Even I knew that was code for “Can I see you in private?”.
I didn’t mind. If she needed to talk to him without my being there, I had no qualms with that. It just meant, given how honest she’d been about everything else, I wouldn’t have liked what she had to say. I took one more sip of coffee and tipped the rest out in the sink. I’d managed half a cup, and that would do me in the coffee department for a while. I didn’t know if my head was better or worse for drinking it. Give me green tea any day.
I washed the coffee cups and was drying them when Andrew came back in. “Everything okay?” I asked.
“Oh sure,” he said. “She just wanted to lecture me.”
“On what?”
“On not screwing this up.”
“What on earth could you do to screw this up?”
He shrugged. “She says I rush into things. Which I do, I guess. Like I did with Eli. She just wants me to take a step back and not, you know, move in together after two months of dating and get engaged after six months. That kind of thing.”
Well shit. “Do you think we’re rushing into anything?”
He shrugged again. “No, but I didn’t think I was with Eli either. But in hindsight I did, so maybe she has a point. We have technically only been together for a few hours.”
I laughed at that. “Well, when you put it like that.”
One corner of his mouth pulled down. “Even though we fake-dated for two weeks.”
“I totally count that, by the way,” I told him. “Those two weeks were awesome. And even though we didn’t meet in a very conventional way, I don’t regret it. I mean, I regret that you were hurt by Eli, but without him being a tosser, we wouldn’t have met.”
“A tosser?”
I smiled at him. “You know, wanker.”
He stepped in closer to me and pulled lightly on my beard. He smiled, but his eyes were serious. “I don’t want to screw this up.”
“Me either,” I admitted. “And truth be told, Andrew, if one of us will fuck something up, it’ll more than likely be me. I have relationship issues, remember?”
He kissed me softly. “Maybe all the more reason we should take things slower. If Sarah hadn’t turned up, I’m pretty sure we’d be in bed right now.”
I sighed and pulled him against me. “Agreed. Actually, I had us going at it like rabbits on the laundry floor.”
He chuckled and pulled back a bit but kept his hands on my waist. “So, I think we should be clear though. By taking it slow, does that mean we wait for, you know, penetrative sex? Because while that’s fine with me, I wouldn’t be opposed to other things.”
“Other things like what?”
His cheeks turned pink. “Like we did earlier.”
“Blowjobs and handjobs? Because that’s technically having sex.”
His blush crept down his neck. “You know what I mean.”
“Oh, you mean anal, butt-sex, fucking like rabbits.”
He blanched at my crassness, and despite his raging blush, he nodded.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t joke.” I put my hands to his face. “This is the last time I’m going to mention his name. But just because Eli didn’t want to have sex with you and just because I’m agreeing to take things slow, doesn’t mean you’re not desirable. Because seriously, Andrew, you are incredibly sexy.” He blushed scarlet. “And, like you, I want this to be something more than just physical. But I really have no clue how to gauge what’s slow or not, so I’ll take my cues from you. If you want to wait a day, a week, a month, a year, to fuck like rabbits on your laundry floor. I’ll wait.”
“A year?”
I laughed at the look of horror on his face. “Okay, let’s just agree that a year is too long to wait.”
He chuckled again. “I was thinking maybe a week or two… To be honest, I don’t know if I’ll be able to wait that long. I seem to have a permanent problem when you’re around.” He pressed his hips into mine to prove his point.
I could feel his permanent problem. It was rubbing against my permanent problem through our trousers. I laughed. Or groaned. Possibly both. “Me too.”
He pressed his lips to mine, but before the kiss could get too serious, the washing machine beeped. He pulled away with a frustrated moan. “Saved by the bell,” I mumbled, trying to laugh it off.
He shook his head adamantly. “Nope. I’ll just throw your sheets in the dryer and put the next load in, then we’re going to bed for handjobs or blowjobs and then you can nap.”
And bossy Andrew was back. I had to admit, I liked bossy Andrew. He left the kitchen with a determined look on his face, and I followed. Only, he went down the hallway to the laundry, and I headed for the stairs. I figured he wouldn’t have to wonder where I went if I left a trail of my clothes behind. My shirt fell on the bottom stair, I toed my shoes off at the top, my trousers near his bedroom door, and my undies near the bed.