[10:22]
You’d been on your phone for hours now, scrolling aimlessly through the same apps over and over again just to pass time. Campus was practically a ghost town, stripped of all the noise and chaos that usually made it feel alive, but somehow you were still stuck here. Between giving tours to incoming freshmen, answering repetitive questions from nervous parents, and whatever random tasks the ambassador program decided to throw at you, your summer had become painfully predictable. It was boring as hell, but the pay was good and the free housing made it hard to complain too much.
Still, none of that changed the fact that it was lonely.
You weren’t from anywhere near your college town, so once spring semester ended and everybody packed up to go home, you were left behind with nothing but empty hallways and surface-level conversations. You had your coworkers, of course. Nia, Jasmine, Alex, Melanie, Stephon.
But those were work friendships at best, they really only existed inside orientation meetings and group chats about schedules. They’d all been ambassadors for years, already locked into their little cliques and inside jokes while you still felt like the new girl trying to squeeze her way in. Most days it felt like you were destined to orbit around people instead of actually belonging to them.
With a sigh, you stepped out of your dorm room, already fixated on the vending machine downstairs. The AC in the building was blasting, but outside it’d been disgustingly hot all day, enough to make you completely abandon the idea of putting on your robe. Instead, you shuffled down the hall in a tank top, pajama shorts, and your slides, too tired to care how exposed you looked as you made your way toward the basement.
The vending machine area was quiet except for the low hum of fluorescent lights. Stephon stood in front of the drink machine with his hands on his hips like he was contemplating a life-changing decision instead of choosing a soda.
“It’s that hard of a choice?” you asked.
He jumped slightly before turning around, clearly caught off guard. Then his eyes landed on you properly, dragging over your body for just a second too long before he smirked. Stephon always looked at you like that. Not enough to be obvious, but enough for you to notice.
That was basically your entire relationship: joking,laughing, looking.
At least on your end.
It was pretty hard not to have a crush on him. Fine Black men were already rare enough in Connecticut, but living in the same dorm building as one? Seeing him almost every day? Hearing his laugh all the time? It was over before it even started. The only problem was figuring out whether any of it meant something or if Stephon was just naturally charismatic with everybody.
“Yeah,” he said with a chuckle, shaking his head. “They keep puttin’ new shit in here every week. I don’t wanna waste my money on Hawaiian Punch then we stuck with Fanta till next Tuesday.”
You laughed softly while he glanced at you again.
“What you doin’ up so late, lil bit?”
The nickname immediately made warmth creep up your neck. He’d started calling you that after an ambassador retreat earlier in the summer, mostly because of the ridiculous height difference between you two, and unfortunately it worked on you every single time.
“I’m only lil bit ‘cause you tall as hell, by the way,” you muttered. “And nothing really. Just bored. Ion got no friends.”
His eyebrow lifted slightly, amused.
“That’s not true. You got me. We hang out.”
“At work.”
“You could come back to my room right now then,” he shrugged casually. “We can play the game or somethin’.”
Your stomach flipped a little at how naturally he said it, like inviting you into his room at almost midnight wasn’t enough to make your brain short-circuit. Still, sitting alone in your dorm all night sounded significantly worse, so you agreed.
A few minutes later, the two of you were heading upstairs together with snacks in hand. Stephon’s single suite smelled like cologne, sweat, and faint weed smoke, the overwhelming scent of a college boy who practically lived in gym shorts. You sat in his desk chair while he tossed his keys onto the dresser, your eyes drifting toward the Naruto figurines lined up across his desk.
The room was unexpectedly nerdy. Endearing, honestly.
“How you been?” he asked, tossing you a juice box before sitting on his bed. “Orientations goin’ smooth? The freshmen treating you alright?”
“I’m good,” you said, poking the straw through the foil. “Summer classes start soon, orientations been cool. These kids keep smokin’ in they rooms though.”
He laughed immediately. “Yeah, these freshmen bad as hell.”
“But as long as I get paid,” you shrugged.
