I Only Wanted You

(Author’s Note: This story is a love story which eventually includes sex. One of the characters has a lot of baggage that the couple must patiently deal with in order to open the door to a loving, fulfilling physical relationship. Please enjoy the buildup and getting to know them.)

 

***

 

 

Chapter 1: But That Mall Sucks

 

One cool mid-September day, I complained to a co-worker about being bored with the local lunch fare. We’d both worked there long enough to have explored everything nearby. It was the same few restaurants with the same, unchanging menus. I needed something new in my life.

“Try the food court at the mall downtown,” he suggested. I started to object, but he interrupted. “I know, I know. It’s been renovated. Yeah, it’s a longer drive, but it’s got some new restaurants.” He shrugged. “Maybe you’ll find something you like.”

Without a better plan, I went for it. The choice was easy enough: same old boring shit versus not that. So yeah, I pulled into the mall parking lot and found a spot near the food court. It’d been years since I had last been here, and from the outside, it didn’t look like anything had changed. Inside was better, and I wandered around for a while, hoping one of the new restaurants would catch my eye.

This mall didn’t have much else going for it anymore, despite the renovation, except for the movie theater. The food court was connected to one of the better theaters in the area, so it still managed to get busy on weekends, but the Tuesday lunchtime crowd wasn’t deserving of the name.

I made my choice, more or less at random, ordered my food, and paid. I figured this would be my lunch destination for a while. Soon enough, lunch in hand, I turned to the common seating area and looked for a good spot that wasn’t right next to other people, because sitting next to strangers as a solo diner has never not felt weird.

I picked an empty table and sat down. As I took my first bite, I looked around idly and noticed a table directly ahead of me with a group of girls sitting around it. Attractive girls, who looked to be my age, or at least close to it, so of course they now had my attention. The girl who was facing me was, in fact, watching me, and because I was watching her watch me, I noticed when she said something and made a subtle gesture in my direction.

I immediately dropped my attention to my food so I wouldn’t be caught staring at the girls, who, if I guessed correctly, were now sneaking glances at me. I hoped it was because the first girl thought I was cute, and not some other–

“Rob?!”

I looked up instantly at the sound of my name, trying to figure out who had said it. It was definitely one of the girls, and it sounded familiar. Did I know one of them?

Oh shit. Had I dated one of them?

I sought out each of their faces, but then one of the girls stood up, drawing my eyes. She brushed her hair behind her ear as I studied her face, and then recognition set in. My stomach dropped. My mouth hung open.

It was her. The one that got away. The one I never thought I’d see again. The one I hadn’t seen, in fact, for five years. And here she was, randomly sitting two tables away in the food court of a mall I don’t go to anymore.

My mouth regained its use. “Natalie?!” I blurted out, but I was way behind the times because she had already crossed the distance and was reaching for me.

I stood up just in time, my arms reflexively closing around her. I marveled in the feel of her against me and the smell of her hair and… and realized this was literally the first time we’d ever hugged. And yes, that was a weird thing to think about ‘the one that got away.’ I realized it as soon as I thought it, but my brain was still trying to make a three-point turn in traffic.

“Hi,” she said. I took her in, her look, her sound, everything. “So…” she said, trailing off, eyebrows climbing as she waited expectantly for me to say something.

I pushed her back a bit so I could see her face. She had dark eyes and long dark brown hair, but smooth, pale skin, like someone who didn’t spend much time outside. She was about five-six or so, and thin, or in really good shape. Five years older, but considering how young we’d been the last time we’d seen each other, that was no problem whatsoever. The baby fat was gone, and she was drop dead gorgeous in a no-longer-a-teenager way. She was wearing what looked like some sort of uniform, but I didn’t spare any thought for that. Also, she wore a pair of earrings. I distinctly remembered she was definitely not allowed to have those before.

“Yes, it’s me, you dork,” she said around a huge smile, and then, in a quiet voice meant only for me, “I’ve changed.”

“So I see,” I said just as quietly. I realized I had my hands on her shoulders. I didn’t remember how they got there, but I took the opportunity to give her slim shoulders a little squeeze. “I can’t believe it’s you.”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I don’t even know where to start. I’m so sorry we lost contact. My parents…” She shuddered. “There’s so much to tell. When they found out I had gone on a date, to a dance, and held hands with a boy… well, I was grounded for life, basically.”

I said nothing as I let all that sink in. My brain was rebooting and logic and reason were on their way back.

Her eyes were welling up with unshed tears. “I’m so sorry… I tried to look for you…”

“No need to be sorry,” I said, giving her shoulders a good rub, then I deliberately let go because it was honestly starting to feel a little awkward. “I tried to look for you, too.”

“But you didn’t know where I lived. My parents didn’t let me have a phone. They didn’t let me share my email address.” She actually managed to crack a weak smile. “It was pretty hopeless.”

I coughed. “Yeah… I asked your friends, but nobody knew anything. You just disappeared.”

The other girls from the table had circled around us as we spoke, but none of them had said anything yet. I glanced around at them, but Natalie seemed fine with them being there. “So… what happened?” I asked.

“My parents,” Natalie practically spat. “That’s what happened. You couldn’t find me because we moved away the very next day.”

“Moved? But, how?” I was stunned. “Who can move so fast?”

“They own a second home in Los Angeles. They packed some things and we left on a plane the very next morning. They set me up in a private girl’s school and I started there the day after that.”

One of the girls, a pretty, petite blonde, finally couldn’t hold back anymore. “Holy shit, that really happened?”

Natalie looked hurt. She turned to her friend. “You didn’t believe me?”

One of the other girls, a curly-haired brunette, had the grace to look embarrassed. “It’s just that it’s so extreme. It’s hard to believe your parents would overreact so…” She fished around for the words. “That they’d be so…”

“So fuckin’ crazy,” said the third girl, who had very long, black hair and reminded me of someone I worked with. Curly girl nodded emphatically.

“So Rob is real, too,” said the blonde, looking at me. “And taller and cuter than you said, Nat.”

I winked at her. “Well, I’ve been eating my vegetables and really working out my cuteness muscles.”

The girls giggled.

“Let’s join tables,” said curly girl. They brought their trays to me even though I insisted it would be easier if I moved since there was only one of me, but they were already in motion. One of them grabbed a chair and we fit all five of us around the table without making it too tight. Natalie, of course, ended up right next to me, which was just how I liked it.

Natalie introduced her friends. The blonde was Ashley, the curly-haired brunette was Monica, and the one with long, black hair was Brooke.

“So…” I said, trying to figure out how to continue this conversation. “You moved to L.A. overnight. What happened after that?”

She let out a long breath. “There’s so much I haven’t told anyone.”

“Oh god,” Ashley said, her eyes wide. “What didn’t you tell us?”

“Yeah,” said Monica. “If you thought the stuff you did tell us was bad, I’m dying to know what you left out.”

Natalie spilled the beans while her friends and I listened in horror. Once we got used to the general level of awfulness her parents operated on, the girls and I remembered our food and we managed to eat and listen. The lecture Natalie had received had been in multiple stages over two whole days, and her parents forced her to meet with several religious leaders who lectured her more. They’d made her read and recite bible passages about purity and deceit and other things that really didn’t seem to apply. They’d forbidden her from even talking to boys, and the girls’ school was an easy way to make sure there were no boys around. No phone, of course. No unmonitored internet usage. She wasn’t allowed to go out with friends, and she ended up so depressed she didn’t have friends anyway. She was told repeatedly how worthless a “used” woman was, how no man wants a slut, and plenty of other crap like that.

And just when I thought she was done, she kept going. “One time, my mom heard a rumor that girls were wearing thongs and ‘sexy’ bras to school, so she wouldn’t let me out of the house without checking my underwear first. And, oh yeah, I forgot this one. They set a rigid daily schedule for me and if I didn’t follow it, they’d punish me by taking away my stuff. Something different every time, and I’d have to earn it back. They took away my bed and I had to sleep on the floor. It took a month to earn that back.”

She put her head down to take a bite of food, and I took the opportunity to share horrified looks with the girls. Brooke spoke up tentatively. “Uh, Nat, that kinda sounds like abuse.”

Well that killed the conversation. Everyone just looked at each other uncomfortably. Nat still had her head down, but she wasn’t eating, just sitting there in stillness.

I cleared my throat. “So let me get this straight,” I said in a desperate attempt to salvage things. “The date with me, in which I took you to a high school dance, and held your hand, and–” I fixed her friends with a serious stare. “Where nothing else happened, was, in your parents’ eyes, such a serious crime that they instantly took you a thousand miles away and changed your entire life?”

Natalie was just toying with her food, but she nodded. I placed my hand atop hers.

“I’m really sorry, Nat,” I said. “It sounds like I totally messed up your life.”

“Oh come on,” said Brooke. “She went on a date! That’s what teenagers are supposed to do! Her parents messed up her life, not you.”

“It’s not her fault they’re nuts,” Monica said.

“Fuck them,” Ashley said, then continued eloquently, “I mean, what the fuck?”

Natalie looked up, eyes fierce. “Rob, going on a date with you was my choice. I knew they’d be mad if they found out. I knew it was a risk.” She shook her head. “I just didn’t realize how far they’d go.”

“But if I hadn’t asked you out–”

Natalie raised a hand to stop me. “No.” She paused for effect, then her face softened and she smiled at her friends. “Thanks for defending me, you guys. I really appreciate it.” She turned her attention back to me. “You asked me out, but I’m the one who said yes. I wanted to go out with you. I liked you.” Emotion crept into her voice. “Our date was the best day of my life. Over the next few years, I thought about it a lot.” She swallowed. “I thought about you a lot.” She ducked her head and looked at me through lowered lashes. “I missed you.”

“Aww,” Monica and Brooke said together. Ashley, despite her previous tirade, even wore a big smile and leaned forward on the table.

“I missed you, too,” I said, squeezing Natalie’s hand.

“Nat calls you the one that got away,” Ashley said.

“Ash!” Natalie said, turning to her friend, eyes wide.

“Huh. That’s how I think of Natalie, too,” I said. “Thought, I guess, now.”

“Hey, uh…” Monica said, looking meaningfully at Brooke and Ashley. “Why don’t we go do some shopping and let these two star-crossed lovers talk?”

“Aw, I wanna see them kiss!” Ashley said, but then she grinned and got up. She gave Nat a big hug and whispered loud enough for me to hear, “He’s hot. Go for it!”

With the other three girls gone, it was just Natalie and me. She gave me a rueful smile. “Sorry, I guess that was a bit much to dump on you.”

“I’m here for you.” I still had my hand atop hers, so I gave her a reassuring squeeze.

She turned her palm over on the table and looked down at our joined hands meaningfully. “This is what caused me so much trouble.” Before I could speak, she put a finger on my lips. “Don’t say you’re sorry. I don’t want to hear that from you. It’s not your fault.” She squeezed my hand. “To my parents, this was the point of betrayal. I’d touched a boy. I’d sullied myself.”

“Uh, usually when people talk like that, they mean sex, not just… hand holding.”

“Yeah. Turns out my parents are pretty extreme in their views. No, scratch that. They look down on other extremists for not being extreme enough.”

“So… Los Angeles. For the past five years?”

“Four and a half. I moved back here about six months ago.”

“You’ve lived here for six months and I didn’t know? Man…” I shook my head.

“You look really good, Rob,” she said earnestly. “Like, really good. You’ve grown up.”

“So have you,” I said. “I mean, I always thought you were pretty. But now, it’s like an enhanced version of you.”

“Before we go any further,” Natalie said. “Before I get my hopes up… are you dating anyone? I don’t see a wedding ring.”

“No, I’m single.” She visibly relaxed at the words. “I had a girlfriend but we broke up about four months ago.”

She listened intently. “Makes sense. Look at you. Of course you’d have a girlfriend. You broke up four months ago? Well, I’m glad we didn’t run into each other back then. I don’t know if I could stand finding you after so long only for you to be taken.”

I let it all sink in. The timing was good, I had to admit. I was single and enough time had passed that I was over my ex. “What about you?” I asked, though the answer seemed obvious. “No boyfriend?”

“Never,” she said immediately. “I wasn’t allowed to, of course. And once I started doing what I wanted, I didn’t want any other guy. I only wanted you.”

“About that… what changed for you to go your own way? I mean, you would’ve turned eighteen, what… three years ago?”

She hunched forward. “Yeah, when I turned eighteen there really wasn’t anything I could do about it. I had to get a job and find a place and be able to make ends meet. None of which my parents wanted me to do. They said they’d give me as much money as I needed, but there were always so many strings attached. I didn’t want their money. So I had to figure it all out, behind their backs. That took time. I finally managed to move back here six months ago.”

“Yeah, you said that. Why here?”

