He goes into the kitchen and comes back a minute later with a steaming cup of coffee.
“Thank you,” I take it and start to sip, grateful for the pick-me-up. I’ve got a full day at the office and I’m catering an event tonight, so I’m going to need all of the caffeine I can get in order to make it through the day.
“Anything for you.”
“Where did you sleep?” I ask.
“I crashed in your bed,” he looks a little sheepish. “I know it’s super weird. I’m sorry. I should have slept in a chair or something, but you don’t have a guest room and you were already on the couch. I didn’t want to move you and risk waking you up.”
Tony Diamond slept in my bed.
Tony fucking Diamond was in my bed, between my sheets, and he’s apologizing?
Oh, I can’t wait to go smell my damn sheets later. I bet they smell like his aftershave now. Fuck yeah. Talk about masturbation city. I know exactly how I’m going to be spending my weekend now.
“That’s totally fine,” I say, hoping my face doesn’t give away my secret inner thoughts. If he knew how I was tearing him apart in my fantasies right now, Tony would definitely be running.
“I had a good time last night, Macie.”
“Me too.” Everything about the date was fun and sweet. Well, except for the whole me-falling-asleep thing. That’s mostly just embarrassing.
“I’d like to see you again.”
“Really? I mean, I would, too. It’s just that…”
“What?”
Honesty.
Communication.
Trust.
These are the things that are so important to Tony. These are the values I need to work on if a relationship of any sort is going to happen with him. I haven’t had a lot of experience with sexual relationships or with being open. I’m not used to saying how I feel.
The dating world is one big, messy game, and I’m used to playing that.
I’m not used to spreading my cards out on the table, face up, and showing them to the other player.
That’s what I’m going to do with Tony, though. I like him a lot. He’s smart and interesting, and he’s thoughtful. He’s kind. There’s this saying that if someone is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, he isn’t a nice person. That’s not Tony. Tony is nice to everyone. He was kind to the bartendress at Anchored. He was kind to my friends. He’s calm. He’s stable.
And he’s here, now, waiting for me to tell him what’s bothering me.
“We didn’t have sex last night,” I tell him. “In your world, isn’t that kind strange? I mean, don’t you usually have sex on the first date?”
“Do you?”
“No! I mean,” I calm myself. “No. I don’t. Ever.”
“So why would last night be any different?” He asks slowly.
“I mean, I guess, I just assumed that you would want that.”
“Macie, the only thing I want is to get to know you. I have no expectations of our sexual relationship except that sometimes, I’ll Dominate you. I would love to tell you to drop to your knees and worship my cock. I would love to tie you up, to tease you for hours. I would love to play with your body and make you come over and over and over again. I would love all of those things, but those aren’t as important as us getting to know each other. I want to know everything about you, Macie. I want to know what makes you tick and what makes you laugh. I want to know what makes you smile, and I want to make you smile at me.”
I set my coffee down, drop my blanket, and go to him. I’m naked and he’s dressed, but I forget about my modesty and just wrap my arms around him.
“Thank you,” I whisper. “I had an incredible time last night, and I’m lucky to have met you. I’m not used to being around people who respect me. It sounds kind of pathetic, but the truth is that most guys aren’t like you, Tony. Most guys aren’t going to be okay with the fact that I didn’t put out. They certainly wouldn’t have stuck around to make sure I was okay. Thank you for that.”