Zac pulled his boxers back on. I slipped on my underwear and shrugged back into my school shirt, buttoning it up almost all the way.

He was sitting on the chair beside the dining table and busied himself with swiping through TikToks on his phone. I stayed on the mattress with my laptop and tried to concentrate on finishing my essay. The mood between us felt heavy and uncomfortable. A few more minutes dragged by.

"I'm sorry," I finally blurted out.

He glanced up briefly and shot me a pointed look. "For what?"

"For being an ass to you."

A smile tugged at his lips. "Apology not accepted."

I cast him a dirty look. "What the hell?"

"You're gonna need to do a little more than apologize. You ignored me for almost two hours. Over something really stupid. That shit hurts, yo."

"I didn't realize you were such a delicate, little flower," I murmured lightly.

"Come give your man some love, you punk," Zac said as he opened his arms to me.

After a momentary pause, I crept over to him and settled onto his lap. "Where did I hurt you, baby?"

He pointed to his cheek. "Right here. Kiss it."

I gave him a kiss.

He pointed to his other cheek. "And here."

I pecked it, too.

He drew me close and kissed me deeply on the lips. When he pulled away, I wore a slightly dazed expression on my face.

He smiled smugly. "Ready to play nice now, babygirl?"

"Maybe," I replied as I kissed him again and slowly trailed my palm down the hard muscles along his stomach. I stopped right at the waistband of his boxers, refusing to move another inch. "Maybe not."

"Tease," he grunted.

"Maybe I'm not teasing, though," I asked huskily.

I slipped off his lap to kneel on the floor between his legs. I glanced up at him with a knowing smile. I tugged suggestively on his boxers. "I've never done anything like this before, but I wanna do this for you, baby..."

Zac's amber eyes immediately darkened with lust. "Fuck, Cate, you better not be messing with me over something like this. Little Zac will never forgive you."

"Little Zac?"

He grinned sheepishly and blushed. "That's what I call my dick in my head."

I chuckled. "Little Zac, huh?"

"Yep," he replied without shame.

"Don't worry, baby," I promised softly, "I'm not messing with you. This is happening."

"If this is how you plan to make it up to me every time you act like an ass, then I might have to start picking fights with you every day!"

"Is that you talking—or Little Zac?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

He smirked. "Both."

I helped Zac remove his boxers. My eyes popped at the sight of his naked arousal. I hadn't even touched him, and already my man was at half-mast. I leaned towards him. I felt the muscles in Zac's thighs tighten with anticipation. The moment my mouth closed around his sensitive head, Zac's eyes rolled back. He sighed blissfully, and his fingers tangled themselves into my hair. "Oh, baby..."

As we started getting into it, my movements felt strained and awkward to me, but Zac didn't seem to mind too much. Within a minute or two, his breaths started coming out in quick, short spurts. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I tried to be mindful of my teeth, using only my tongue to swirl and caress his hard length. He groaned in appreciation when I created a gentle suction around him with my cheeks.

Zac's eyes squeezed shut. He started mumbling nonsensically, "Baby, baby... too good... I can't, I'm gonna..."

He didn't last long after that. Within seconds, his back arched, and his hips started to thrust forward again and again. Zac's sudden loss of control made my eyes water. He held onto me tightly. Like a lifeline. I struggled not to gag, but I didn't let him go. I wanted to stay with him and see him through his release. Zac unleashed a hoarse, guttural moan when he finally came, shuddering to a finish. We cleaned up again once he recovered.

With an awestruck look, he pulled me back onto his lap and pressed his lips to my forehead. "That was fucking amazing, babygirl. Better than I ever imagined. Thank you."

"So polite," I teased.

"What can I say? I'm a gentleman. And you're my girl."

He placed his hand on my cheek and gently tilted my face towards his soft gaze. "I want all my firsts to be with you, Cate."

My heart couldn't take it. I couldn't contain it. My happiness spread across my face into a wide, stupid grin. "You can have all my firsts, baby. I don't want them to be with anyone but you, Zac."

We melted into each other's arms like this for a while, existing only in a world of our own. Light kisses, feathery touches, sweet nothings. Then, Zac simply held me, and we sat in comfortable silence for a while longer.

Eventually, my mind began to drift and drift and drift—back to our earlier conversation about my friends. I was the first to break the silence. In a hesitant voice, I murmured, "Do you think..."

Zac glanced at me. "Hmm?"

"Do you think Amari and Nat will ever talk to me again?"

He paused. Then, he tactfully said, "That... depends on you, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Saying you're sorry doesn't always cut it. You have to figure out what's bugging them and fix it. Apologies without action or intent to change are nothing but BS."

"Wow. Someone's being harsh!"

"No, baby," Zac replied quietly. "I'm trying to tell you the truth so you can do right by your friends. You've been miserable without them. I want you to be happy."

I grunted but said nothing. Zac's advice stung, and it was hard to hear, but maybe he was right. My actions needed to speak louder than my words. I tucked my head into the crook of his neck. His arms wrapped around me like a warm blanket.

I let my mind drift in this comfortable lull. Amari said that I was using them. That I didn't really care about them. That I didn't trust them enough with my secrets, so they didn't trust me anymore either.

My stomach twisted into knots at the thought of opening up to Nat and Amari. There were so many things I had kept from them. I hated the idea of lowering my head and putting myself in such a meek position, but the possibility of losing them forever made my options more than clear to me.

Sometimes, the choice is easy when you don't have a choice.