“To look for you.” She looked at me shyly.

“What? Really? What if I’d moved away?” I asked. “In fact, I did move away. I went to school in Colorado for two years. Got my Associate’s degree.”

“I worried that might be the case,” she said, then tilted her head. “But… here you are.”

“I got a job here after graduating. Moved back in with my parents for a while before getting my own place. It worked out pretty well. Plus, I’m going for my Bachelor’s degree, and in-state tuition is a lot cheaper. I’m taking online classes.”

“Me, too. Anyway, I couldn’t find you,” she said. “I could barely find anyone I remembered from school, let alone anyone who knew you. I searched for you on the internet. I called a bunch of guys with your name, trying to find you.” She laughed softly. “It was mostly fine, but there were some weird conversations.”

“Yeah… that’s because Robert is my middle name. My first name is Marcus, but only my grandma calls me that.”

She made an exasperated sound. “Well that information would have been nice five years ago.”

“Heh. Five-years-ago me apologizes.”

She squeezed my hand. “Water under the bridge. Anyway, after I moved back, I met Ash and Monica and Brooke and became friends, so that’s been really nice.”

I felt bad about what she had told me. “I never thought about it before, but I guess I was practically impossible to find, huh? Any old classmates wouldn’t have helped much. I only keep in touch with a couple of ’em anyway, and those guys moved out of state, so your odds were definitely long.”

“I had to try. Once I was free to do what I wanted, what I wanted most was to find you.” She clutched tentatively at my arm and gave me a self-conscious smile.

“Wow, you were really smitten,” I said. “I’m not sure I can live up to this.”

She gave me a serious look. “I’d rather have a second chance, even if it doesn’t work. I’m not stupid. I know it’s been five years. We might be different people now.” She shook her head briskly, as if to brush aside everything she’d just said. “I thought about what I’d say, when I found you. Planned it all out. And all that went right out of my head as soon as I saw you.”

“Heh. My brain practically froze up.”

She gave me a quirky smile. “I thought so.” She sat back in her chair and looked at me, her expression one of… relief? Was I reading her right?

She turned serious. “That whole summer between grades, when we kept running into each other? I went out with my friends as much as my parents would let me, and it seemed like you were always wherever I went. You always looked happy to see me… you always wanted to talk to me. I had a crush on you from the very first time. And then you were so nice to me. You didn’t care that I was rich. I remember you wanted to know my favorite flower and then you drew me a picture of one when you couldn’t find the real thing. School started… we even had a class together despite you being a grade higher… and then you asked me to go to the dance with you.”

“Wait, you were rich?”

She studied me with an amused expression. “Right to the important stuff, huh? A second home in L.A.? That doesn’t mean anything to you?”

“I don’t think that really qualifies as making someone rich.”

“My parents own over a hundred homes. Their company rents out all the others, but the one in L.A. they kept furnished but empty so they could go there any time. That’s expensive all by itself.”

“Pfft. Like I could have known any of that.”

She laughed and leaned closer, but stopped herself short of hugging me.

I wanted to hold her close, but her body language was making me unsure of what would be okay. “So, your parents. Did they eventually come around?”

“Oh, no,” she stated firmly. “They never came around. As far as they’re concerned, I’m an outcast. A pariah.”

“Damn…” I said. “So a big falling out.”

She nodded emphatically. “It was awful. We fought, they tried to bribe me to stay, I refused, they called me nasty things, I told them to go to hell, they told me that’s where I was going–it was great, believe me–and then I left. I didn’t tell them where I moved to, but they tracked me down and sent a certified letter informing me that if I didn’t return home and apologize for my behavior and promise to obey them, they’d cut me off and remove me from their will.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t return home and apologize.”

“Hell no. I moved here instead. Without telling them.” She still held my hand, and with her other one she gripped my forearm tightly. “Though I’m sure they’ll eventually use their real estate contacts to track me down again.” She tossed her head to flick her hair out of her face. “Probably send me another ultimatum.”

“Did they actually remove you from their will?”

“I don’t know.” She was tense and gripping me hard.

“You’ve basically cut them out of your life. That’s pretty hardcore.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “But I just don’t care anymore.” She noticed how hard she was squeezing my arm and let go, leaving white marks on my skin. “I’m twenty-one and they can’t control me.” She rubbed at the mark on my arm. “I moved away, I have a job, I have my own place, and now I have a date.”

I gave her a look. “Do ya, now?”

She grinned. “Oh, I suppose nobody’s asked. Wanna go out with me?”

My stomach flipped. “Hell yes,” I said.

She gave me a beautiful smile. “This will be my first date ever. I’m excited!”

“Hey! What about our dance date?”

“That was high school. I mean a real date!”

I laughed. “I think you just insulted every high schooler in existence. Well, don’t let your expectations get out of control. Normal dates don’t typically blow your mind.”

She giggled. “Whatever we do, I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’m so glad I found you!”

“Technically Brooke found me,” I said jokingly.

She laughed. “She said to check out the hottie. She had no clue it was you. It’s not like I had a picture to show them.”

“I guess we’ll have to chalk that one up to amazing coincidences.”

Natalie looked up at me, her eyes intense. “I want to make up for lost time. All those dates, all that time we could have had… if only I had normal parents. I want to get to know you, for real this time. Not the way high school kids do.”

“Maybe things wouldn’t have worked out for us at that age,” I said. “I mean, we didn’t think of ourselves this way back then, but now I realize just how young–”

“Oh be quiet and kiss me,” she insisted, reaching for me.

I obliged, happily. Our lips met for the very first time. I’m pretty sure I heard someone cheer.

Afterward, she took a big, slow breath, then let it out luxuriously. “I’ve waited so long for that.”

I held her in my arms, basking in the moment. It didn’t feel real. The girl I’d been carrying a torch for, but never thought I’d see again, was in my arms and kissing me. I was half afraid I was about to wake up.

Then I happened to notice the time. “Oh sh–” I said, cutting myself off. “I have to get back to work!”

We exchanged phone numbers and I promised to call her when I got off. With that, I hurried back to my car and managed to make it back only a little late, but wearing a huge grin.

My co-worker noticed. “Man, where the hell did you go? Must’ve been some amazing food.”

 

Chapter 2: Our (Second) First Date

 

I called Natalie as promised, and we set up a date for that Friday. We would have liked it sooner, but we both had busy schedules we had to deal with.

Friday couldn’t get there fast enough. Following the directions she gave me, I drove to her place and picked her up. I barely paid any attention to the area, too focused on her to notice much else. She wore a white cable-knit sweater, blue jeans, white tennis shoes, and a big smile.

“So for your first real date,” I said as I drove through the city, “this is what you want? Dinner and a movie?”

“Yep.” She grinned. “Never done it. I need the baseline experience.”

“With what we’re doing, I’m sure there’ll be tons of people on dates around us. We’ll fit right in.”

“Perfect,” she said, smiling.

I parked and got out of the car. I came around to her side, and she climbed out, then blinked as she glanced up at me.

“How tall are you, anyway?” she asked. “I don’t remember there being this much of a height difference.”

“Six-three. You?”

“Five-six.”

I smiled. “Nice. May I take your arm?” I held mine out, elbow crooked, and she giggled and slipped her arm through mine. She blushed and gave me a big smile. I didn’t react, but inwardly I wondered about it. I mean, it wasn’t even holding hands. I had to reminded myself that if what she said was true, almost every single thing we did was a first for her.

We found ourselves back in the same mall, in the same food court. It was far more crowded on a Friday night, with lines at every restaurant. “Let’s do dinner after the movie,” I suggested after a quick glance around.

She agreed, and the movie wasn’t going to start for a while anyway, so we ambled slowly out of the food court and into the rest of the mall, where the crowds disappeared. Just a few people here and there.

“So no dates,” I said. “No double dates, no school dances, no nothing?”

“Nothing.”

“No secret hanging out at school? No illicit making out under the bleachers?”

She laughed. “Secret hanging out, yes, though no illicit making out.”

“Ever kissed a guy before me?”

“No.”

“A girl?”

She giggled. “No!”

I shrugged. “Hey, they say these things about all-girl schools…”

“Oh, there was some of that, but I wasn’t involved.”

“Whoa,” I started, but she interrupted.

“I’m not telling you any details.”

“Fine. Ever kissed anything at all?”

“A pillow. My own hand. Look, Rob, it’s not like I didn’t have thoughts and feelings, I just wasn’t allowed to act on them for fear of punishment. I learned the hard way to hide it. It took years for me to get up the courage to stand up for myself.”

“Fair enough. So, you look fantastic. Do you work out?”

“Yeah. It was something my parents actually allowed me to do, and I had a lot of anger and resentment that needed dealing with, though at the time I thought it was normal. No matter how hard I tried, it was never enough for them. Turns out, working my ass off in the gym helped a lot.” She gave me an obvious once-over. “You look good, too. What’s your story?”

“There’s a free gym at my job, so I’ve been making good use of it. Before that, I ran track in high school and somewhere along the line I decided I liked being in shape, so I kept it up after I graduated.”

She smiled. “I remember you wanted to go out for the track team. So you made it? Good for you!”

I shrugged. “I made the team and competed at track meets but I wasn’t quite good enough to get a scholarship anywhere. I kept barely missing out, so I drove trucks for a while. Ended up in computers.”

“Still. I would have liked to watch you. That would have been fun.”

By this time, we had wandered to the far end of the mall, so we turned around and started heading back.

“Back at your place,” I said, “which car was yours?”

“I don’t have a car. I take the bus.”

“How’d you get here from L.A.?”

“A Greyhound bus. Took forever.”

“What about all your stuff?”

“I didn’t have much. I brought one duffel bag, and the rest I had a friend ship to me. She went to the girls’ school, too. She was a lot like me… I lived with her for a while before I moved back here.”

I glanced at her, trying to gauge her mood. My next question was the sort that could go wrong. “How are you doing financially? Do you need any help?”

She stiffened slightly, but quickly relaxed. “No. I mean, yeah, I guess I could, but no, I don’t want help. I need to do this on my own. To prove that I can. I’m getting there, it’s just… with first and last month’s rent due when I signed my lease, that ate up a bunch of my money. I also had to buy a few basic pieces of furniture, like a bed, a couch, a table…”

“Wow, you really did show up with nothing. At least in my case, my parents gave my some furniture, but I still had to buy a bunch of stuff I hadn’t even realized I would need or want. They tried to tell me, but I think I didn’t listen very well.”

She nodded. “Yeah I’m still doing that. My first night, I had nothing to sleep on, so I dumped out the clothes I brought and slept on them on the floor. That sucked. The next morning, I realized I didn’t have a shower curtain, so I took a shower anyway and got the bathroom all wet.”

This, of course, made me think of her naked in the shower. Ah, young male brains. I shrugged it off and laughed. “I let my dirty dishes pile up until I was eating cereal out of a skillet.”

“Oh man,” she said, laughing with me. “I can picture you doing that.”

We made our way back to the theater. The movie was set to start soon, so we went inside and found our seats. It was a new blockbuster movie on a Friday night, so the theater was already pretty full and filling up fast.

“So anyway, I’m fine,” she said. “I might not be able to afford a car for a while. But it’s okay, I bought a bus pass and I don’t live too far away. I’m still in the part where I’m just enjoying being independent. I mean, I live on my own, in a place I found and paid for by myself. That’s pretty cool. Hopefully by the time I really want a car, I’ll be able to afford one.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling. Your world opens up, nobody’s telling you what to do… it’s great. Kinda overwhelming at first, but still great.”

She traced lines up and down the back of my fingers as I spoke, which was a little distracting. “It was scary,” she said, “doing some of those things for the first time. For my apartment, I met the landlady and she interviewed me. She’s this nice little old lady. Just simple questions, really, but I was sooo nervous.”

We chatted about that sort of thing for a while, then I went back to an earlier thread. “So you didn’t rebel? That kind of parental pressure, most kids would burst. Squeeze too hard and you shouldn’t be surprised when something pops.”

She made a face. “Gross. I did rebel a little, but I was afraid of my parents, so only in small ways they couldn’t find out about.”

“Like what?”

“When they weren’t around I’d listen to music they wouldn’t have approved of. I’d watch TV shows and movies they wouldn’t have approved of. But practically everything was blocked, so it’s not like there was a lot to choose from. Nothing R-rated, or even PG-13.”

“That’s it?” I turned to her and gave her an incredulous look, then immediately tried to wipe it off my face. “I mean, everyone deals with different things…”

“You believe me now?” she asked, face totally serious. “When I said they were restrictive?”

“You really were sheltered. Sh-shoot, Natalie. I don’t know what to say.”

“Start with whatever you were about to say,” she said, raising one eyebrow at me. “Don’t coddle me. They did that. I don’t want anyone else to. Don’t censor yourself around me. I’m not a baby. I want to experience the world.”

