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“Yeah. Setting up a router is a piece of cake.”

“Did you set up yours?”

“Yeah, and I’m not techy at all. It’s all idiot-proof.”

“Okay.” She smiles, looking much more relaxed than before.

“Honestly,” I say, “I’m blown away by how you could articulate all these things about your emotions when I put you on the spot like that. Most of the time, I have no idea what I’m feeling, and can never present it as cogently as you just did...”

“Not sure using words like ‘cogent’ and ‘articulate’ are allowed during pillow talk,” she says with a smile.

“Now you’ve done it.” I pounce on her, and she giggles. “Making fun of a man’s vocabulary like that.”

“At least your vocabulary is as massive as your dick.”

“That’s right.” I drag her down next to me as she squeals with delight, then I slap her ass. “And I think it’s time for a reminder.”

She draws me into her arms and I kiss her neck, her chin, and before long her tongue is sliding along mine and I am back inside her, her body warm and welcoming, our pace languid and filled with emotion, and we barely break eye contact as our bodies sway and rub against each other, hot and sweaty, moaning in each other’s mouths.

****

It’s not until a few hours later that she says she has to go, and I see her to her car again.

“I have fond memories of your car,” I whisper as I press her against the chassis. “I wonder if we should refresh them.”

“You can’t be serious.” Her eyes widen with incredulity. “We fucked for hours. I came, like, six times. I can barely walk now.”

I chuckle and hug her around the waist, burying my face in her neck. “I can’t help it. I want to live inside you. You feel amazing.”

She wraps her arms around me and squeezes me tight. “You feel pretty amazing, too.”

“So what now?” I ask, feeling emboldened.

She shrugs and pulls back.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” I say, stroking her hair. It’s still down. I like it down. “What made you want to see me today?”

“Oh!” She tucks a strand behind her ear. “I completely forgot. Today during an interview, I met this cool new friend—”

I raise one eyebrow.

“A female friend,” she clarifies, “not that it matters. But she’s so cool and she has a great job and she lives how she wants, and she just made it seem like it’s okay for me to live how I want. That I don’t owe anyone my life, even if they’re my parents or my ex-fiancé. That it’s okay to just live for me, you know?”

“Your new friend sounds like a smart lady.”

“She is! After meeting with her, I just felt so ... free and hopeful, and I had all this good energy, and all I could think of was how I wanted to see you.”

I squeeze her hips. “I’m so glad you came over. I will share every kind of energy with you.”

She smiles. “I thought you might.”

“Should I bother asking when I will see you next?”

She looks down and gently pushes against my chest. “Joe—”

“Okay, okay. I think I get it. Plans and obligations stress you out right now.”

She nods.