[Spirit of Lust 2] Chapters 177 & 178. (Patreon)

Chapter 177: Studying.

Midterms were practically upon us, and you could tell the atmosphere at school was different. I could hear people asking each other questions after class, reviewing their notes during class, or asking the classic ‘is that going to be in the test?’ to the teachers. Not everyone was like that, of course. This was a high profile private school, which meant we had about as many serious students trying to get as much as they could out of it as we had rich kids who didn’t really give a damn. Not being a rich kid, I was trying to be in the former camp.

I’m not the smartest guy around, but ever since I started studying a bit every night, I was able to follow classes much more easily. I would also ask Grace questions during recess, and she was always happy to answer. There were times when she didn’t know either, so we either looked it up or asked a teacher.

My confidence level for these midterms was higher than ever before, but I still didn’t have any expectations of acing them effortlessly. That was why we gathered at the library after classes were done.

Sarah, Mila, Thomas and I were each focusing on our textbooks and notes while Grace watched, answered questions and helped us out. I was studying math because I fucking suck at math.

“Remind me, why are you here?” Sarah asked Thomas.

“Our coach has an arbitrary rule for the basketball team. Whoever is the team captain has to score above a 80% in tests or he loses the spot. My grades aren’t bad, but now I can’t risk it, so I asked my good and smart friend Grace to let me join you guys.”

“So the coach is trying to fight against muscle brain stereotypes?” I asked.

“Yeah. And he says that if the captain does poorly, the rest of the team sees it as an excuse and don’t try, either,” Thomas explained.

“Less chatter, more reading, Mr. Muscle Brain,” Grace chided.

“Yes ma’am!” Thomas said.

Sarah and I felt Grace’s eyes on us, so we lowered our heads and turned back to our books. Something about her eyes was different today, even a little scary.

The library was large enough to rival the cafeteria, yet it had two long balconies on the second floor, taking advantage of the space the high roof offered. Instead of a clean, white aesthetic, our library chose large, dark, carved wooden bookshelves, tables and chairs. There were areas to sit and read, cubicles for the use of computers, and even small rooms for about 5-6 people one could reserve in advance. Those rooms were soundproof, had a large table and even a whiteboard. Perfect environment for group studying, really, which made it unsurprising that they were all reserved before we even got a chance.

We were at one of the largest tables, with other people around us occupying others, and quiet chatter echoed in the large hall. ‘Twas really the season for studying. Not fun, but necessary, and some people have an even harder time than me handling things that aren’t fun.

“I can’t anymore! My head hurts!” Mila groaned and rested her forehead on the table. “We’ve studied enough, right? Can we go now?”

Grace spoke in a deadpanned tone that sounded a little forced. “We’ve been here 20 minutes, Mila.”

“I hate this…” Mila moaned.

Grace sighed. “Then go. I’m not your mother. I’m not going to force you to study. Go home or stop complaining.”

Mila flinched and went back to her textbook.

I could tell Grace’s voice had a bit of an edge to it. Her patience was giving in. I could understand it, actually. It sucks when someone asks for your help but they complain all the time. Add to that the fact that Grace took her studies seriously, which was sometimes easy to forget with how easy going she was most of the time. Still, it was strange to hear her speak like that. It was like she’d snap at any moment.

“Grace?” I called.

“Yes?”

“Can you help me with this problem?”

She smiled. “Sure. What is it?”

“I don’t know which formula I should be using for this.”

Grace sat down closely next to me and started explaining everything. I was really aware of how close she was, how amazing she smelled and how her lips had a faint glister to them that made me want to lean in and kiss her. But as I looked at her, I noticed how into her explanation she was. Getting distracted was doing her a disservice, so I brought my eyes back to my notebook again.

After 20 more minutes, Grace finally allowed us to take a break. There were collective groans of relief all around.

“How on earth do you know so much?” Thomas asked Grace, sinking in his own chair. “Do you even need to study?”