“Fair enough,” I said.

The movie started, so we shut up and enjoyed it. She was kinda stiff when it came to physical contact around other people, so I settled for holding her hand.

The movie was good and we had fun. By the time it was over, we were hungry, so we wandered back to the food court, which was much less crowded.

“So where do you work?” I asked conversationally.

She pointed.

I stared. “You work here?” And then memory returned to me of the clothing she had been wearing the other day, which I had noticed and then completely ignored. “Oh… right. The clothes.”

“I was on lunch when you came in,” she said, somewhat amused. “At least you noticed the uniform.”

“I did, but I was totally preoccupied by some pretty face.”

She rolled her eyes.

I grinned. “Do you want to eat at your restaurant, or would you prefer somewhere else?”

She glanced around. “I’ve eaten there a lot lately, if you can imagine, so I would honestly prefer somewhere else.” She hesitated, then went on. “Also, I don’t want them to see me. I don’t need a friendly chat from my boss about showing company loyalty by eating our own food.” She made a face. “He does that.”

I ordered for both of us while she loitered away from her restaurant. We ate on the far side of the food court, and then we headed out to my car, where we talked late into the night. Eventually, I checked the time and let out an exaggerated sigh. “Well, as wonderful as this has been, I have work in the morning.”

“Yeah, me too,” she said, her voice quiet and content. “This has been a really great evening. Tell your friend thanks for me. If he hadn’t suggested you try the food court, this wouldn’t have happened.”

I drove her home, and now that I was actually paying attention, I saw that she was right about it being near the mall. It was in an okay part of town, in a two floor eight-plex. She lived on the top floor at the far left end. She said I could just park in her reserved parking spot until she bought a car. I wondered if she would invite me up.

“You can walk me to my door, but I’m going inside alone,” she said. “Just so we’re clear… I can’t rush things. This was a big, wonderful step for me. Let’s take it easy and slow, okay?”

“Whatever you say.” My silent question answered, I got out and walked with her up the steps to her front door. She retrieved her keys and turned to the lock, then paused and looked at me.

“Rob, I had a wonderful time. I’m really happy. I’m also totally new at… all of this. I don’t even know how to say good night to you right now.” She looked at me uncertainly.

“How about a hug and just a teensy little bit of a kiss?”

“That works,” she said, smiling. She went up on her toes and we shared a small kiss, then she settled into my arms. She rested her cheek against my chest. “Call me tomorrow, after work, okay?”

“Absolutely,” I replied, and we parted.

She opened her door and stepped inside, then turned back to me. “G’night,” she said, and she blew me a kiss as she closed the door.

 

Chapter 3: The Next Day, the Next Date

 

The next day, I called her after work and we talked until her phone’s battery died, but before that happened, we made plans to get together on the following Friday again. I would’ve been fine just hanging out at her place, or at my place, but she said she wasn’t ready for that yet, so I waited impatiently for another Friday to arrive.

Work went very well, and I did my best to keep my mind on topic, but the wonderful fact that after five years, Natalie was back in my life, combined with the fact that she felt the same way about it, kept me smiling. We’d only had the one simple date thus far, so I couldn’t really consider us a couple yet, but I was sure looking forward to seeing how things were going to develop.

At last, Friday evening came around and I picked her up at her place. She wore capris and sensible sneakers, and a loose blouse buttoned all the way up, with a flower pin at the base of her throat. She carried a cardigan draped over her arm. I studied the flower pin for a moment. “Periwinkle?”

She beamed at me. “You remembered!”

“How could I forget? It was my first attempt to find a flower for a girl. Which I failed at.”

Her smiled turned wistful. “I didn’t think so.”

We got into the car and buckled up. “You’ll find that a lot of dating involves food,” I jokingly told her as we got going. I assumed she knew all this, but I was having a good time. “So we’re going to walk along the riverside and then have dinner at a nice restaurant there. One that overlooks the river. Plenty of time to talk and enjoy being together. I figured we should maybe ease you into things, right?”

She settled herself in the seat and adjusted the position of the seatbelt. “Perfect. It’s all new and exciting to me. I’m just glad we get to spend time together.”

“You know,” I replied with complete sincerity, “so am I.”

We found a place to park near the restaurant I had picked out. It was a nice, sunny day, though with October almost upon us, it was just barely warm enough to not need jackets. We headed for the riverwalk and I steered us away from the restaurant. We had plenty of time before our reservation, so a nice, long stroll was in order.

“Ever been here before?” I asked her as we got going.

“Yeah, though not since I was young, and not like this,” she said. She smiled up at me and held out her hand, which I took in mine, glad that my palm wasn’t all sweaty. Her smile broadened until her face was jubilant.

I didn’t say anything, but I gave her hand a little squeeze.

She took a deep breath and let out a contented sigh. Her gaze wandered all over the place, taking in all the sights, but kept returning to me. I noticed and gave her my best smile.

We walked and talked and enjoyed the evening, meandering through an adjoining public garden with well-manicured bushes and topiaries, and there were even still a lot of flowers. It may have technically been fall, but the plants and trees hadn’t noticed yet.

Eventually, after a discreet glance at the time, I gently turned us around and we started heading back. The sun was setting and the sky had darkened considerably, and the riverside came alive. Fancy lamps on tall posts lit the walk, and strings of lights decorated most of the bushes and trees in subtle shades of blue and white. A boat floated serenely down the river, lit in red and blue, with people drinking and talking and enjoying themselves.

Natalie leaned into my shoulder as we paused to watch the boat. “This is so romantic,” she sighed. I let go of her hand and put my arm around her, pulling her in close. Her arm slipped around me, and we stood, side by side, holding one another and enjoying the night.

“Time for dinner,” I said gently, getting us back into motion. Keeping our arms around each other was a little awkward, so we let go and held hands again instead. I steered us to the restaurant and gave the hostess my name. We waited for a couple minutes, then we were led to our table on a screened-in balcony right next to the railing, offering a fantastic view of the river and the night sky.

We talked as we perused the menu. Nat told me about what she did after she graduated. “There are all-girl colleges, too, if you didn’t know that. My parents wanted me to go to one in the L.A. area but I refused. They didn’t want me going to a regular college, because they assumed I’d, like, immediately get pregnant or something.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head in annoyance.

The waitress arrived to take our order. “Anyway,” Nat said when we were alone again, “we settled on online classes from a normal university. That kept me off campus and away from you evil boys. But you can’t take everything online. So I started with generals. I’m heading toward a degree in general studies, though it’ll still be a couple years because I can only afford to take one or two classes a semester.”

“What are you gonna major in?”

She looked a little lost. “I have no idea. I don’t think I was very well prepared for life after school, not with the stupid one I went to. I really think they just expected all of us to find a rich man to attach ourselves to.”

“Well, you’re certainly pretty enough for that, if you need a fallback plan.”

She gave me a look. “Dork.”

Our meals arrived, interrupting the conversation. We ate our food, which was delicious, and talked of more mundane things, and then dinner was done and we just sat at the table, side by side now, holding hands and watching the riverwalk below us. She leaned in and rested her head on my shoulder, and we stayed like that for a good long while.

“Ready to go?” I eventually asked, and she nodded. I paid and we left. We stood for a while at the very edge of the river, the sky now completely dark and full of stars, delicious smells wafting on the breeze, and then we left and headed for my car.

As we settled in, I asked her, “Do you want me to take you back to your place, or–” I cut off as she tapped me on the shoulder. I turned to look, and her face was right there. She moved forward a little more, and I got the cue. I leaned in and we kissed, our lips meeting hungrily. Hers were soft and supple, and my body responded instantly to the experience. Her smell, her closeness, the very feel of her, rushed through me like fire. The kiss lingered, neither of us eager to break it off, but eventually we did and she sat back down.

“Thank you for a wonderful time,” she said. “I loved tonight.” She settled back into the seat, a contented smile on her face.

We were silent while I drove us out of the parking lot and onto the streets. The area around the riverwalk was lively, but within a couple blocks, traffic thinned out until there were only a couple other cars near us. The radio wasn’t on, so it was quiet.

“Rob?” Natalie asked.

“Hm?”

“What do you think about sex?”

Well that came outta nowhere, I thought. “Uh…” I said intelligently.

She giggled. “Caught you off-guard, huh?”

“No, beautiful women constantly ask me about sex. It’s tiring, to be honest. Why can’t they ask me about sports or computers or something?”

She poked my shoulder. “Dork.”

I stuck my tongue out at her. “So rude.”

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I’ve been working up the bravery to ask that question for, like, half the night.”

“Okay,” I said. “What do I think about sex? In what context?”

“When should a couple start having it?”

“In the car on the way home after dinner.”

She laughed out loud. “Oh my god, I can’t believe you said that.”

“Yeah, it’s gonna be tough to pull off. Modern cars don’t have bench seats, and this steering wheel only tilts up so far. But you’re petite, so I think if you just squeeze in here real tight–”

She punched me in the arm, laughing even harder. “Stop. Talking. You. Dork!”

“Ohhh,” I said as if I’d suddenly had an epiphany. “You want me to be serious!”

“If you think you’re capable, funny guy.”

“Well, I think a couple should start having sex whenever they want to. But it has to be both people wanting it, not just one. Can’t be forcing someone into something they don’t want to do, or aren’t comfortable with.”

“What if one of the people has serious hang-ups about sex?”

“Dump her. Immediately. If she doesn’t put out by the third da–”

“Rob!”

I glanced at her. It was dark, but there were enough lights outside the car for me to see I’d gone too far. “Sorry, Nat. I’ll stop.”

“I don’t want you to stop, I want you to be serious. What if one of the people has serious hang-ups about sex?”

I thought for a moment before speaking. “Then the couple needs to work on their communication skills so that they can handle talking about it. And, say, if one of the people in this twosome has been a bit of an ass over the last few minutes, he apologizes and promises to take this seriously from now on.”

“Thank you.” She took a deep breath. “Even talking about it is gonna be hard. I can tell based on how I’m feeling just thinking about talking about it.”

We were stopped at a red light, so I was able to turn to her. I found her hand and clasped it. “I’m impressed you brought this up. I mean, this is only our second date. What’s on your mind, Nat?”

It was too dark to tell if she blushed, but she turned away, breaking eye contact. “It’s just that I know I have these things inside my head and I know it’s going to take time to work through them. I have a definite fear of intimacy. I had to convince myself that holding your hand and kissing you was okay, and even now there’s a battle in my mind between it being okay and me being a slut for doing it. Also, the light’s been green for a while.”

“Whoops,” I said, returning my attention to driving. “Good thing no one’s behind us. Anyway, kissing and holding hands does not make you a slut.”

“Intellectually, I agree. It’s all this other crap buried deep… that’s the problem. I’m half freaked out over just kissing and holding hands. I mean, can you get more mild than that? The other, bigger stuff… I can barely even make my mind go there.”

I thought about what she said, trying to figure out how to help. “Have you ever seen porn?” As soon as I said it I regretted it, but she didn’t even pause before answering.

“Yeah, once. One of the girls at school had some on her phone. Everyone was crowding close to look.”

“What was it?”

“A man and a woman having sex.”

“Right. I guess I should have been more specific. And?”

“I only watched for a few seconds. It made my physically ill. I took that as confirmation that my parents and religious leaders were right. Sex is dirty and a sin.”

“It sounds like there’s a ‘but’ coming up.”

She nodded. “But… eventually I started questioning that. I know now that my reaction was totally over the top. Shows you how effective that indoctrination is, huh? Anyway, one of the other girls asked a question in class, once, that really stuck in my mind.”

“What’d she ask?”

“This was in a biology class, in an all-girl religious school, so you can imagine how the teacher tiptoed around the very edges of human sexuality. This girl raised her hand and asked why God would make it a sin to have sex, when sex was the only natural way to have children.”

“That’s a very sensible question. So I assume she got in trouble for it.”

Natalie gave a sad laugh. “Yeah. The teacher didn’t even bother trying to answer it. Just straight to the principal’s office. We didn’t see her for a week.”

“But it stuck in your mind, you said?”

“I thought about it a lot. When she came back, I talked to her. She was a lot like me. We ended up becoming friends. My only friend there. She’s who I stayed with after I moved out.”

“The one who shipped your stuff?”

“Yeah. She and I talked about it. Privately, of course. It just made so much sense. What kind of God would say, “Here’s how you have children. I command you to do so. Also, it’s a sin. Even in marriage, it’s still dirty.” She made a frustrated sound. “I mean, it’s just illogical.”

“I’m gonna go ahead and guess that this started you down a road that led you away from your religion.”

