“I’m not into girls,” Jess said with a nervous laugh, biting into her popsicle as rain tapped gently against the dorm window.

“Sure,” Ava smirked, lying back on her bed in nothing but her oversized hoodie and cotton shorts. “You’re straight until Friday.”

Jess rolled her eyes. “That’s two days from now.”

“Exactly.” Ava stretched, arching her back like a cat. “Two days to prove me wrong.”

It was on a Wednesday night.

It started as a stupid midweek ritual. “Rainy Day Dares.” Ava always brought the chaos, and Jess always brought the boundaries. But tonight felt different.

There was tension in the air. Maybe it was the way Ava kept brushing her bare legs against Jess’s under the blanket, or how Jess couldn’t stop noticing the way Ava’s hoodie slipped off one shoulder, revealing a thin pink bra strap and caramel skin.

“Dare you to kiss me,” Ava said, grinning wickedly.

Jess’s laugh caught in her throat. “That’s not funny.”

“Who said I was joking?”

She leaned in, close enough for Jess to smell her vanilla body lotion. Jess froze.

“Unless…” Ava tilted her head. “You’re scared you might like it?”

Jess’s cheeks burned. Her brain screamed no. Her body whispered something else.

Ava smiled. “Thought so. You’re straight until Friday.”

Jess avoided Ava all morning being Thursday. But she couldn’t avoid the thoughts.

Ava’s lips.

The heat between them.

The shiver that ran through her when Ava whispered in her ear, “You blush so easily.”

In class, Jess couldn’t focus. Every time her professor said the word “experiment,” she flinched.

That night, they watched a movie together on Ava’s bed. Their thighs touched. Ava’s fingers played with the hem of Jess’s pajama shorts.

“Still straight?” Ava asked softly.

Jess didn’t answer.

Ava turned toward her, voice low and teasing. “I dare you to let me show you something.”

Jess's lips parted. “What?”

Ava crawled closer. “Just say yes.”

Jess whispered it. “Yes.”

Ava’s lips touched her collarbone first, warm and gentle. Jess trembled.

She didn’t stop it.

Fingers skimmed under her shirt, tracing the slope of her waist. Her breath caught.

“Still straight?” Ava whispered again.

Jess reached for her, nails curling into the back of Ava’s neck as their mouths finally met, hesitant at first, then hungry. Jess moaned into her lips, the taste of peppermint gum and something forbidden flooding her senses.

Ava’s hands were confident. Teasing. Skilled. Jess felt like she was unraveling.

“Tell me to stop,” Ava murmured, breath hot against her ear.

She didn’t.

Jess’s shirt came off. Then her bra. Ava’s mouth closed around her nipple, soft tongue circling, flicking. Jess gasped, arching up, her hands in Ava’s hair.

She had never been touched like this. Not by any guy. Not by anyone who took her apart so slowly, so completely.

Ava’s kisses trailed lower. Down her belly. Over her hips. Jess’s thighs parted on instinct.

“I’ve never...” she started, breathless.

“I know.” Ava smiled. “Let me.”

Jess whimpered as Ava’s tongue found her heat, licking slow and deep. Her fingers tangled in the sheets. The pleasure built sharp and fast, unfamiliar and terrifying.

“Ava! oh my god Ava”

She came with a cry, her back arching off the bed, every nerve alight.

When she opened her eyes, Ava was watching her with a lazy smile, lips glistening.

“Still straight?” she teased.

Jess didn’t answer.

She pulled Ava up and kissed her harder this time.

Jess woke up in Ava’s bed, wrapped in her arms. Naked. Sore. Satisfied.

Ava kissed her shoulder. “Happy Friday.”

Jess turned to her with sleepy eyes. “I think I missed the deadline.”

“Good,” Ava whispered, tugging her closer. “I was hoping you’d fail.”