Problematic Summer Romance

Maya puts on provocative pajamas and goes to Conor’s room, where she finds him wound up and irritated because his siblings refused the settlement on the will, the wedding is in shambles, and his company’s having a problem. Maya starts to leave, but he stops her. Even though he’s terrified of who he is around her, he wants her to stay because life without her the last 10 months has been the most difficult thing he’s ever experienced. Maya sits him on the couch and strips before initiating sex. Despite Maya climaxing, Conor does not allow himself to orgasm.

Angry and hurt, Maya climbs off him and goes to the bathroom to clean herself up. When she returns, Conor still doesn’t let her touch him, and she finally realizes this will never work. She understands now that Conor thinks a relationship between them would trap her, and no matter how many times Maya says it, he can’t accept that she has “chosen [him] freely over and over again” (330). After telling him all this, Maya leaves.