“Remember those secret under-the-bleachers hangout sessions? This is the kind of stuff we talked about. Turned out there were a bunch of girls there who weren’t so enamored with the teachings. It’s a hard sell in the twenty-first century to tell a bunch of teenage girls their purpose in life is to be subservient to their man.”

“I’ll bet. I’m lucky that my parents were always lackadaisical about their religion.” I stopped myself, then tried again. “Wait, that makes them sound bad. What I mean is, they were never strong believers. They took me to church when I was little, but I think it was mostly because that’s what my grandparents wanted. By the time I was, I dunno, nine or ten, they had stopped completely and we never really talked much about it until I was old enough to just straight up ask them.”

She let out a long, slow sigh. “How would that be,” she said softly.

I pulled in to her apartment building and brought the car to a halt in her parking space. “We’re here,” I said unnecessarily.

“Thanks for getting serious,” she said. “I appreciated our talk. Let’s continue this conversation next time.”

“On our next date?”

“Of course,” she replied immediately. “When?”

“Well…” I wasn’t sure how to bring this up, considering what it entailed, but now seemed as good a time as any. “Something’s come up at work.”

“Okay. What?”

“I was chosen to be on the team that will prep all our sites for a new system we’re rolling out.”

“Well, that sounds good. What will you be doing?”

“My team will go to our other sites in some other states and set up the new systems. Three separate trips. We’ll also be training their people to use it at the same time. It’s a new position for me.”

“New position? A raise?”

“Yep.”

“Wow!” she gushed. “That’s fantastic! I’m so happy for you!”

“Yeah, it kinda came out of nowhere. I’m excited about it. I applied on the advice of my manager, but I didn’t think I’d actually get it. More money is always nice, and it means the higher ups at least know my name and that I’m good at this stuff. But…”

“But what?”

“Well, I’m going to be gone all week in Seattle. Monday morning to Friday sometime. I don’t remember exactly when we fly back.”

“Damn,” she said, an exaggerated disappointment in her tone. “That’s cool though. Exciting for you, boring for me. A whole week?”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I said, trying to soothe her. “We can talk on the phone, or we can text or whatever–”

“No, no, silly,” she laughed. “I’m just messing with you. I’ll be fine. I need to hang out with the girls anyway. They’ll be dying to grill me about you.”

I had things to do to get ready for the trip, so we didn’t get together on Saturday or Sunday, but we did talk on the phone. Sunday night, she wished me luck and went over her schedule for the week so I would know when I could call her. The next morning, I drove to the airport, met up with my co-workers, and off we went.

 

Chapter 4: Gently Moving Away From Naivety

 

The week was long and there was too much work for us to do. I felt like we needed at least a couple more people to get it all done, which meant we were staying late every night. I called Natalie from my hotel room and we talked. She was understanding about the hours, fortunately, and talking to her definitely helped get me through the days, but I found myself missing her presence. We had just started dating, so I really wanted to be around her, physically. I even admitted it on Thursday when we talked.

“Me too,” she said after a pause. “I was just going to tough it out, but hearing you say it… I miss you, too. Can we get together tomorrow after you fly back?”

“I don’t know… I should be back around one, but then I need to go in to the office. I don’t know how long that will take.”

“It can’t take all night, right?”

I wanted to see her, that was for sure. “I hope not. I’ll call you when I’m done, okay?”

The next day, the flight was delayed, so after flying back and going to the office and dealing with all the stuff that was left over, we finally finished around six. I called Natalie as I was getting in my car in the parking lot.

“You’re back?” she asked quickly. “Have you eaten?”

“Yeah, I’m back, and no, I haven’t had dinner.”

“Can you stop by the food court and pick me up? I’ll get us dinner. And then… then we can go eat it at your place? And after, we can just hang out? I… I really want to see you.”

“You’d be okay with that?” I asked, meaning being at my place, just the two of us. She knew what I meant.

“Y…yeah,” she said. The pause was noticeable.

“Did you have to psych yourself up to say that?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said, laughing self-consciously. “It’s okay. I’ll be fine. What kinda food do you want?”

“I’m tired,” I admitted. “I don’t really care. Surprise me.”

“Oh-kay,” she said, uncertainty thick in her voice. “If you’re sure…”

I drove from my job to the food court and found Natalie waiting for me. She was standing on the curb, wearing a light jacket. She waved as soon as she saw me, then hopped right in, carefully situating the bags of take-out food between her feet on the floor of the car, and after a quick kiss that turned into a long kiss, we were off. Soon enough, we made it to my place and I parked. She carried the food and I lugged my stuff inside. I left the suitcase on the bedroom floor and then went back out into the front room, where Natalie was standing uncertainly next to my dining table, holding her jacket.

“First time in a guy’s place?” I asked gently.

“Yeah…” she said, looking around.

“Well, make yourself at home. Bathroom’s down the hall on the left. My bedroom is the door opposite that. And that’s it. It’s just a one-bedroom place.”

She gave it an appraising look. “It’s nice… you have better carpet and newer appliances in your kitchen. Nicer area of town, too.”

“Let’s eat,” I said. “All I’ve had since breakfast was some peanuts on the plane and an energy bar in the office. I’m famished.”

She set out the food on the table while I got dishes and silverware, then we sat down and dug in. The food was from where she worked, which I hadn’t had yet. It was good and definitely hit the spot. After we were done, I cleared the table and she put the leftovers in my fridge, though I noticed she took a moment to examine what I had in there. I didn’t mind, though; I assumed she was just curious about me. I figured I’d do the same thing in her shoes.

I moved to the couch and flopped down. She came over to join me, so I moved my legs to make room. She seemed unsure of what to do, which didn’t surprise me. She looked at me, and her expression definitely seemed to say, “So what now?”

“Wanna watch TV or something?” I asked.

“Nah,” she said. “Let’s talk. Tell me about your trip.”

I explained what my team and I had done, and she asked some questions and listened politely to the answers. “Back home today,” I said, “in the office, my new boss wanted feedback on how we can improve the process. She wants the next trip to go smoother. Can’t disagree, there.”

“How’d that go?”

“Talked her ear off. Hope she doesn’t think I’m a suck-up.”

Natalie looked around. “Mind if I explore your apartment?”

“Uh, sure. Not much to explore, but go for it. I don’t have anything embarrassing or incriminating to worry about.”

She laughed and got up. I settled back onto the couch, pulling my legs up and leaning into the cushions while I watched her contentedly. She checked out my bookshelf, then wandered down the hall. “Big bedroom,” she called out. I was starting to doze, so I didn’t bother replying.

She made her way back out and ventured into my small kitchen. She started looking through the cupboards and drawers, just idly taking a look. Then, “Oh, ho, ho. What’s this? Nothing incriminating or embarrassing, Rob?”

I perked up from my dozing. “Huh?”

“A calendar of scantily clad girls? Tsk, tsk, tsk. How naughty.”

“Oh man. I forgot about that. It was a joke raffle at work.”

She placed the calendar on the counter and opened it. “Wow, very scantily clad.”

“What are you doing?” I asked her.

“Taking a look.” She leaned forward on one elbow and started examining the pictures.

“Like I said, I didn’t buy that. I won it in a raffle.”

She looked at me and shrugged. “I don’t mind.” She examined the first picture. “Ms. January, whatever happened to your shorts?” After a while, she flipped to the next month. “Oh, Ms. February, you really should wear more clothes. Aren’t you cold?”

I just stared for a bit, then shrugged and settled back into the couch. “Well, knock yourself out.” It’s not the reaction I would have expected from someone as sheltered as her. Maybe she was just trying not to react. Nothing to do except wait and see.

She was sure taking her time. Either she was boiling inside and was trying to settle down, or she really was just looking at the pictures.

“Ms. April, you naughty girl, whose hand was on your ass while you were tanning?”

I chuckled. Now that she brought it up, I did remember that picture.

“Ms. June isn’t wearing any panties at all,” Natalie commented. “Though she’s got a handkerchief covering herself. Barely. Doesn’t seem very practical.”

“I don’t think practicality is the point. You gonna look at the whole thing?”

“Maybe.” She was silent for a while, then asked suddenly, “Which one’s your favorite?”

“Uh… that sounds like the sort of question a guy shouldn’t answer.”

“C’mon. It’s alright. I’m not mad. I’m honestly not surprised to find porn in a guy’s apartment.”

“That’s not porn,” I commented, then thought better of it and plowed on before she could respond. “I don’t have a favorite. I think I looked through that calendar back when I won it, then I forgot about it.”

She turned to the next month. “Wow, this one isn’t wearing a top. She just has her arm covering herself. Do they get naked in here?”

“I don’t think so.”

She flipped through the rest of the calendar. “Yeah, they don’t. Close, though. Some seriously tiny underwear going on here. Which one do you like best?”

“Again, I don’t think that’s a safe question to answer.”

She laughed. “Sorry, I’ll stop.”

“You’ll note I stuck it in a drawer rather than hang it up.”

“You should hang it up. You don’t have a single sexy poster or anything. Isn’t there some bachelor rule you’re violating?” She stood up straight and started looking around. “In fact, you have hardly anything on your walls. And look what I found! A lonely nail in the wall with nothing on it. What’s that, Mr. Nail? You’re bored? How would you like some sexy mostly-nude women hanging on you? You would?! Perfect!”

I sat up and watched her place the calendar on an otherwise empty wall. I noticed she had even put it on the correct month. I got up and went over to join her. “Well, now I have a calendar, apparently.”

She nodded, then grabbed a pen from the counter. “I remember you’re a year older than me, but when’s your birthday?”

“Not that I need my own birthday on my calendar, but sure.” I told her when it was, and she flipped to the correct month and wrote it in. Then she flipped to another month and wrote in her birthday, even though it had already passed. She paused to look at the picture. It showed a mostly naked women from over the shoulder looking down her body between her breasts. She was wearing a small neon green bikini, though the strings were undone and barely hanging on.

“Look at that,” she said. “She’s got, like, six earrings.”

My eyes found the woman’s ear, which I admit I hadn’t noticed before, what with all the boob and ass flesh visible. Sure enough, she did have a lot of earrings in her left ear. The right ear wasn’t visible.

“What do you think about that?” Natalie asked me as she turned the calendar back to the current month.

“Earrings? Piercings are kinda hot, if you ask me.”

“Mm,” Natalie said in reply. “Wanna watch TV?”

We returned to the couch and I grabbed the remote. I turned on the TV, then handed the remote to Natalie. “Pick whatever you want,” I said as I got situated. I assumed she wouldn’t be comfortable cuddling up to me on the couch, and I was right. She settled herself at the opposite end, pulling her legs up underneath her.

“I don’t have a TV. At least, not yet.” She looked at me but I stayed mum. “Wow, look at all these choices,” she commented as she navigated around the TV’s interface. “And nothing’s blocked.”

“Nope. Watch whatever you want.”

She got quiet as she looked through the available movies and TV shows. I had several streaming services, so there were an overwhelming amount of choices. I was dozing again when I heard her give a small gasp.

“Huh?” I asked, eyes still closed.

“This movie,” she said. “I’ve heard lots of good things about it. But I’ve never seen it.”

“So watch it.”

“That’s okay? I mean… it’s rated R.”

I popped one eye open to look at her. “Seriously. You’re twenty-one. Watch whatever you want.”

She had a flushed look on her face as she hit the button to start the movie. She was fighting a grin. I glanced at the screen as the content warning flashed. “It’s just language. This is a good movie, by the way. We can watch allll the R-rated movies you want. We can totally corrupt you and have fun doing it.” She glanced at me, her expression briefly slipping.

I watched her face for a while as she settled in to watch her first R-rated movie. At age twenty-one. I refrained from any commentary about that fact, and allowed myself to just enjoy watching her face and expressions until I drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up, the apartment was dark, and quiet. I stretched and immediately realized a blanket had been placed on me. I stuck my leg out and kicked Natalie right in the butt. Fortunately, she barely stirred. She was asleep on the other end of the couch, curled up under another blanket. I could hear her soft breathing. I wondered what time it was, while also smiling to myself in appreciation of her thoughtfulness.

I carefully got up, doing my best not to disturb her, and headed for the bathroom. While in there, I glanced at my phone and saw that it was after four in the morning. I didn’t remember a thing about the movie she had started, so I must have fallen asleep pretty fast.

Then a jolt of guilt shot through me: Natalie didn’t have a car. I was her ride. With me asleep on the couch, she had no way home; at least, no easy way. It was too late for the bus. She could have called a ride service or a taxi, but she didn’t know the area, and probably didn’t know my address. She also didn’t wake me, so I reasoned she probably wasn’t mad at me, because if she had woken me up and asked me to take her home, I absolutely would have.

I went into the kitchen to get a drink. I must have disturbed her, because she said, “Hey.”

“Hey,” I replied. “It’s okay. Go back to sleep. I’ll move to my bed.”

