve been trying to set something up here instead of paying for the gym every month."
"Smart," Liam said, picking up the folding bench and working out how the legs unclipped and locked into place. "Where do you want this."
She pointed toward the corner near the window where the light was best. "There’s good, I think."
He carried it over and set it up, testing the stability with one hand pressed down firmly before stepping back satisfied.
He sorted the resistance bands into their loops, hung them over a small hook already mounted on the wall, and arranged the weighted handles neatly beside the bench.
"There," he said, straightening up. "All done."
"Thank you," she said. "Seriously. I owe you one."
"You don’t owe me anything." He reached for his bag sitting on the couch. "I should probably go get some actual sleep before I fall over."
"Wait." She stood there for a second, her hands twisting together in front of her, her weight shifting from one foot to the other. "Could you maybe help me with my workout really quick before you go? Just to make sure I’m using the bench properly."
Liam looked at her.
’I knew the system wouldn’t let me down,’ he thought, watching the way she was looking at him, her cheeks still faintly pink, her eyes carrying something that had very little to do with proper bench form.
He smiled.
"Yeah," he said. "I’d be happy to."
Comments