chapter 1

It was a grey Thursday afternoon in December. Finals week: the bane of any college student's existence. My good friend, drinking buddy, and preferred flirting partner, Kevin, and I both were stuck on campus because we had our last exams on Friday morning. And in true college student fashion, we decided that the best way to study was to drink at the same time. His housemates had all been lucky enough to leave before then, so it was just the two of us lounging on the beat up couch in the living room, leaning on opposite armrests, books spread over our laps.

"Beer me," Kevin said with a smile as he drained his fifth can of PBR and crushed it. I smirked and reached down to grab another from the rapidly emptying box.

"Easy there, tiger. You have to actually study," I said with a laugh, leaning over to hand him the can. His blue eyes sparkled as he stared down my shirt. I arched an eyebrow and he gave me a wicked smirk when our eyes met.

"Enjoying the view?" I asked teasingly, pushing my arms together to enhance my cleavage.

"Mmm, you know it," he purred, winking at me. I rolled my eyes and shoved him back against his side of the couch.

"You're a pig, Kevin, you know that?" I settled back and took a drink from my own beer, still smirking at him over my books. We had been flirting back and forth for the entire semester and I wondered if things would come to a head tonight since we were alone.

"I'm not, but I'm hungry enough to eat one right now. Are you hungry?" He shook his shaggy blond hair out of his eyes and stretched, tensing his arms so his thick biceps stood out. His shirt rode up, revealing a tantalizing sliver of his tanned belly. Kevin was pretty built, but my eyes were drawn like magnets to the slight softness around his middle. That was new, but I certainly wasn't complaining.

I must have zoned out because his low laugh startled me back into reality. "Are you enjoying the view, Ella?" he said in a sultry voice, brushing a hand across his chest to lift his shirt up even more.

Being a mature young adult, I stuck my tongue out in response.

"Put that tongue away or put it to good use, I'm starving." Kevin said and returned the gesture. "Now let's go raid the fridge!" He lunged forward, scooped me up off the couch, and headed into the kitchen, ignoring my shrieks of shock and then laughter. I was plopped unceremoniously onto the table and Kevin dove into the fridge.

"Look at all this!" he exclaimed, throwing the door wide open. I peered inside to see a nearly full fridge.

"Whoa! Everyone must have forgotten to clean out their stuff. Jackpot!" I said excitedly, my own stomach growling in anticipation.

Kevin was already shoulder deep inside the fridge's chilly interior, sorting through containers. "Well their loss is our gain! Look, there's pasta and chicken and rice. Think this one is those Swedish meatballs Rob gets from IKEA. Ooh and cake from Dan's birthday the other day! What a feast!" He tossed things in the microwave and onto the table as he pulled them out. I laughed at his enthusiasm; the boy definitely loved food, it just hadn't shown until now.

And then suddenly, a thought struck me. If I hadn't been several beers in I wouldn't have given it a moment's consideration, but since I was, the inkling of an idea blossomed in my mind.
All of this food was just going to be thrown out. It was the end of the semester, everyone was gone for winter break and it would all go to waste. Unless it was consumed. By Kevin. It wasn't that far a stretch, between his usually big appetite and a little coercion, I thought I could make it happen. And then reap the bounty of the aftermath. I couldn't help the devious smile from spreading slowly over my face.

"Here, you eat and I'll take care of heating it all up," I said, standing up from the table to grab silverware. The microwave beeped and I took the steaming container of spaghetti from it, handing it to Kevin.

"Thanks, Ella," he said, his fingers brushing mine. He dug into the food like a starving man and I couldn't help but enjoy his eagerness to devour the pasta. Swapping the container of now steaming Swedish meatballs with the still cold container of fried rice. I popped a few in my mouth, still watching Kevin eat. He was nearly done with the pasta, impressive considering that there had to be a half pound of it in there. My eyes strayed downwards, eager to see some of the effects of his gorging, and lit up upon seeing the slight rounded swell of his belly. All that pasta definitely showed, and this was just the first course.

"More?" he asked, licking the sauce from his mouth. I speared up one last meatball from the container before handing it to him and pulling the pork fried rice from the microwave. He immediately dove into it, shoveling food into his mouth as though he didn't just eat enough pasta for several people. He reached for his can of beer and drained it before taking another from the box on the floor near his feet. The meatballs disappeared and he started in on the cold chicken cutlets. I stared unabashedly at the slight but visible growth of Kevin's belly as he drained the can in a few gulps, my forkful of rice frozen halfway to my lips. This was insanely hot and I knew I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off him later.

"Ella? Earth to Ella? Why are you staring at me like that?" Kevin's voice snapped me back to reality for the second time that night.

"Staring at you like what?" I said as innocently as I could muster, shoving the bite of fried rice into my mouth.

"Like a cat about to pounce on it's prey," he said.