She didn’t respond, but I heard her shifting around. It was chilly, so I went over and grabbed the blanket she had put over me and draped it over her. Then I went to my own bed, stripped nude since that’s how I normally sleep, thought better of it and put my underwear back on, then thought this is my apartment, damn it, and stripped nude again, then finally climbed in, got comfortable, and quickly fell back asleep.

The next thing I knew, I felt someone sit on my bed. I cracked my eyes open and took a look. Not that I was expecting someone else, but to see that it was Natalie brought a smile to my lips. I had no idea what time it was, but it was light.

“Hey sleepyhead,” she said. She reached out and rubbed my shoulder, then seemed to notice that I wasn’t wearing a shirt. She froze, just for a split second, but I noticed. “I saw eggs and bacon in your fridge. Want me to cook us some breakfast?”

“Sure,” I managed, still groggy, but suddenly very aware of my morning wood. My blanket was thick, so she had no idea, but there it was, doing its thing.

She bounced on the bed and then stood up. “I’ll get started. You go ahead and take your time getting up. I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”

She left and I heard her working in the kitchen, searching through my cabinets and drawers. I got up, and checked the time while stretching. Just after eight. Considering how early I’d fallen asleep, I got in a lot of hours. I guess I needed it after a hard week and subsequent jet lag. My morning wood subsided and I got dressed, then hit the bathroom to take care of the usual stuff. While in there, I noticed a second toothbrush resting on the side of the sink.

I headed out to the kitchen and the wonderful smell of bacon cooking.

“Is this the skillet you ate cereal out of?” she asked over her shoulder.

“Yeah, heh. You remember that.”

She laughed. “How do you want your eggs?”

“Uh… fried, yolk slightly hard,” I said, then, “That is, if you can. I realize I don’t know a thing about your cooking skills.”

She laughed again. “I’m no chef, but I can do eggs and bacon. Over medium it is. Oh, I found a couple spare toothbrushes under your bathroom sink, still in their packages. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about those. That’s fine.” While she finished up at the stove, I got a mug and poured coffee, then had a sudden realization as I stared at my coffeemaker. “Did I leave this on the whole time, or did you do this?”

“I figured it out.”

“Wait. You drink coffee? I’m honestly surprised.”

“I don’t, actually. Pour me some, will you? I want to try it.”

I grabbed a second mug and filled it. If this was her first time, I assumed she wasn’t going to like it. I set both mugs on the table. “I have cream and sugar. Any clue what you’ll want?”

“Nope. How do you take yours?”

“Depends on the day. Sometimes black. Sometimes I like cream and sugar.”

“Hmm. I’ll have it however you have yours, then.” She brought two plates to the table, with nicely cooked strips of bacon on each. My plate had two over medium eggs, and her eggs were scrambled. Set also set the salt and pepper shakers on the table, and finally the forks.

“Looks great,” I said enthusiastically. We dug in.

After a while, she tried to take a sip of her coffee, but pulled back. “Too hot. How long do you have to wait?”

“A few minutes at least. Depends how you want it.”

She wrapped her hands around the hot mug. “Ahh,” she sighed. “That feels good.” She looked at my shyly. “I can’t believe I slept over at your place.”

I snorted. “It’s not like we did anything. I think I fell asleep as soon as you started the movie. How was it, by the way?”

Her eyes went wide. “Sooo good! I cried when that one guy died. I reached out to you, but you were, like, out. I thought you were watching it with me.”

“Heh. Nope. I don’t remember a thing. Thanks for putting that blanket on me.”

“I had to search around a bit, but you’re pretty organized. Fortunately, you had two. I don’t think we could have shared.”

“Not on opposite sides of the couch, no.”

She blushed a bit. “I thought about waking you up to take me home. I told myself, “No, you cannot sleep here,” but then I thought, why can’t I? You’re my boyfriend. It’s fine.”

I smiled. “Aw, I’m your boyfriend? I like the sound of that.”

She grinned, but then her eyes narrowed. “Well, only if I’m your girlfriend. That’s the deal.”

I raised my mug in a salute. “Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I have a boyfriend,” she said to herself. She looked at me. “I have a boyfriend! This is awesome!” She took a sip of her coffee and made a face. “Ugh, how do people drink this?”

 

Chapter 5: Rated-R for Rob

 

I had a week of normal work again, followed by the second business trip, this time to Los Angeles.

“L.A. huh,” Natalie said unenthusiastically. “Hope you don’t run into my parents.”

Before the trip, she and I didn’t manage to get in a real date, but we hung out at my place three times, where we had dinner and watched movies. Rated-R movies, a fact which definitely still delighted Natalie. I let her choose, since I’d seen plenty, having watched anything I wanted for many years, and she’d seen exactly none prior to meeting me. I found I took a strange delight in being part of her “corruption” as I jokingly thought of it. R-rated movies, holding hands, kissing, sleeping at my place (even if absolutely nothing happened), drinking coffee? How truly naughty of her!

She picked a movie with lots of swearing and violence. She didn’t seem to mind the language, but the violence was definitely more than she had expected. Next, we tried a famous horror movie, which I think was her favorite. Not much swearing, not much violence since it wasn’t a slasher, and there were even a couple quick shots of some of the actress’s bare boobs. Natalie glanced at me when that happened, and I just gave a small shrug. The third movie was definitely more risqué, but I didn’t say anything. There was a fair amount of nudity in it, mostly bare breasts, but a couple quick shots of bush (this being an 80’s flick). Her face was flushed, though I’m not sure she was aware of it, and I chose not to say anything. I was fine to just let it happen, without commentary. Anything I said might trigger her hang-ups.

That movie ended late. Natalie yawned and stretched and said, “Would it be okay if I just slept here again?”

“Sure,” I said. “You can have my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet of you!” She got up and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. After a few minutes, she came back out, bent down, and gave me a minty-fresh kiss. “That movie was… hot,” she said in a low voice.

“Yeah.” I took her hand and gently pulled her toward me. She obliged, and we kissed again, this time deeper and longer, our lips exploring one another. I reached down and gripped her upper thigh, pulling her onto the couch with me. She obliged, and we lay face to face, me on my left side, her on her right side, our mouths locked together in a kiss that was growing ever more passionate.

“Oh,” she said, though it came out like a little, tiny sigh. I wrapped my arm around her back and she gripped my upper arm in her hand. I pulled her close, pressing our chests together. I could feel her breasts, through her bra, pressing up against me, which further excited me. She was breathing harder, and when I pulled my mouth away to reposition, she followed me with hers, eager for more kissing.

The next thing I knew, my tongue was touching her lips. She shivered and inhaled sharply, then responded with her own tongue, and then we were French kissing. I was completely hard by this point, though I was trapped in my jeans. Our crotches weren’t pressed together, so there was no way she could feel my hard-on, but then she did something I wouldn’t have expected. She reached around and grabbed my leg just under my ass. She pulled herself to me, and then she was pressing up against my hard cock, though I don’t know if she realized it.

I sure did, though, and tried my best not to thrust against her. I didn’t want to scare her away, but I definitely wanted this to continue. Then she thrust up against me while giving me a fierce, passionate kiss. Finally, she broke away. “Wow,” she panted, then, “Damn,” and she was evidently done. She relaxed and leaned back, resting her head on my arm. “We should stop.”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, willing my body to calm down and relax. “If you want to.”

She looked at me, her hair disheveled. “I don’t want to.”

I went straight in for another round of kissing, but she put her finger on my lips. “Hold on there, cowboy. I don’t want to stop, but I’m scared to go on. Let me take this at my pace, okay?”

I nodded. “Right, your pace.”

She disentangled herself from me and slid off the couch so she could kneel on the floor. She straightened her hair. “Now I get it. The feelings are just so strong. No wonder it’s so easy to slip up.”

I chuckled. “Yep. That’s some self-control you’ve got there.”

She pressed her lips into a line. “I’d say inhibitions, not self-control.” She stood up and self-consciously smoothed her clothes. “I’m going to… uh… go to sleep. You need anything in there before I do?”

I got ready for bed, then brought a pillow out and grabbed a blanket. I gave her a quick kiss and settled myself on the couch while she went back to my bedroom. I was too worked up to sleep, so I turned on the TV and watched something until I eventually drifted off.

In the morning, I woke up yawning and stretching, then suddenly remembered that Natalie had slept over again. The apartment was silent, so it sounded like she was still in bed. I needed to pee, so I went down the hall to the bathroom, but before I went in, I peeked into my bedroom. She was asleep under the covers, one thin arm stretched out over her head, one leg sticking out up to the knee. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful, that I couldn’t help smiling. As I turned to go, I noticed a pile of her clothes at the side of the bed. Her shirt, her white bra on top of it, and her pants in a heap next to them.

I paused and worked out the logic. That meant she was sleeping in just her panties. In my bed. The idea was pretty thrilling, I had to admit. I was half tempted to go peek under the covers, but at that moment she shifted and the blanket pulled down below her shoulder. She was wearing a t-shirt that I clearly recognized as mine. Slightly disappointed, I quietly retrieved fresh clothes and left, gently closing the bedroom door in hopes that the noise I would make in the bathroom wouldn’t wake her.

I went into the bathroom, closed the door, turned on the shower, and stripped down. As soon as the water was hot, I got in and took care of cleaning myself. Thoughts of Natalie danced through my mind the whole time, from watching those movies with her, to last night’s hot make out session, to the idea of her sleeping in my bed. All of this combined to make my dick stand up straight. I mean, I was young and healthy, there was a gorgeous woman in the next room, and, if the relationship continued as it was, we’d soon be engaging in some sort of sexual activity.

That last thought set me off. The idea of sex with Natalie was too hot to ignore. My cock was now stiff as a board, so I grabbed it and jacked off in the shower. It had been a long time since I’d done that. Living alone, I could take care of it wherever and whenever I wanted, but images of making out with Natalie played through my mind, and the feeling of her thrusting up against me… she clearly had sexual desires. It was just a lifetime of hang-ups preventing her from going further with me. I came explosively to that thought, thick ropes of cum spurting out into the shower, my knees weak. I let the hot water stream over me for a while, then shut off the shower and dried off.

I finished up at the sink and got dressed, then opened the door and there was Natalie, fist up as if she had been about to knock. She was fully dressed, I noted.

“Morning,” she said, smiling. She glanced at her fist, then lowered it sheepishly to her side. “Good timing. I need to go really bad.”

“It’s yours,” I said. “I’m all done.”

We ate breakfast together, just a simple thing this time, because I had to get to the airport soon.

“Do you need help packing?” she offered.

“Just some last minute stuff. Toiletries, enough underwear to last the week so I don’t have to bother with getting laundry done in the hotel.”

“Mm. Let me handle that for you.”

“You want to pack my underwear?”

“Sure, why not. Four pairs, right? Since you’re already dressed for today?”

With my affirmative nod, she got up and headed for the bedroom. “Top drawer,” I called out. I chuckled to myself. My underwear was all just normal black and/or gray stuff. Nothing remotely questionable, and I didn’t care if she saw.

“What kind of underwear is this?” she asked from down the hall. I got up and headed for her.

“Boxer briefs,” I said.

“I’ve never seen these before. I thought men’s underwear was all boxer shorts, or… what do you call the other kind?”

“Tighty-whities? Yeah, I don’t wear those. And boxer shorts bunch up inside my pants. These are perfect.”

She took four pairs and put them in the open suitcase. “Well, you learn something every day. I didn’t know men had all these choices in underwear.”

“Why not? Women have tons. What sort do you wear?”

She blushed. “Underwear. You know… panties.”

“Sure, but what kind? There are tons for girls.”

She laughed. “This kind.” She lifted her shirt a bit, then fished into her jeans and pulled the waistband of her panties up a couple inches to show me. They were plain white. “I’m not showing you more, if that’s what you’re wanting. Let’s get you finished packing.”

The two of us took care of everything else, then she helped carry my luggage to the car. As I drove her home, she put her hand on my arm, working her way down to my fingers. “I’m going to miss you.”

“Likewise,” I said, then an idea occurred to me. “Can you drive?”

“Yeah, I took driver’s ed. I drove my parents’ cars plenty. I just don’t currently own a car.”

“I don’t know why this didn’t occur to me earlier,” I said, glancing at her. “Innate selfishness, I suppose. But I can just leave my car with you while I’m in L.A. You can use it, and I don’t have to pay for airport parking.”

She perked right up. “That would be cool. I don’t mind taking the bus to work and back, but grocery shopping and other stuff is a pain.”

“And,” I said, thinking out loud. “I can give you my house key. You can go over to my place and watch TV or use the internet all you want.”

“But that’s your only key!”

“No, there’s a spare, but it’s at home. Besides, when I come back, you’ll come pick me up at the airport. It’ll be perfect.”