“I’ve said it before. My dad and I have a deal. I get good grades, he gives me a good allowance. Good grades also mean my mother isn’t on our case all the time. School is practically my one responsibility, so I have to do it right.”

“Is there something you want to do in the future?” I asked her. I certainly didn’t expect her to scowl like I’d just touched a nerve. “Grace?”

She sighed and bit her lip. “My dad owns a contracting company. He wants me to become an engineer and work with him after university. Actually, he acts like that’s what I’ll do. He’s never even asked me what I want to do.”

“And what DO you want to do?” Sarah asked her. “You could probably do anything if you put your mind to it."

“I can see you being a lawyer,” Mila said.

“That’s the thing. I… don’t really have anything I want to work on. I can’t exactly complain and say I don’t want to be an engineer because there’s nothing else I’d rather be.”

“Not to be sexist or anything, but being an engineer as a woman sounds tough,” Thomas said. “As far as i know, the field is mostly men.”

“What? You don’t think Grace can be a good engineer because she’s a woman?” Sarah asked, raising her eyebrow.

“NOT what I meant. The issue is with the work environment. Like it or not, she’s gonna be looked down upon by men who think women don’t belong in the field.”

“I wouldn’t worry,” I said, looking at Thomas. “I’m sure there will be men who’ll look down on her, and they’ll be idiots. You’d need to have a screw loose to mess with Grace, and if they do, well, they’ll soon learn not to. Grace is more than capable of standing up to anyone. Capable of doing whatever she wants, too.”

“Oooh, someone’s getting shy!” Mila teased.

We all looked at Grace, who was all stiff, looking down at her knees and with a full, deep blush on her face.

“I’d get like that, too, if someone said something like that about me,” Sarah grinned teasingly at her friend.

Thomas laughed. “I didn’t know you could be so fucking smooth, dude.”

“Alright! Break’s over! Go back to studying!” Grace yelled at us.

It earned us a mean look from the librarian.

************

Chapter 178: And yet more studying.

It was a Sunday afternoon, the day right before midterms started. I was laying on my bed, staring at the ceiling with a furrowed brow. To put it simply, I was feeling a little stressed and that had me cranky.

All week was nothing but school, studying for exams, gym, work, and more studying. You may have noticed nowhere in that list was sex, and that was the main issue.

Dammit, I didn’t want it to be this way, but the lack of sex was getting to me. It had only been over a week! A normal person should be able to abstain for that long, right? I shouldn’t be feeling this light headache and this… hard to describe, uncomfortable, phantom feeling between my legs. Why was I sure it was due to the lack of sex? I didn’t know, but I did. Kind of like how your stomach starts rumbling and you know you’re hungry, my body was telling me this was due to a lack of sex.

Since it was a Sunday, I was hoping I could get together with at least one of the girls. Hoping, but it was not to be. Grace was out with her mother, Sarah at a family gathering, and Mila taking care of her little brother while their parents were out.

I groaned as I rubbed my face. I probably shouldn’t be lamenting that I couldn’t see the girls only because it meant no sex, but right now I couldn’t help it. I wanted to fondle Grace’s tits, I wanted Sarah to deepthroat me. Hell, I was even looking forward to finally trying out anal with Mila. But no, I was home, alone.

Well, not exactly alone. Downstairs, in the dining room, my sister, Alice and Noelle were studying together. I had to wonder how much they could concentrate with a furball attacking their shoes every once in a while, but Alice and Noelle wanted to have Cake around.

I should be studying, too, but I felt like that was 55% of my week, and I wasn’t confident I could concentrate. But it was better than wasting my time laying in bed thinking how nice it would be to have a girl close.

Horny fucking bastard.

With a resigned sigh, I stood up and started making my way down to the kitchen to grab a drink before I got to it. It was… a bad idea.

As I walked by the dining room, I saw the three girls sitting around the table, textbooks and notebooks opened. I greeted them when they arrived, and I didn’t want to bother them while they studied, so I walked quickly. Or that was the plan.

