Teach Me (Extracurricular Activities, #4)

by Neve Wilder

“With availability bias, one thing to keep in mind is how much weight we give to these readily available options and whether they truly align with our values and goals. But let’s put a pin in that topic for now. We’ll revisit it later in the semester and see how it holds up.”

“Contextual expectation, cognitive load, change blindness, source memory error, acoustic differences,” I rattled off glumly. “Any or all of these things could have been a factor.” It was the easiest question he’d asked me since he’d walked through my door. “Our brains are incredibly efficient at dealing with expected information, but falter in unexpected situations. You didn’t connect the dots for the same reason I didn’t: it seemed preposterous. We filter information based on relevance and familiarity. When you’re out of your usual context, the cues that normally alert us don’t line up the same way. What seems obvious in hindsight was obscured by our psychological blindspots at the time.”

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of where sex is concerned. If it’s consensual between two adults, there are no limits, no parameters, no fantasies or desires too perverted. Sex should be anything you want it to be. Fun, intense, fantastical. Dirty, sweet, loving. Any combination or adjective in between. There should be no gatekeeping on how someone chooses to express their sexuality or get off, aside from a consenting partner—which, I think we’ve determined, I very much am.”

“Everyone’s a little fucked-up. Personally, I’ve always thought there were two nonnegotiable truths in life: no one gets out alive, and no one comes into adulthood without a few broken parts.”

I leaned back in my chair, taking a moment to choose the right words. “Don’t play poker when you’re not at the table, Paul.” I glanced pointedly at the sealed letter before looking back at him. “Not everyone is an opponent to be overcome. Not every relationship should be seen as a transaction.”