Chris was having a good time, though not quite so straightforwardly as Leah imagined. After the cosy clutter of the sitting room, Leah’s spartan bedroom was a shock. It was a large room made larger by the fact that it was almost completely empty, apart from a wardrobe, a double futon, and a small table with a silver Mac laptop positioned in its centre. There were no photographs of friends or family. The only decoration on the walls was a huge mirror in a thick black plastic frame. Chris was relieved when they moved to the futon, so that he was no longer aware of his reflection, hulking boorishly over Leah’s petite figure. But even on the futon he felt exposed.

Then there was Leah’s breathtaking beauty. It seemed to Chris that a girl this good-looking must be accustomed to pyrotechnics in the bedroom; and the mere thought of this gave him stage fright. The malarkey with her back had partly been an attempt to appear sensitive and passionate, but mostly it was a chance for Chris to steady himself, to buy a little time before the breach.

When Leah started to respond out loud to his kisses, Chris’s penis stiffened from a semi into a full-on erection. But it felt precarious. He was tired and horribly hungover; he knew he couldn’t afford to take his time. Luckily, Leah’s obvious arousal encouraged him to pick up the pace. Her dryness surprised him slightly, but it didn’t seem to be diminishing her pleasure, and once he was inside her she started to buck and moan with real enthusiasm. Her excitement redoubled his; he was close, too close, he was going to come and there was nothing he could do about it, he was going to fail at this – but then, just as he began to tip over the edge she came too, loudly and joyfully, clawing at his back, mewling and panting as he emptied himself inside her.

Chris’s hangover, kept temporarily at bay by the sex, returned with renewed force as soon as his orgasm subsided. His head was thick and sore and he felt overwhelmed by a crushing, full-body exhaustion. He managed to knot the condom and place it on the heel of his upturned shoe, which was lying next to the bed, and kiss Leah once on the mouth; then he put his arms around her, mumbled an unintelligible apology for being so tired, and promptly fell into a deep sleep.

Leah held him for a bit, feeling faintly disgusted at the stickiness created by flesh on flesh. She felt his body twitch, and shivered herself: the spasms of early sleep always gave her the creeps. When she was certain he was properly asleep she eased herself away from him and crept out to the bathroom to clean herself up. She ran a shallow bath and lay there for a long time.