Chapter 17: Chapter 17 – Natalie: 2UP!

I'd been so focused on the thought of Hugh dumping me that I really hadn't given much thought to what I was wearing throughout the conversation about that and the one on the topic that followed. With those issues out of the way, though, I couldn't help but notice that his eyes kept drifting to my chest.

Only a single layer of thin cotton protected my breasts from his view, which both left them more exposed than I would have liked and, without support, let them jiggle every time I moved. All it took was me realizing those facts for my body to start to have a reaction. When I glanced down, two little points were obviously poking at the fabric.

God! This was so embarrassing.

He cleared his throat. "So have you checked your status this morning."

"No. Let me do that now." Anything to distract me from more exposure! What a way to start the day.

A blue box quickly popped up.

As soon as he saw me staring off into space, he asked, "What's your XP progress and how much to Level 5?"

"15 out of 200."

"That's good. It's still only going up 50 XP per level." He paused. "By the way, how many points did you get for doing the streak last night?"

"125."

He grimaced.

"What?"

"You got the other quest, too, huh?"

"Oh. That one." I felt my face heat.

We both lapsed into silence, but, while I was just trying to find a way past my mortification, he looked like he was concentrating on something.

"What?" I was a little bit curious about what he was doing, but mainly I just wanted to find a new topic of conversation, any new subject.

"Uh ... I think I just figured out what the second level of Quest Giver does."

"That's great! What?"

He didn't respond.

"Come on," I said. "Tell me."

"I ... uh ... thought about how you earned those point, right?" He must have seen my expression cloud because he quickly tried to make excuses. "I didn't mean to, but it's hard not to. And once the thought entered my mind, I was like, 'I wonder how many points she'd get for a quest to reach her hand into her panties and do that in front of me right now?' The system answered. There was a pop up that said 200."

"No. Never. Not for a million. Not for any amount. That's private!"

"Of course not," he assured me. "I'd never ask you to do that. I was just an unbidden idle thought, nothing more."

I didn't believe him for a second, but there was no point in calling him out over it. The sooner we moved on, the better.

He must have felt the same because he soon said, "So you have points to distribute? What are your thoughts?"

I took a calming breath. "Definitely another one in mental since that’s the whole reason I’m doing this, but I'm not sure about the other. It might be nice to improve myself in other areas as well. I'll also definitely increase Enhanced Memory once more if it gives me the option."

After some perfunctory discussion, I locked in those changes, increasing MEN to 2 and upping the skill's level. I then let him convince me to do the IQ tests again. My average rose from 117 to 124. Though not as huge of a jump as from my original 105 to 117, I was still very pleased to be at the very top end of the above average intelligence range.

He asked me if I'd given any more thoughts to what attribute would get the second free point, and I flat out lied to him, telling him that I hadn't. I hated being untruthful to him like that, but I was too embarrassed to answer that, with all the talk of other girls and harems, I was thinking of adding it to charisma. The idea was taking more and more hold in my brain, but, God, how insecure could I be?

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"What about your point?" I asked, deflecting.

"Definitely endurance. I'm going to have to head over to the gym and hop on a treadmill first, though. I'm kind of dreading it."

I understood his reluctance. The university had a great big sports center with basketball courts and areas to lift weights and dance classes and all manner of that kind of stuff, and it was all free for students to use. The only issue was that it was always crowded, and it was kind of intimidating trying to figure out how everything worked when you were inexperienced.

"I figure I'll hit it tomorrow morning," he said. "I'm hoping there won't be many people in there early on a Sunday."

I told him that sounded like a good plan and a bit of awkwardness passed between us. I didn't think it boded badly for our long term necessarily; it was just that we were at the stage where neither of us knew what to do next.

"Did you want to do some quests?" I asked, more to dispel the slightly uncomfortable atmosphere than for any other reason.

I hadn't really considered the meaning behind my words, though, and more heat bloomed on my face. I'd basically just asked him if he wanted me to take my clothes off. The worst part was that I didn't know if I wanted him to accept or refuse.

"I would like that a lot," he said, "but I was thinking we could kind of put a moratorium on that until after our date."

"Yeah. Makes sense. Good idea."

"Hey, listen," he said. "Should I leave? If I'm keeping you from homework or whatever... I mean, I monopolized your entire day yesterday and we're going out tonight."

This was ridiculous. I wanted to be with him, and he wanted to be with me. I refused to let a little awkwardness derail us.

Ugh! Homework, though. I did have studying I needed to do. Considering that I’d had exactly zero social life in the month I’d been her, that math assignment and that paper I need to work on for English could totally wait. Besides, I’d just increased my IQ fairly significantly. Hopefully, that change would translate to me working much quicker than before.

"No," I said. "What I really want to for us to just hang out. Watch Netflix. Go grab a bite. Just be together."

He exhaled sharply. "That sounds really good. Thanks."

I motioned at my nightgown. "I do think I probably should go ahead and shower and get dressed and stuff, though."

"Absolutely. Should I wait outside to give you privacy?"

"I'll be fine changing in the bathroom." I grabbed my laptop and showed him how to open all the streaming services. "I won't be long."

As I was grabbing the clothes to change into after my shower, I used my body to block his view of the underwear I picked up. God! It felt so silly to be self conscious about him seeing my underwear while it wasn't even on me after all he and I had done the previous night, but it was what it was.

He didn't really pay me much attention as I disappeared into the bathroom, and, once inside, I tried to take care of things as quickly as I could as I really didn't want to keep him waiting. Some things just took a while, though. Good dental hygiene required time and effort. I definitely needed to shave my legs, and that wasn't a quick process. And I absolutely had to do something about that unruly tangle of brown curls between my legs.

The question became should I just tame the beast or get rid of it completely? Part of me wanted to yell out to him to ask his preference, but I didn't. Partly that was because it would have been the second most mortified I would have been this morning behind only him talking about the personal activity I’d done after he left yesterday. Mostly, though, it was because he'd probably just tell me to do whatever I wanted.

I ended up shaving myself bare, leaving nothing at all to shield myself from his view, and the entire time I was running the razor around that area, I was thinking about having his eyes on me. By the time I finished and shut off the water, I was panting.

And, of course, that was exactly when a box popped up.

I wasn't sure what happened to that moratorium that he'd laid down, and the rewards were pretty lame. On the other hand, I wouldn't actually be showing anything. Was it worth it?

Who was I kidding? I hadn't refused a dare yet, and I honestly didn't see myself starting anytime soon. I wasn't even sure how much I truly would resist if he actually asked to watch as I did ... that thing I’d done last night.

I got out of the shower, used the towel I'd already gotten out to dry myself off, searched for the absolute smallest towel that would cover all the essentials, and wrapped it around me. With my heart once again pounding furiously, I stepped out of the bathroom.

 

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