“Okay!” she said enthusiastically. “This will be awesome.”

I pulled over so we could switch drivers to give her time to get used to my car. I was a bit nervous letting someone else drive my vehicle, but she got it quickly enough and demonstrated that she was competent.

She drove me to the airport just fine, though she needed directions from me. We shared a long kiss before I got out of the car, her hand and fingers lingering on my arm. As I grabbed my luggage and headed into the airport, I glanced back just in time to see her wave as she drove off.

It was another hard week of long hours, but I had Natalie to look forward to. We talked for at least an hour each evening, often about the movies she was watching at my place. She was really taking advantage of the situation, watching at least a couple each night, and sounded downright exuberant about it. She was plowing through a bunch of movies she’d heard all about but had never been allowed to watch, which gave us plenty to talk about.

From things she said, I gathered that she didn’t much care for gory violence, which was no surprise. She had a bit of a fascination with swearing, though, which I found interesting. Her upbringing made all swearing taboo, even words that aren’t actual swearwords. In that respect, it made sense that it would be interesting, since taboo things often turn out that way. But what most caught her attention was nudity. She mentioned the nude scenes multiple times without prompting, and her attitude definitely wasn’t one of disdain. I think she found it fascinating. Or maybe it turned her on. It made her reaction to my calendar make more sense.

The week finally ended and I flew back home. It was delayed into a late flight, landing after ten o’clock. I was eager to see Natalie, and she was right where she should be to pick me up. She ran up to me gleefully and we hugged. She resisted any kisses until we were in the car, but I didn’t care because I was really happy to see her. As she drove, I noted her comfort handling my vehicle, and even complimented her on it.

“I drove plenty. Your car is really easy to drive. I like it,” she said. She went on to tell me how she had done some second hand shopping at thrift stores, yard sales, and so on, getting various things for her apartment.

When we reached her place, we kissed in the car, but it quickly turned into a make-out session, which was perfectly fine by me. We enjoyed ourselves for several long minutes there in the dark parking lot of her apartment building, before she finally broke away with a huge smile. “I’m so glad you’re home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

With that, she got out and went into her apartment. I adjusted the driver’s seat and drove home. I dragged my luggage in, didn’t bother unpacking, stripped down, and crashed in bed.

The next day at work, we did the post-trip debrief, which went better thanks to our feedback, and I made it through the rest of the day without incident. I swung by the food court to pick up Natalie after her shift. We bought food and took it back to my place to eat and finally spend some time together.

“Things went better in L.A. than they did in Seattle,” I told her around a mouthful of chicken. “The higher ups are happy. They even mentioned a bonus once the final trip is over.”

“Ooh,” she said. “How exciting! And you get to go to these fun places, too.”

I snorted. “Yeah, but we don’t go anywhere or do anything. I spend all the time either in the office working, or in the hotel sleeping. Talking to you is the best part of the day.”

“Aw. How flattering.” She grinned. “My days aren’t so packed, but talking to you is the best part, too.”

“So that’s the good news,” I said, and she picked up the obvious hint.

“And the bad news?”

“The Dallas trip has been moved up. And lengthened.”

She grimaced. “How lengthened?”

“We go next week, instead of next month, and it’s for two weeks.”

“Two weeks,” she repeated with a sigh. “That’ll feel like forever.”

“That’s the last one, at least until next year. So at least there’s that.”

“That’s a lot of movie watching,” she said morosely.

“Try some TV shows then.”

She shrugged. “Maybe.”

“What about your friends? Hang out with them. Take my car and go somewhere. Have fun.”

She leaned forward, elbows on the table. “They’re all gone for now. Brooke and Ashley go to the U, so they stay down there during school. It’s a couple hour’s drive, so maybe I could go see them. Monica is getting married in a few months, so she’s been busy moving in with her boyfriend in Arizona.”

“Damn, she’s moving away? I’m sorry about your friends. You seemed tight.”

“We are, it’s just… people’s lives move forward whether you’re there or not. I met them after moving back here, so I’ve really only known them for that long, but it feels like it’s been years.”

“Yeah, I get it. I’ve pretty much lost touch with a bunch of old friends because they got married, got a job, or moved away. Or some combination of those.”

She hunched forward. “We’re just at that time of life, right? Running into you was totally perfect timing. I’d be lonely as hell and miserable with my friends all gone.”

“It’ll be okay,” I said, trying to reassure her.

She gave a wan smile. “Oh, I’ll be fine. This just isn’t how I envisioned our relationship would go.”

The week passed quickly, and we spent a lot of time together. We made out a lot, which was awesome. I did my best to follow her lead and not push for anything, though that was difficult. She was really hot, and sexy, and she had turned into a damn good kisser, and all those things, combined with my young man’s body, led to a lot of untouched erections.

I jerked off every night before bed to take care of the constant problem. My body was getting way ahead of the relationship itself. It didn’t help when we watched movies that had nudity in them, and I caught Natalie’s sly glances at me, like she was getting a thrill watching them with me. I could swear she was picking increasingly racy movies, too.

At any rate, the time for the long trip to Dallas was upon us. She dropped me off at the airport and wished me good luck. I told her to enjoy herself, and we parted.

The Dallas project was more of the same as Seattle and L.A. A lot more. Two weeks of long hours, returning to the hotel exhausted, talking to Natalie to lift my spirits, and then dead-to-the-world sleep. But I got through it, and on the final day, the CEO himself showed up to thank us in person. I figured that boded well for the possible bonus. I headed for the airport and called Natalie to let her know the updated schedule. It was another delayed, late flight, so while she picked me up, she had to work in the morning. Other than a nice long kiss, we didn’t spend any extra time together. She did, however, ask me to come get her at her place after work for a date. I immediately agreed, then I went home and went straight to sleep.

 

Chapter 6: A Hole-y Development

 

Work was easy, with a relaxed, triumphant feeling. We had done well and everyone knew it, and they made it clear that our feedback had been crucial to our success. I left pleased with the world in general and called Natalie as I neared her place.

“Hey,” she said. “I’m not quite ready, so just come on up and I’ll let you in.”

That was new. She was going to finally let me in to her place. We’d hung out a ton at this point, but always only at my place. She had her phone, but she didn’t have a TV yet, or internet. She was going to get them, she explained, but with spending so much time at my place, it just hadn’t been a priority, and she’d been able to save some money.

I rang her doorbell and heard Natalie yell from inside, “It’s open!” I let myself in and looked around her apartment for the first time. Sparsely furnished with second-hand things, it had an eclectic look. The walls were still mostly bare, but she’d brought precious little with her when she moved.

“I’m almost ready,” she called from down the hall. “Just gimme a minute.”

I flopped down on the couch. It was old-fashioned but in pretty good shape, and smelled like it had been in someone’s attic for years, though only mildly. I pulled out my phone and messed around while I waited for her to get ready. After a bit, she emerged from the hallway looking fantastic, of course, and gave me a big smile. “How do I look?”

“Amazing,” I said automatically, but then the reality of what I was seeing hit me. She was dressed in tight jeans and a tight red t-shirt that really showed off her curves in ways I’d never seen before. “Hey… that’s a new look for you.”

“It’s nothing special for someone else, but for me, it’s a big deal. My parents would freak if they saw me dressed like this.” She raised her arms and gave me a slow spin so I could check her out from all angles. “They would say I either need to wear a looser shirt, or a cardigan over this one. They’d say I’m showing off my chest.”

“Well, I mean, you are,” I said, pointedly staring right at her breasts in a way I hoped she found comical. “And it’s fan-flippin’-tastic.”

She instinctively moved to cover herself, but then stopped halfway through the motion and forced her arms back down. She gave a rueful shake of her head. “So ingrained. I hate it.” She tossed her head. “Well? Notice anything else?”

I studied her, searching for whatever else was new or different. Simple necklace, but she’d worn that before. Sandals with bare feet and painted toenails, but again, she’d done all that before. Her hairstyle didn’t immediately strike me as anything new, and she hadn’t dyed her hair or anything like that, which would have been blatantly obvious. She brushed her hair behind her ear and kept her head turned for what seemed like an abnormally long time, which was when I finally spotted it.

“Earrings!” I said triumphantly.

“Extra earrings,” she said with emphasis. “You’re usually so observant.” She stuck her tongue out at me.

“Oh, right.” I got up and moved closer. She turned her head this way and that so I could see both ears. “Three in one ear, four in the other. That’s definitely new.”

“Yeah, I did it while you were in Dallas. My parents would freak!” she said, grinning. “I mean, they eventually relented and let me get a single pair, but that was it. One pair, simple, nothing ostentatious. That was the rule. But I’m done with all that. I’m breakin’ the rules, left and right.” She turned her head to match her words and giggled.

“Hell yeah you are.” I put on a fierce expression and said, tongue-in-cheek, “You are one badass girl.”

“That’s right. I’m a badass,” she said, grinning.

I pointed with my thumb over my shoulder. “So do you always leave your door unlocked?”

“Nah. I unlocked it when I saw your car pull up. I wanted to surprise you with everything,” she said, flicking one of her earrings with her fingertip.

“Well, I like it all.” I glanced down. “It’s chilly. You sure you wanna wear sandals?”

“I’ll be fine, Rob.”

I shrugged. “The movie starts soon. You ready?”

She grabbed a hoodie, I noticed, rather than a cardigan, and her bag. “Let’s go.”

I opened the door for her, but as she tried to go through, I slipped my arm around her waist and pulled her in close. Our lips met and I pushed the door closed with my foot to keep the cold out, because we were busy for a few minutes making out.

“Doesn’t the movie start soon?” she eventually asked, smiling up at me, her arms wrapped around my waist.

“I suppose it does,” I said breathily. I opened the door again, and this time we managed to get out.

She closed the door behind us, then very obviously took her key and locked it while giving me a pointed look. “See?” she teased. We got in my car, buckled up, and left.

As I drove, I said, “We were talking every night. You didn’t mention the earrings.”

“Or the new clothes. I wanted to surprise you.”

I nodded thoughtfully. “Huh. I guess I like it when you surprise me.”

“Good,” she said, grinning. “There’ll be plenty more of that, then. It’s fun for me, too.”

“What else you got planned?”

She gave me a playful smack on the shoulder. “What part of surprise–”

I laughed, and she joined in.

The movie was actually pretty fun, but watching it with her at my side just made the whole thing better. She’d loosened up since we first met, and after two weeks apart, it was wonderful to have her there next to me. She grabbed my hand during tense parts, leaned on my shoulder during quiet parts, and the general sense of her being so comfortable with me made me feel good.

We left the theater talking about the movie and holding hands. She really seemed to have relaxed, in more ways than one. I commented on it at dinner, which was at a new restaurant that had opened while I was gone.

“Having two weeks to myself was kinda nice,” she said, then she quickly placed her hand on mine. “Don’t get me wrong, I missed you really bad, but we talked every night and I knew you’d be back. Your first trip was way worse. I spent the whole time wondering if you were just ditching me in a really elaborate way, but you’ve had two more trips since then and I guess I’ve gotten used to it.”

The waitress came and took our orders, then brought us our drinks. Taking a sip, Nat said, “Anyway, being able to focus on myself, without having to worry about dating, or anything else, has really helped me figure things out in my head.”

“Yeah, I get that,” I replied. “Sometimes a person just needs some alone time. Though I’m glad to hear you missed me.”

“Oh, as if that’s news,” she said, giving me a playful roll of her eyes. “I said it, like, twenty times.”

“Well, anything you’ve figured out that you want to report?”

She flicked an earring again. “This, for one.”

“Whoa, where’d those come from?!” I exclaimed in shock. “That’s amazing!”

She smacked my hand with the back of her spoon. “Dork.”

“Geek is the preferred term.”

She gave me a comical stare. “Really.”

I shrugged and she playfully jabbed me with her spoon.

“Anyway, you dork-slash-geek, I had a lot of time to think. Remember when we had that talk about sex?”

“Yes. Yes I do.” I wanted to joke about it, but she’d wanted me serious back then, so I didn’t want to spoil things.

She gave me a look, like she was waiting for me to joke. When I didn’t, she went on. “That was over a month ago. We were going to continue the conversation, but we never did.”

I shrugged. “I wasn’t avoiding it. There were a lot of distractions.”

“Yeah. But you’re back and I have you all to myself again. So let’s talk.”

I looked around. It was a Saturday evening at a new restaurant, so the place was pretty packed. “Here?”

She grimaced. “I was okay with it until you said that.”

“Whoops.”

She sighed. “Fine, let’s wait until we’re somewhere private.”

Our food arrived, so we turned our attention to eating. This place was pretty good, so we decided to add it to our list of restaurants worth a second visit.

