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“Mama, you’ve got to let it go,” I said. This was probably the tenth time she’d pushed me to talk to Ryan about our future together. “Things are good and I want them to stay that way.”

“Sweetie, I know you’re happy, but I can tell when you’re thinking about it. A mother knows. It’s so much better to know than to sit in uncertainty, isn’t it?” She pulled me into a hug.

“I just don’t want you to have regrets. Your mom and I adore Ryan and we adore her for you. We’d be thrilled to add her to the family.”

“Whoa,” I said, pulling back. “You need to pump the brakes, Mama. Ryan isn’t joining our family. We’ve only been dating for a few months, and like I have told you, she’s not staying here,” I said, yet again. I felt like I should record myself saying this so I could just replay it the next time she brought it up.

Ryan and Mom arrived home before Mama could launch into her advice again, for which I was grateful.

“Oh, Lydia, I have some news for you. I managed to find a case of those Fall Frolic candles in a random warehouse and they should be arriving next week,” Ryan said, taking the cup of coffee that I handed her and giving me a kiss.

“Really?” Mama said, clasping her hands together.

“Yes, really,” Ryan said, and Mama hurled herself at Ryan, who gave me the coffee back at the last minute so she didn’t dump it all over the floor.

“Oh, thank you thank you!” Mama said, wiping tears. “I just love that scent so much.”

“She really does,” Mom said. “Thank you, Ryan. That means a lot.”

“You’re welcome. It was my pleasure,” she said, sitting down to her breakfast.

“You know she loves you more now than she loves me,” I told Ryan. “Thanks a lot for that.”

“I still love you,” Mama said.

“Uh huh,” I said, glaring at her.

Ryan laughed and grabbed her coffee again.

“Want to go to the beach tomorrow?” Ryan asked me that Friday night as we lay in my bed together after a particularly steamy session involving Ryan wearing a bespoke harness and a custom dildo she’d designed. Safe to say, the results had been mind-blowing.

“I’d love to,” I said, tracing patterns on her back as she lay on her stomach.

“Maybe I’ll get you in the water this time?” she asked.

“I’ll get my legs in the water, does that count?” I asked.

“Mmmm, we’ll see,” she said. “I think I can convince you.” She gave me a devious smile.

“If convincing me involves me being thrown into the ocean, then absolutely not,” I said.

“But you’re so easy to throw,” she said, and I leaned down and gently bit her shoulder.

“Not all of us can be glamazons,” I said.

“And not all of us can be fun-sized,” she countered.

“If you throw me in the ocean, I will never have sex with you again,” I said, trying to sound stern.

“Oh, in that case,” Ryan said, sitting up and pushing me onto my back. “I won’t do it.”

“Thank you,” I said, and our mouths met.

One bonus of dating someone as tall and strong as Ryan was that I rarely had to carry anything that weighed more than ten pounds. She could also reach anything on top shelves for me. I’d gotten used to grocery shopping with her and not having to climb the shelves or suck it up and ask a stranger to help poor, short me.

Ryan carried nearly all of our beach stuff down the sand as I picked a good spot.

“Here,” I said, pointing. “This is it.”