“Exactly.” He leaned back against the wall before patting the empty space beside him. “You tryna watch a movie?”
Your nerves instantly kicked in.
It had been a long time since you’d been alone with somebody like this, especially somebody you actually liked. You stood slowly, trying to play off your sudden anxiety.
“I like the anime figures,” you said instead, sitting beside him while still leaving a noticeable amount of space between your bodies. “I ain’t know you was this nerdy.”
He kissed his teeth dramatically. “You literally the nerdiest person here, Y/N. I don’t wanna hear that.”
“Oh, I know I am,” you laughed. “I just ain’t expect Mr. Star Basketball Player to be a geek too.”
“Man, whatever.”
You smiled while he searched for a movie, the glow from the TV bouncing off his face. He looked unfairly good in dim lighting, all soft brown skin and tired eyes and broad shoulders stretching against his t-shirt.
“So,” you started carefully, “you invite all the ambassadors to your room or just me?”
Stephon paused for a second before looking over at you knowingly.
He had a reputation around campus. Everybody knew it. Girls practically rotated through his room in a schedule like fashion, and despite knowing that, despite hearing every warning imaginable, you still found yourself sitting on his bed at midnight wearing tiny shorts.
“Mmm,” he hummed. “Just you.”
“Please.”
“I’m serious.” He shrugged. “I fuck with you. It’s only so many Black people in this program— damn near this whole school. I gotta keep you around.”
You rolled your eyes even though your chest felt warm hearing him say it.
“How’s life for you then?” you asked. “How’s basketball?”
“Same old shit.” He stretched his arms over his head. “I’m thinkin’ about declaring for the draft soon.”
You blinked at him. “You saying that like it’s regular. That’s a huge deal.”
He shrugged again, too calm about it.
“If I was you,” you continued, “I wouldn’t even be an ambassador anymore. I’d be overly obnoxious.”
“Nah,” he grinned. “Poppin’ it ain’t good PR. I gotta stay humble. Show the community I’m a man of the people.”
“Oh brother,” you groaned dramatically. “What would the university do without Stephon Castle and his community outreach?”
“The way they use me for these tours? Probably collapse.”
You laughed, relaxing a little more now.
“It works though,” you admitted. “All the girls in the tours be obsessed with you.”
“Oh, so I’m cute?”
You hated how quickly he caught that.
“Well… yeah,” you mumbled. “I think so.”
Stephon tilted his head slightly, watching you struggle through your own embarrassment before his expression softened.
“Well, I think you’re beautiful.”
Your breath caught a little when he reached up, fingers brushing your chin as he turned your face toward him. The touch was gentle, almost careful, but it still made your stomach twist itself into knots.
“Like…” he continued quietly, eyes dragging over your face, “really beautiful.”
You pulled away first, flustered beyond belief, your cheeks burning hot.
“You so shy,” he murmured with a grin. “I like that about you.”
“You just saying that ‘cause you wanna fuck,” you shot back immediately. “I know about you, Stephon.”
He looked genuinely offended.
“Now Y/N,” he said, placing a hand on his chest, “I can wholeheartedly say I only got two bodies on this campus. I’m very selective.”
You laughed loudly at that.
“I’m serious though,” he continued. “I genuinely think you cool as hell. I’m just…”
“You just what?”
He hesitated for once, rubbing the back of his neck before finally admitting it.
“A lil deprived right now,” he muttered. “I can’t even act normal around you no more ‘cause you got me goin’ crazy.”
Your stomach flipped.
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, really.” His eyes dropped briefly to your body before coming back up. “When we went to the Poconos and you had that Ed Hardy swimsuit on? Damn near ruined my whole weekend. Then that crop top you wore to the ambassador picnic…” He shook his head slowly. “I be trying not to look at you too hard.”
The confession settled heavy between you two.
Because truthfully, you’d been feeling the exact same way.
“Well,” you admitted softly, “I’m feeling you too.”
