Our food arrives and it is delicious. The steaks are perfect. No wonder he wanted to eat here. The dessert menu is drool worthy and we and both order chocolate soufflés, which melt in our mouths.
We end the evening back at my place. He walks around to let me out of the car and while he’s helping me out, he bends down to kiss me. “I can’t ever remember enjoying myself so much, Cate.”
“Neither can I.”
He takes my hand and we walk upstairs. Jenna is out so we plop on the couch. I turn to him and say, “I want you to sleep with me tonight.”
“It might be too much of a temptation.”
Is he for real? What kind of guy says stuff like that? Most of them do anything they can to get in your pants.
“I promise I’ll be good,” I say with a wink. “Besides, if Jenna brings someone home, it’ll be less awkward for you.”
“Does she do that a lot?”
“Not sayin’.” I hold out my hand to him and he takes it. We walk to my room. It’s not very big, but it holds a queen-sized bed. Admittedly, my room is pretty girly looking. I point to the bathroom so he can brush his teeth and use the restroom if he wants. He goes inside and shuts the door. While he’s in there, I undress and put on a t-shirt and a pair of boxers, my usual sleepwear. When he emerges, I trade places with him. I quickly wash my face and brush and floss my teeth. After I finish, I join him and he’s under the covers.
“How many damn pillows do you own?”
Laughing, I say, “No idea. Ten?”
“Eighteen. I never thought I’d get them off the bed.”
“I usually shove them to one side.” I scoot under the covers and find him shirtless. Nice.
“Cate, are you on any birth control?” I’m startled by his question.
“No. I’ve never taken the pill, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m asking. If we get to the point of intimacy in our relationship, would you be opposed to it?”
“Not at all. Why?”
“Curious. I’ve never had sex without a condom, but I sure would like to with you.”
I find it odd that he was with the same girl for all that time and they never got to the point in their relationship where they trusted each other enough for him to go without a condom. I look up at him to find him gazing at me. I thought he would be smiling, but he isn’t.
My big mouth blurts out the question that’s in my head.
“Yeah, I suppose it should’ve told me more about the way she felt. She’s the one who didn’t want me to go without, and I was faithful.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s old news.”
My mouth decides it wants to spew even more intimate information about me. “Drew, I’ve never really had sex before. Not all the way sex.” I thought this would be embarrassing, but it isn’t.
He’s a mixture of confused gestures. He nods, shakes his head, then finally says, “I don’t understand what that means exactly.”
So I explain about dickwad. “I guess in the end, he could never really penetrate. It wasn’t for lack of trying. He was … really awful … blamed everything that went wrong on me, and it was an all around bad experience.” I shudder at the memory. “He was just a dickwad.”
He moves closer and strokes my arm. In a gentle tone, he says, “If it’s any consolation, I’m glad—not that he treated you so badly but that you never actually had sex with him. If we end up having sex, I promise I won’t be a dickwad, Cate, and I’ll make it as good as a first time can be.” He gives me an understanding nod.
What other sweet tricks does this guy have up his sleeve? “Are you for real?”
“I’m not following.”
“Everything about you. Most guys would be tearing my clothes off, but you’re more concerned about making me feel good when we do it. I’ve never met anyone like you before.” I place my hand on his chest, hoping he doesn’t mind, because I have this pressing need to touch him.
His hand covers mine. “I hope that’s a good thing. I want everything to be right for you.”
“See, that’s what I mean. You always say the right thing.”
“No, I don’t. I’m on my good behavior right now because I’m trying to impress you. But can I tell you it’s taking everything I have inside of me not to roll you underneath me and do all sorts of dirty things to you?”
“Drew?”
“Yeah?”
“I swear to god, I want you to do dirty things to me.”
He takes my hand and kisses it. “I will. Only not tonight.”
“Drew?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you give me some idea when this magical date will take place so I can do other things until that time?” His body shakes with laughter.
“How about next weekend?”
“Really? You mean it?”
“Yeah.” He faces me and says, “I mean it. Now you promised you’d behave. You’re not exactly making this easy on me.”
“Okay, but if you think this is easy for me, I need to let you in on a little secret. It’s not.”
“Good. Then we’re even.”
“I need to tell you another secret.”
“Okay, what is it?”