We finished eating and paid the bill and headed out to the car, holding hands in the crisp November night.

“So, what else did you do while I was gone?” I asked.

“I went shopping. Obviously,” she said gesturing to, well, her whole self. “Clothes, earrings, et cetera.”

“Was that fun?”

She smiled. “Yeah, it totally was. I was buying all this stuff that I never would have been allowed to before. This sort of freedom is pretty awesome, I gotta say.”

“Yep, being an adult and acting like it are two different things. Buy what you want, when you want, and damn the consequences!”

“Well, not entirely damned,” she said, laughing. “It cost, like, a whole paycheck. But it’s okay, my place isn’t just empty rooms anymore, so that’s done. For now. And, I’ve got a few more paychecks under my belt, so I could afford it.”

We reached the car. “Wow, that much? What all did you buy?” I asked as I unlocked the doors.

“I went through my closet and evaluated every single thing. I replaced probably ninety percent of it.”

“With what?”

She took a breath, then shook her head. “No, there’s a lot and just talking about it is… tell you what. Let’s go to my place. I’ll show you.”

“Cool,” I said, buckling up.

Before I could start the car, she placed her hand on my arm. “Wait. We need to do our sex talk.”

“Uh, sure, though when you put it that way, it sounds so clinical.”

She laughed. “You probably had a sex ed class, right? I sure never did. At my school, they pretty much tried to pretend sex doesn’t exist. Babies apparently just magically appear.”

“That sort of thinking is where the stork stuff comes from,” I said. “But you’ve looked this stuff up on the internet, right? I mean, you had lots of time to yourself at my place.”

“Nope.”

I stared at her for a couple silent seconds. “Huh. If it was anyone else, I wouldn’t believe them. Okay, so, what sort of talk do you want to have?”

She looked unsure. “I don’t know.”

I realized I didn’t know how to handle this, either. “Uh, do you have any qu–”

“Have you had sex?” she blurted out.

I hesitated, but decided honesty was the way forward. “Yeah. I have.”

She bit her lip. “I figured… I mean, you’ve had at least one girlfriend…”

“Three girlfriends, maybe four, depending on who you ask. But I’ve only had sex with one. The last one.”

“The one you broke up with a few months before we found each other again.”

“Yeah.”

“How many times? What did you two do?”

I shook my head slowly. “I don’t think that’s a good direction to go. Maybe someday, but not now.”

She looked at me, then eventually nodded. “Right. I shouldn’t ask you about that.”

“Not necessarily,” I said, trying to reassure her. “I mean, there are certain questions you definitely have a right to ask. For example, did we use protection? We did.”

She made a noise low in her throat. “I have to tell you it hurts hearing this. In here,” she said, pressing her hand to her heart.

“I can’t change the past,” I said carefully. Given her upbringing, I was now worried about the future of our relationship. I knew marrying a virgin was really important to a lot of religious people. From our previous talks, it sounded like she’d put some or all of that behind her, but I didn’t really know for sure.

“I know,” she said. Her face was tight. Her breathing had definitely picked up. She found my hand and squeezed it. “It’s not fair of me to push my issues onto you. It’s just… my whole life…”

I decided not to beat around the bush. If this was going to be deal-breaker, I’d rather have it over and done with. “The virgin thing… it’s way overblown. A huge amount of importance is placed on something that turns out to not really matter. Look, what I’m saying is… at some point, you’ll have to decide whether you believe the things you were taught.”

“I thought I had,” she said. “But I guess there’s some stuff deep down that’s still there.” She sniffled. “I think that’s enough for now. Let’s just go.”

“Where are we headed?” I tried to sound casual as I started the car.

She was silent for a few very long seconds. “My place,” she said at last. “I want to show you what I bought.”

My heart had been racing, I realized. I looked at her and caught her wiping her eye with the back of her hand. She noticed and grimaced. “Rob, I can get past this. This is my problem, not yours. You’ve been so supportive of me, and we’ve had such a great time together. Don’t let my hangups ruin this for us, okay? I can deal with this.”

I gave her a slow nod, then put the car in gear and got moving.

 

Chapter 7: New Clothes, New Nat

 

We didn’t speak on the way to her place. She took the time to get herself together. I don’t know what went through her head, but by the time we reached her apartment, she’d managed to climb out of the low place she’d been in.

She unlocked her door and let us in. She flicked on the lights and tossed her bag on the kitchen table, which she had found at an estate sale and was weirdly ornate. It wasn’t huge, though, and I suspected it was actually some other type of fancy rich-person table. But whatever, it fit her needs.

Since I’d barely set foot in the place earlier, she gave me a tour of her apartment. It wasn’t large. The front room was a combined small kitchen and dining and living room, smaller than mine. A single hallway led deeper, with a bathroom on the right, a small bedroom, mostly empty, at the end of the hall, and her room on the left, which is where the tour ended. Her bed and a dresser were the only pieces of furniture in it. A lot of bags were scattered on the floor and on her bed, full of clothes.

“It’s not much, but it’s mine,” she said. Her smile twitched from shy to proud.

“You lucked out. You have a second bedroom. This is a nice place for the price. And the neighborhood isn’t that bad.”

“I think the landlady felt bad for me when I told her my parents kicked me out. I mean, that’s not exactly true, but close enough.”

“She sounds nice. I’m glad you found this place.”

“Me too,” she said. “I still need a bunch of stuff, but I’ll pick it up bit by bit. I’m being very careful with my money, learning to budget and all that.” She glanced at me. “Yeah… other than the shopping splurge that cost me a whole paycheck. But it was important to me.”

We were standing side by side, so I reached around, put my hand on her shoulder, and pulled her close. “You don’t have to justify it. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders and if you say it was important, I don’t see why I would argue.”

“Well, enough sentimentality. Lemme show you what I bought.”

“Right. You gonna do a runway show for me?”

She tilted her head to the side. “Sure. Why not. Go out and sit on the couch. I might be a while.”

I turned to go, but she said, “Wait. Since I’m already wearing this, I’ll start with it. All new,” she said, giving me another slow spin of the jeans and red t-shirt outfit. “Including the sandals I wore,” she said, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the front door where she’d left them.

“All new? New underwear, too, then?” I asked jokingly.

“Yep, those too,” she said, finishing her slow turn.

“Oh yeah? You should show me.”

“Mm, you’d like that,” she teased.

“Yes. Yes I would.”

She gave me a lopsided grin, then changed the subject. “Remember how I used to dress when you first met me? That was my mom’s style. Influenced by my dad, I assume. I mean, the clothes were nice, but loose blouses, cardigans, loose capris, sensible shoes… I kept the ones I liked and got rid of the rest.”

“What’d you do with it all, anyway? Just out of curiosity.”

“Donated. I’m not wasteful. No point in throwing away good clothes.” She rubbed her hands together. “Okay, out with you.” She made a shooing gesture. “Go relax. Get a drink if you want.”

I left and settled on the couch, then pulled out my phone and started idly browsing the internet. After a long while, she called out, “Ready or not, here I come!”

I put the phone down and waited. Soon enough, she emerged from the hallway wearing a sleeveless sundress tied at the waist with a blue sash. Completing the outfit was a pair of strappy sandals with low heels. She’d pulled her hair up into a pony tail.

“You look lovely,” I said, smiling.

“Sure, but I also look fun,” she insisted, giving me a full 360 view. She had nice, slim shoulders, I realized, and nice legs, from what I could see. She used to dress very conservatively, so this really was a big change for her.

“Agreed,” I said, settling deeper into the couch and enjoying the view. I still had my phone in my hand, so I unlocked it and took a picture of her. She saw what I was doing and posed for me with a smile.

“Now, I went through all the new stuff–that’s what took so long–and I decided I’m not gonna model every single thing. It would take too long and would probably be boring to show you all four similar t-shirts I bought, and the other sundress like this one but with a different pattern and colors.” She cupped her hand around her mouth and said in a loud whisper, “They were on sale.”

“Whatever you want. It’s all good to me.”

“So I’ll give you a good sample of the new me.” She grinned. “See? Bare shoulders! Scooped neckline! Strappy toeless sandals! New fun underwear! It would all be so controversial for past Natalie, but new Natalie loves how she looks.”

“Dare ya to show me the fun underwear,” I teased, a lazy smile perking up just one corner of my mouth. I really was enjoying watching her, because she was happy, but I didn’t think for a second she’d actually do it.

Well, she did it. With a wink, she turned and pulled the sundress up high enough to show off her panties, which were red-and-white striped like a candy cane and showed off a good bit of her toned, shapely ass. She dropped the dress after a couple seconds.

“Whoa!” I said, sitting up, but she was already moving on. Too late, I remembered the phone in my hand. Oh well, I’m sure she wouldn’t have been cool with me taking that sort of pic.

“Next!” she said, as if she hadn’t just flashed me her panties. She headed back to the bedroom.

I leaned back into the cushions and tried to commit to memory what I’d just seen. A couple minutes later, I heard her coming back. I looked up from my phone as she emerged from the dark hallway.

This time, she wore a pair of denim short-shorts, exposing pretty much her entire legs. She also wore a tight, form-fitting white ribbed tank top, and her bra straps, also white, were clearly visible alongside.

“Nice,” I commented, taking it all in. I raised my phone to take a picture.

“What’s nice? The outfit, or my legs?” she teased as she struck a pose.

“Well, both. I mean, you have great legs, and you look ready for the beach.”

“No,” she said, pointing at me. “This is a fun day at the park. The beach is next.”

I sat up. “Oh really?”

She grinned. “Thought that would get your attention.”

“What’s with all the warm-weather clothes, by the way? Thanksgiving isn’t far off.”

“Oh I bought cold weather stuff, too. I’ll show you that later. Ready for the next one?”

“The beach one? Hell yes.”

She laughed and danced down the hallway. “Just you wait,” she sang out.

It was difficult to wait. There’s no shame in admitting it. I wondered what sort of swimsuit she would come out wearing. Even a one-piece would be hot, but was she daring enough to go for a bikini? How much of my already-hot girlfriend was I about to see?

“Ready?” she called out.

I made some sort of affirmative sound, and she rounded the corner with a huge grin on her face. She was indeed wearing a swimsuit, but unsurprisingly for her, as far as swimsuits go, it was pretty modest. She spun to give me the view. Orangey-red on top and black on the bottom, it fit her well and looked good. I grinned and did my best to convince myself that being disappointed was illogical, and the fact that she was modeling a swimsuit at all was a huge step for her and our relationship.

“Oh, are you disappointed?” She giggled. “Thought I was gonna come out wearing a string bikini or something?”

“Well, a man can hope,” I said sheepishly. “Pic?”

She struck a pose that I found surprisingly sexy coming from her. She put on a sultry expression while I snapped a couple pics with my phone. I wondered if she even realized what she was doing.

“This is actually a two-piece. It’s called a tankini. It’s a bikini bottom and a tanktop. See?” She pulled the bottom of the shirt up a bit, exposing a few inches of smooth, toned stomach, and…

“Whoa! A belly button piercing!” I exclaimed, lurching forward off the couch and onto my knees, leaning close for a better look. I raised my phone, but she shook her head.

“Uh uh, no pics. It’s still healing.” She moved closer to let me see. “Don’t touch,” she warned. “It’s tender. You like?”

“Sexy,” I said, looking up at her with a grin.

“I remembered you said something about liking piercings…” she said as she gently touched the green gemstone in her navel. “And I do, too, though I’ve known that for a long time. When I was, like, fourteen, I begged my parents to let me get earrings. They said no, but they eventually let me after we moved away. After a while, I asked them if I could get more earrings, but they were adamant. Said it would make me a slut. Which is totally ridiculous. How the hell could that make you slutty? I knew it then, I know it now. So here we are.”

“You really made some strides forward,” I said, getting to my feet. “I’m seeing confidence that wasn’t there before.” I coughed. “Uh, no offense.”

She snorted. “Jerk. But anyway, yeah. I feel it. The confidence. I’ve had a lot of time to think and work on myself, do things I wanted to do… it all adds up. I’m finally standing up for myself. Doing what I want to do. Like… like I’m finally decompressing, after years of being squashed down.”

“Awesome,” I said, then before I could continue, she interrupted.

“Don’t say you’re proud of me,” she said, placing a finger on my lips.

“I totally wasn’t gonna,” I protested, but she wasn’t buying it.

“Kiss me,” she said, pulling me to her. She tilted her head up and leaned in, and our lips met. She reached a hand around to the back of my head and pulled us tighter.

We kissed for a nice, long while, our lips exploring and enjoying. When I broke for air, I mumbled, “I don’t know where to put my hands.”