The room went quiet after that. The silence was heavy, laced with anticipation. Stephon’s eyes stayed fixed on you for a long moment before he shifted closer, slowly enough to give you time to pull away if you wanted to. But you didn’t. Your body stayed beside him, heart pounding so hard it almost hurt.
“You really like me? Genuinely me?” he asked quietly.
You nodded.
His hand slid against your thigh carefully, thumb brushing slow circles into your skin while his other hand reached up to tilt your chin toward him. The kiss was softer than you expected. It was slow and curious, Like he’d been thinking about it for a while and wanted to savor it now that he finally had the chance. Like he wanted to explore every inch of you with his tongue starting from the mouth out. You could tell he was yearning but shit— you were too.
You melted into the kiss letting go of every bit of tension and loneliness you’d been carrying around all summer. Everything suddenly collapsed the second his mouth moved against yours. Stephon kissed like he talked — confident, teasing, a little cocky — but underneath that there was something surprisingly patient about him. He kept smiling against your lips every time you kissed him back harder, every time your nervousness started slipping away.
“There she go,” he murmured softly when your hands finally settled against his chest. “Been waiting on you to stop acting scary.”
“Oh my God,” you laughed breathlessly, hiding your face for a second.
“Nah,” he said, pulling you right back toward him. “Come here.”
And this time when he kissed you, the tension between you finally snapped completely.
He moved to take your shirt off, nearly ripping the tiny tank top in the process. He took in your bare chest, his hands instinctively cupping the warm brown flesh, flicking your hardened nipples as he leaned down to kiss along your skin. “So fucking pretty,” he murmured, kissing up your neck before gently pushing you back onto the bed.
“Steph~” you breathed out, instinctively getting nervous and trying to cover yourself up.
“Uh-uh, baby. Let me see all of you,” he said, pulling down your shorts to reveal your bare bottom. “No underwear? You already so nasty for me.” He pinned your hands to your sides and kissed down your sternum, all the way to your clit. He lapped up your wetness eagerly, humming at the taste of you.
“You been hiding this from me?” he asked with a low slurp. “This too good for you to hide from me, ma.”
You moaned as he slid a finger into you, sucking at your clit while twisting his finger in and out of you, hitting your g-spot repeatedly. You couldn’t even believe you were here right now. This was no longer some wet dream on a random night. You were actually in his room, and he was actually eating you out. “St-Steph—” you moaned, threading your fingers through his locs and gripping lightly as your back arched off the bed.
“Yes, princess?” he hummed, swiping his thumb teasingly over your clit.
“Can we… you know?”
“Can we what?” he teased. “I don’t know what ‘you know’ means, baby.”
“You already know. Don’t make it awkward.”
He rolled his eyes playfully and got up, pulling down his basketball shorts. His dick was bigger than you expected, already leaking with precum. Stephon leaned over to grab a condom from his drawer, sliding it onto himself while you helped roll it down. “You sure you good with this?” he asked, lining himself up with your entrance.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” you said softly, closing your eyes and bracing yourself while holding onto his hand.
He planted soft kisses all over your face as he slowly slid into your wet core, pulling a loud mewl from you on impact. “Fffuuckk,” he groaned, throwing his head back as his hands gripped your hips. “This shit so tight, mama. Can I go deeper?”
You nodded quickly, already feeling euphoric from the stretch.
He started thrusting into you rhythmically, snapping his hips harder as the room filled with the sound of skin slapping against skin. You tried not to let the whole building know what was going on, but everything felt too good not to let him hear you. “Steph, it feels so good—” you gasped, reaching down to toy with your clit.
“You feel so good, baby. Needed this so bad,” he mumbled as you wrapped your legs around his back. It had been a while since he’d had sex, but this felt like something completely new. The way you squeezed around him, your moans, the way you said his name—it had his head spinning.
And so was yours.
You weren’t sure if it was because of all his teasing earlier, the crush you’d had on him for forever, or if his dick was just that good, but the coil tightening in your stomach was about to snap hard. “This the best pussy in the world, bae, you know that?” Stephon groaned. “I can’t let nobody else have this shit. Fuck, I gotta take this shit to the league with me.”