My eyes lingered on my sister’s friends for a moment. Alice was wearing a pale yellow, long sleeved shirt with its first two buttons undone. She had a white undershirt, so no cleavage was visible, but… I couldn’t help but notice how her breasts seemed to stretch the fabric of her clothes around that area. Hers were about as big as Grace’s, after all. Then there was Noelle, clad in a tight, black turtleneck that hugged her figure. Even sitting, I could see she had a great hourglass figure. Big breasts, a narrow waist, wide hips… Her red hair also made her stand out a lot more.

Shit. I turned away as quickly as I could and went into the kitchen. That wasn’t right. You can’t just look at other girls like that simply because your girlfriends aren’t around, Oliver. For fuck’s sake!

I poured myself a glass of natural orange juice and told myself to calm down before I went back to my room. On the way there, though, I was stopped.

“That’s weird…” I heard Alice say. “Why are we getting different results?”

“One of us is doing something wrong…” Isabelle said. She must’ve heard me walking by, because she turned around on her chair to look at me and call. “Hey, Oliver, got a sec?”

I suppressed a wince. No, don’t make me go there. Don’t make me stand close to them, not as I am now. Regardless, I went over to the table.

“What is it?”

Isabelle frowned. “Just a question. The three of us are working on this same math problem, but we’re all getting different results. It’s a longshot, but you wouldn’t happen to know how to solve it, would you?”

“Let me see.” I looked at the problem in Isabelle’s notebook, at the way she was solving it, and my eyes lit up. I’d seen a problem like this one before, and Grace taught me how to solve it. “Ah. You don’t use this formula here,” I told her. “See, it says here you need to…”

I began to write it down in her notebook. When I was done Alice exclaimed, “Ah! Of course! Crap, I read the problem the wrong way!” She slapped her forehead. “Hahaha! Thanks Oliver.”

Noelle giggled. “I was using the right formula, but I made a wrong calculation along the way.”

“Look at you,” Isabelle poked my chest, grinning. “And math’s your worst subject.”

“...I’ve been studying, too, you know,” I told her.

“Hmm. Midterms start tomorrow. Why don’t you study with us now?” Isabelle offered, looking to her friends to see what they thought.

“Yeah, come join us,” Alice said. “The more the merrier, right?”

“Y-Yeah!” Noelle also agreed.

This was a terrible idea, and I WANTED to say no, but I didn’t. Instead, I nodded my head, went to my room to get my own material, and sat down with them, next to Isabelle, with Alice and Noelle across from us.

Concentrating was difficult. The more time passed, the more aware I became of how… attractive these girls were. Alice was in full study mode, and she barely batted an eye, but my eyes caught Noelle’s every once in a while, and we turned away awkwardly every time.

Worst part was, I think Isabelle noticed, yet she didn’t say a word about it.

We studied for a couple of hours in total. Once done, the girls relaxed and started talking like they always did.

“Midterms can’t be over soon enough,” Isabelle said. “I want to go partying!”

Alice giggled. “I think Thomas is planning an end-of-midterms celebration at his house.”

“Really? Yes!” Isabelle fist-pumpped.

“You know…” Noelle started with a smile. “There’s this… event next Sunday. It’s a local fighting game tournament, but there will be live music and stuff. I… was curious and wanted to go, but I don’t want to go alone.”

Alice grimaced. “Sorry. I promised my brother I’d help him with something next Sunday.”

Isabelle opened her mouth to speak, but then I saw her eyes widening. “I… I remembered I have something to do, too. Sorry, Noelle, but… Why don’t you go with her, Oliver?”

“Eh?”

“Eh?” Noelle echoed.

“You’re into games, right? And you’ve never gone to an event like this. It’ll be fun!”

My lip quivered. I looked at Noelle, whose cheeks seemed to be taking a pink shade, yet she looked at me with anticipation. My sixth sense flared up, giving me an answer with crystal clear clarity.

She wanted me to say yes.

I swallowed. “Would… Would that be okay?” I asked Noelle.

“Y-Yes. If… If you’d like to.”

“...”

“...”

Boy this was awkward.