She grabbed them and pulled, placing my hands on the small of her back as we resumed kissing. Standing there kissing while she was in a swimsuit, however modest it may be, was turning me on something fierce and I was glad to be wearing jeans and not something thinner. At this point it had been more than half a year since I’d had sex, not that I would ever bring that up with Nat, and my body was responding eagerly to every little thing.

Eventually she pulled away, breathing hard. I wanted to keep going, but I knew how she felt about things and didn’t want to press her.

“So…” I said, gazing into her eyes. “Got any more to show me?”

“Maybe,” she said, grinning, but then it faded. “But… uh… that’s all for now.”

“Understood,” I said, moving my hands from her back to her shoulders. I held her eyes with my gaze. “I’m getting that feeling of “that’s as far as I’m comfortable” from you, and it’s late anyway, so I think we should call it a night. This was fun. I had a good time. And I look forward to seeing you again.”

She hugged me close, pressing her face up against my chest. “Thank you for being so understanding. I had fun, too. I promise I have more surprises for you. Not tonight, maybe not tomorrow, who knows when, but I will. I might even come up with some more, because I really liked surprising you.” She looked up at me and smiled.

“Speaking of surprises,” I said, suddenly remembering. “My parents want me to come over for dinner, and they wondered if you’d like to come, too.”

“Sure,” she said without any hesitation. “I’m terrified of the idea, but your parents are normal, right?”

“As far as I know,” I said with a small laugh.

She squeezed her eyes shut for a couple seconds. “It’ll be fine.”

I started to speak, but she cut me off gently. “Before you go,” she said, “come back to my bedroom and take a look at my clothes. Pick out an outfit for me to wear on our next date, and I’ll wear it.”

“Uh, okay… what if I pick something that doesn’t match or whatever?”

“If that happens, I’ll help.”

I laughed. “Alrighty then. Lead the way.”

Even though I knew where her room was, she still led me there by the hand. Spread out over her room, the dresser, hanging in the closet, and all over her bed, were a ton of clothes, some stacked, some not.

Shirts, shorts, pants, shoes, the sundresses, even bras and panties. I glanced at her and she was keeping her face smooth. I decided to get to my task. I picked out a pair of dark blue jeans, some shoes and socks, and a white t-shirt with black three-quarter sleeves.

“Gonna need underwear,” she quipped.

“Right.” I sorted through the bras and picked a white one with smooth cups, then I looked through the panties. Along with the candy cane ones from earlier, I was surprised to see a couple thongs, so of course I picked one of those, in green.

“Pretty good,” she said. “One substitution. Pick that color bra,” she said, pointing at one that was a light tan.

“Sure thing,” I said, making the switch.

She glanced at the thong I was still holding and blushed. “Good job. I’ll wear that exact outfit on our next date. The whole thing.” She met my eyes and winked. “I promise.”

 

Chapter 8: The Blanket Incident

 

When Natalie met my parents, I could tell she was really nervous, but they quickly put her at ease and she warmed up to them. I’d warned them in advance not to bring up Natalie’s parents, and they managed it with aplomb, adroitly avoiding it without ever seeming to. I gotta say, I was impressed. The dinner went off without a hitch, everyone got along great, and when we left a couple hours later, Natalie was in a great mood, which suddenly disappeared.

“What’s up?” I asked her.

“I had a great time,” she said. “I was thinking about how nice it all was, and then I thought of my parents, and what sort of horror show it would be if I showed up with you. Or if I showed up at all, I guess.”

“Sorry, Nat,” I said, rubbing her leg. “We can’t pick our families. We just have to do the best we can with what we have.”

“Yeah… I guess. Some of us are just luckier than others,” she said, her lips pressed to a thin line.

A couple days later, it was time for our next date. We had decided not to count dinner with my parents as a date, so when I picked her up, she was indeed wearing the outfit I had selected, or at least the parts I could see.

“Everything I chose?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Maybe,” she said.

I gave her a mock stern look. “You said ‘exact outfit.’ Your words, missy.”

Natalie gave me a comically exaggerated eye-roll. She grabbed the bottom of the shirt and unceremoniously pulled it up, showing off the bottom of the tan bra I had selected. She made eye contact with me, a little quirky grin trying to form on her lips. “Is that enough proof for you?”

In truth I was shocked, but I also found it to be totally awesome. I managed to keep my composure and give a small shake of my head, like I was a dignified king denying a petitioner’s request.

She gave me an I know exactly what you are doing, mister look, but her fingers found the button of her jeans. Her face reddened a little as she undid it, tugged down the zipper, and pulled her pants down a few inches to show off the green thong panties.

I raised one finger and made a twirling motion, but it was one step too far. She burst out laughing.

“You dog,” she said, giggling as she fixed her clothes. Her face was still flushed, and her lopsided grin looked… pleased? I couldn’t quite be sure.

Our dates had transitioned over the weeks and at this point were less formal and more just the two of us hanging out and enjoying our time together. I was definitely falling hard for her and it seemed she felt the same for me. We made out a lot but I kept my hands under control, which mildly surprised even me, and allowed her to take things at her pace. I was ready to step up the physical part of our relationship, but I really wanted her to be comfortable and feel safe, so I waited patiently.

Over the next week, we spent plenty of time together and discussed our upcoming plans. My parents were going to be out of town on a cruise over Thanksgiving, their first ever, so Natalie and I would be spending the day with just the two of us.

“I’m relieved,” she admitted. “Though I’m kinda embarrassed to say so. I mean, they’re really nice.”

“Yeah, one dinner with them and they love you. But I get it. Meeting your parents would be traumatic.” I meant it as a joke, but she winced.

“Ugh, don’t even.”

The night before Thanksgiving, I dropped her off at her place and headed home, but not before she pulled me close for a kiss and said happily, “I have a surprise for you tomorrow.”

I could hardly wait.

 

***

 

The Thanksgiving day surprise turned out to be showing up at my place in the morning to make us breakfast, along with a lot of food for the day, including a pumpkin pie she’d made herself. She had a co-worker drop her off early. Natalie made French toast, bacon, and eggs, and it was all perfect. We were going to be doing a Thanksgiving dinner as well, though it wouldn’t be very big. Neither of us wanted to go all out with a dozen different dishes when it was just the two of us, so spreading out the food and cooking across the whole day made sense to me. I was delighted to see her, of course, and enjoyed spending the morning together. She, on the other hand, seemed a little stiffer than usual, like she was nervous or distracted about something.

“Something wrong?” I asked as we lounged on the couch. I idly wondered if this had anything to do with her distress over finding out I wasn’t a virgin. She hadn’t mentioned it at all since that day.

“Nah,” she said. “I’m fine.” But she still seemed a little off. I decided not to press her on it. Everyone has one of those days.

We spent the rest of the day together, and she loosened up some. I still felt she wasn’t quiet herself, but we had fun playing board games, watching movies, passing out on the couch together, and then doing a modest Thanksgiving dinner. At the end of the day, I dropped her off at her apartment and then went back home, did some cleaning, then fell asleep, the overstuffed victim of way too much rich food.

The next day was Black Friday, and we both had the day off, so I picked her up for an impromptu date. She hopped in the car and buckled up, and I turned my head just in time to receive a quick kiss on the lips.

She grabbed my arm and snuggled up to me as much as she could in the car. “Where are we going?”

“The outlet malls. It’ll be fun to wander around and window shop. Maybe we’ll even buy something. Who knows. Plus it’s a nice view if we take the back way through the mountains.”

We chatted and laughed and enjoyed the drive. After a while, I said, “You seem back to your usual self. What was going on yesterday? Something happen?”

She didn’t respond right away. I figured maybe it was something she didn’t want to talk about, but then she said, “Actually… yeah. Something did.”

I glanced at her. “Yeah? What? Your coworker hit on you?”

She snorted. “First, she’s not a lesbian, and second, she’s got a boyfriend. She dropped me off as a favor, so I could bring all that food. She was heading out of town for the holiday anyway.”

“So what happened, then?”

Natalie looked away, so I figured it must be hard to talk about. Fortunately, eye contact wasn’t an issue while driving. I fervently hoped it wasn’t the virgin thing coming back for another round.

It took a while before she spoke. “I came over and made us breakfast.”

“Yeah. I was there.”

“And… uh… before I started making it, I came in to your room to surprise you.”

This didn’t jive with my memory. “What do you mean? You knocked on my bedroom door.”

“That was the second time.”

I glanced at her. She was blushing. I raised my eyebrow to give her my best quizzical look. “Okay…”

“You don’t remember? You’re not just pretending?”

“I definitely don’t remember.”

“I wanted to surprise you. I, um… pulled off your blanket.”

I paused for a moment while I processed this. A curious mix of feelings shot through me, but mostly it was exciting. I fought a grin, though I figured she’d notice my face twitching and see right through me. “And…?”

“You,” she said, poking my shoulder, “sleep naked.”

“That I do.”

If anything, her blush deepened. “And now I know.”

“I’m sorry. I should’ve warned you or something.”

She shook her head. “No, no. Nothing to be sorry about. We’re both adults. It’s your apartment. If you want to sleep naked, sleep naked. I’m the one who came in and pulled off your blanket.”

“Heh. Well, I did give you a key to my place and specifically said you can come over any time.”

She poked me again, harder, then rubbed my shoulder. “Yes. You did.” I glanced at her and saw that she was grinning, so I figured the incident was behind us, but she had more.

“Sooo…” she said, really drawing out the word. “Are you okay with it?”

I shrugged. “What’s done is done. We’ve watched a bunch of movies with nudity in them at this point. If anything, you seem to like it.”

“Rob!”

“What? It’s fine.”

“It’s just… this was you.”

I took a moment to study her face. Her cheeks still looked embarrassment-red, but maybe I was misinterpreting things. Maybe she wasn’t embarrassed? Maybe it was something else. Something good. The thought sent a little thrill through me. I decided to test the waters, just a bit. “If you were someone else, it would be embarrassing. But… I kinda like the idea of you seeing me like that. Maybe I’m a bit of an exhibitionist. I just wish I could remember it, though.”

She was nibbling on her lower lip as I talked, and as she took in my words, her face lit up. “If you were someone else,” she said, repeating my words, and blushing, this time for real, and trying to meet my eyes but not quite succeeding, “I would have been embarrassed to death. But it was you, and… um… I liked what I saw.”

“Oh yeah?” I definitely hadn’t expected that.

“A lot,” she said in a loud whisper.

“Oh,” I said softly and slowly. I liked where this was headed. “So when I said you like nudity, I wasn’t off the mark.”

“Jeez, don’t say it like that. Makes me sound like a perv.”

I chuckled. “So, what exactly did you see? Just out of curiosity.”

“You, in all your glory.” She started off serious, but started laughing as she spoke, but not in a bad way. I certainly wasn’t offended. Besides, I had a really important question to ask.

“Was I laying on my back, or front?”

“Back.” She pronounced the word crisply.

Hell yes, I thought. I really was getting excited by this. I kept going. “So sometimes guys get a thing called morning wood. Was I…?”

“Oh yeah,” she said, eyes wide and face alight.

Wow. Just wow. My apparently-exhibitionist brain was really liking this. And, it would seem, so was hers.

I nodded and let out a slow breath. “Well. Isn’t that something. It’s like if you were reading a perfectly normal book, turned the page, and then BAM, porn.”

She laughed. A good sign.

“So what went through your mind?” I asked.

“Nothing, at first. I kinda just froze. It took a bit to realize what I was looking at, I think. My first instinct was to cover you back up and run away. Slip out, lock the door, pretend I was never there. But you… it… was so…”

“Hard?” I offered with a grin.

“No. Yeah. I mean… interesting. But yeah. And big. Way bigger than I would have thought.”

I stifled a chuckle. She sure knew how to stroke my ego. Except… she probably wasn’t doing that at all. She was probably just being totally, innocently honest.

She went on without noticing. “I’d never seen a real one, at least, not in real life. I wanted to run, but I also wanted to look. I thought, this is my boyfriend! And I’m looking at his… uh… his thing!”

“Thing, huh. And you liked what you saw?”

She didn’t say anything, but her expression was animated.

I pressed on. “So… you wanna see your boyfriend’s thing again?”

“Ha! Yeah right.” She paused, then looked up at me, eyes wide, her hand gripping my forearm. “Wait. Oh damn. You’re really fine with this, aren’t you? If I say yes, you’ll just, what, whip it right out?” She breathed hard for a bit, her eyes flicking from my crotch to my eyes, up and down.

I tried to keep my eyes on the road. Fortunately we were in a low traffic stretch. “If you want me to, sure.”

She brought her hands up to her face and pressed them, palms together, against her nose and lips. “Wow,” she breathed. “So this is what it’s like to be in that kind of relationship?”

“I guess it depends on the people in question.” I glanced at her. “But I’m fine with it. You’ve sorta flashed me a couple times, so I kinda think you might be into this.”