“Oh yeah?” you moaned breathlessly. “You want it to be yours only, baby?” you asked, feeling your orgasm build as his words only made it worse.
“Yes. Y/N, I need that shit only for me. You can have me—all of me—”
“I’m finna cum,” you cried out.
“Me too, baby.”
The room stayed quiet for a long moment after everything finally slowed down. It wasn’t tense or awkward, the atmosphere was still warm. The both of you were still trying to catch your breath while reality settled back in piece by piece.
Stephon’s face stayed buried in your neck, his breathing uneven against your skin while one of his hands rubbed absentminded circles into your thigh. The other stayed planted beside your head, holding most of his weight up so he wouldn’t crush you completely. You could still feel the faint tremble in his body every now and then, little aftershocks running through him.
“Damn,” he muttered eventually, voice rough.
You laughed softly, still slightly out of breath yourself. “That’s all you got to say?”
“Nah, hold on.” He lifted his head finally, looking down at you with this almost disbelieving expression. “I’m tryna process this shit.”
Your face immediately got hot again, and you instinctively looked away, but Stephon caught your chin before you could hide.
“There you go being shy again,” he murmured with a grin.
“You make me nervous.”
“So?” he said easily. “You don’t think I get nervous!”
He leaned down to kiss you again this time slower. Not hungry like before, softer way more affectionate. Like he genuinely just wanted to keep touching you now that he finally could.
That feeling in your chest came back immediately. The complaints that came from your friends when you told them about your crush on him, the rumors on fizz and side chat, the TikTok’s, just everything.
But the Stephon you knew, wasn’t anything like that.
It would’ve been easier if he seemed like just some cocky athlete trying to get laid. Maybe you were delusional, maybe this whole thing was shallow or temporary or stupid. But laying here with him now, watching the way he kept looking at you like he was still trying to memorize your face, it didn’t feel casual anymore.
At least not to you.
“You okay?” he asked quietly after a second.
“Mhm.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.” You smiled a little. “I actually felt really comfortable.”
His expression softened instantly at that.
“Course I did,” he said like it was obvious. “I wouldn’t treat you weird or nun like that”
You looked at him carefully then. “Even after this?”
Stephon frowned immediately like the question genuinely bothered him.
“Y/N,” he said, serious now, “you think I’d start moving funny? We work and live together twin”
“Ion know,” you admitted honestly. “You seriously got a reputation.”
He rolled his eyes and sighed hard.
“Man, I can tell you all day it’s not true. But can’t I just show you?” He sat up slightly before pulling you with him until you were tucked against his chest. “I meant what I said earlier. I really fuck with you.”
The sincerity in his voice made your stomach flip all over again.
Outside, you could hear the faint buzzing of campus through the open window. Somebody yelling in the distance. A car door slamming. Music playing faintly somewhere across the dorms. But in here everything felt weirdly separated from the rest of the world.
Stephon reached over to grab the discarded blanket from the edge of the bed before throwing it over both of you.
“You hungry?” he asked randomly.
You blinked. “Right now?”
“Yes right now.” He looked down at you. “Sex make me hungry,ion know about you”
You started laughing immediately. “You are so stupid.”
“Nah, answer the question.”
“A lil bit.”
“I knew it.” He nodded proudly before reaching for his phone. “Wendy’s still open.”
“At one in the morning?”
“Wendy’s never close, baby. That’s why it’s elite.”
You laughed again, and for the first time all summer, you didn’t feel hopelessly alone.
Stephon glanced down at you one more time before brushing a thumb against your cheek gently.
“You staying tonight?” he asked.
And maybe you should’ve hesitated.
Maybe you should’ve thought harder about how dangerous it was to like somebody this much this quickly.
But curled up against him with his hoodie halfway hanging off your shoulders, his room smelling like cologne and laundry detergent and summer heat, you didn’t want to feel lonely anymore.
“Yeah,” you said softly. “I think I am.”
