Deana’s alarm went off at 7:30, the loud volume jarring them both awake. At a lower volume it would gently wake her up, but on loud the gentle tones seemed harsh. 

She turned to kiss him, a light hum coming from her lips. “I could really get used to this…” He nodded in agreement. “You’re better to wake up to than a loud alarm…”  He smiled, then kissed her again.  

He looked at her, her hair messed up from sleep.  Even first thing in the morning, she’s cute, he thought.  

She got up, went into the bathroom, and started getting dressed for work after helping out with Ms. S.  She opted to have her hair down, and her glasses were in her purse.  She didn’t like how she looked in them, and certainly didn’t want Justin to see her in them.  He slowly got up, clearly not as much of a morning person as she was.  “I can make you some tea before I go.  It’s usually a quick bowl of cereal before I’m out the door on Wednesdays.”  He shook his head, still waking up.  “I’ll get my stuff started, if you’re not out there before I’m ready to go, I’ll come in for a goodbye kiss.”

She headed down the hall to the kitchen, getting a bowl of Raisin Bran Crunch.  She took her time eating, trying to figure out how long it took him to be functionally awake.  It had been a later night at karaoke than usual, but still getting back by midnight.  Then after their kissing, it was probably closer to 1, 1:30, so maybe 6 hours of sleep when he was used to much more.  

He was still dressed from the night before, so once he actually got out of bed, everything else was easy.  He slowly walked down the hall to the kitchen, putting his arms around her, kissing the base of her neck.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish,” she teased.  “Sorry, force of habit, but not really habit… Do you wanna come over for dinner and a movie on Friday night, stay over into Saturday?”

A smile spread across his face, nodding his head.  

“I guess I’m glad Dani doesn’t really live here anymore.  I know we’re both adults, but it’s still awkward if there’s a guy over.  She’d practically kick them out of bed after so I wouldn’t have to see them in the morning.  Didn’t stop her from making sure I could hear them, though…”  Justin smiled, wondering just how loud she would be when the time came.

She finished her cereal, made sure she had everything she needed, standing by the front door.  “I’ll talk to you later, and see you on Friday?”  He nodded.  She went to kiss him, but he pulled her close and kissed her deeply, not wanting to let her go.  When he loosened his embrace, she sighed.  “REALLY glad we’re doing this.  It feels right, and no way I can mistake kisses like THAT for just being friends… Bye babe.”  He opened the door for her, watching her walk down the hall, then waiting at the window.  He opened the window a little, giving a whistle as he saw her walk down the street.  She smiled and waved him off, turning a corner out of view.  

He headed back to his place and crashed on the couch because it was closer than his bed.  He figured he would get a few more hours of sleep in, shower, change, then go get his usual tea from Michele.

…

Volunteering at school went well, they were doing writing about their favorite thing about winter.  Two more weeks until Christmas, one more week of school, and the kids were starting to get excited.  The classroom was decorated with different festive colors for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, with an overall theme and candles and light.  

“I’m sure you have work next Friday, but you’re more than welcome to come and stop by for the holiday party,” Ms. S. said.  

“I’ll see what I can do,” Deana replied, already forming an idea.  

“How are things with you and your guy?” she asked.

“Good, we’re good.  Great, actually.  It’s the happiest I’ve been in a long time.”

“You deserve it, Deana.  I can’t wait to finally meet him at some point.”

“Oh, you will.”

She left the school, heading for work.  She was usually in a good mood going into work, but today was an especially good mood.  She was practically glowing as she walked in.

“Damn, girl, you get lucky last night or something?” a female coworker whispered as she got behind the counter.

“Not exactly, no, but things are going really well with the guy I’m seeing…”

“I’m sure Justin will be sad to hear that,” she replied.

Within 10 minutes of her shift, up popped his mobile order.  His new usual, green tea with honey.  Deana got the slip and put it on the cup, then grabbed a pen.  She wrote on the cup before filling the drink.  

As he walked in, he saw Michele and smiled a little.  He watched her as he walked up to the bar.  She was making a drink and made a minor slip up.  She said to herself “why did I do that?” and his ears perked up.  The voice and tone sounded familiar, like he’d heard that phrase said that exact same way recently.  She saw him standing there, stopped what she was doing, and smiled at him.  He took his drink, and she looked down at it.  

He turned the cup and saw there was something on the cup label.  “Justin, have a great day.  Michele.”  He smiled, raised the cup in thanks, and left.  

Michele is really sweet, he thought to himself.  If I didn’t already have Deana in my life, I think I could like Michele.  Little did he know, he already did.

…

Deana waited until after work to call Danielle about the night before.  She called Dani, putting her phone on speakerphone.  Halfway through ringing, Dani buzzed that she was here.  I should’ve known, Deana thought.

Deana took out the leftovers from last night, and the girls sat on the couch eating as they talked.

“So, how was it?  It did happen, right?” Danielle asked anxiously.

“Oh Dani, it was perfect. It was so romantic, soft and sweet, just going slow, not in a rush for anything.  I pulled him into the bedroom to get more comfortable…”

“Yeah, you did,” Dani interrupted.

“Nothing like that,  well, not really.  He pulled me onto his lap, and next thing I know, I feel something in his pants.  He felt a little guilty.”

“Yeah, he did… Wait, what?”

“He was afraid that just because that happened, that I’d assume he wanted sex.  I told him I still wasn’t ready, but that he had nothing to feel guilty about.  If anything, I feel guilty that I’m not ready to even help him with that problem.”

“Wait, oh, I see what you mean, kinda…”

“I told him I wanna take things slow still.  That I wanna not do a whole lot too soon, but when I’m ready for IT, it’ll all happen at once.  Our first time will be a lot of firsts, not just the final act.  He seems ok with it, but it means I can’t even give him a hand, pun intended.”

“Well, there IS a way around that…  Clothes stay on and everything.”

“What?” Deana asked.

“Wow, I really AM the bad influence, aren’t I?  You dry hump.  You get on top of him and pretend like you’re naked, grind on him until he’s done.  You stay clothed and he gets his release.”

“I guess I’ve always been so quick to let them get under my clothes, or out of them completely, that I never did that with anybody.”

“I had a lot of practice in high school…”

“Eww, you were with my brother in high school, so I really don’t wanna know…” Deana made a disgusted face.

“The joys of working parents, a house to ourselves after school…”

“It’s a wonder you didn’t get pregnant.  Gotta admit, I’m glad you’re not really living here anymore, it would make things awkward.  Either with you and my brother, or me and him.  I know you thought you were being discreet, but the walls are paper thin.  I heard a LOT of what you did with guys you brought home.”

“You’re just bringing it up to me NOW?” she said.

“Well, I didn’t want you to feel weird about bringing guys back here, especially if I wasn’t seeing anyone.”

“You’d have the guys you were with here.  I never heard anything.”

“I had a rule that we had to be quiet so you wouldn’t hear it.  Granted we weren’t having sex, but still.  By the time Paul and I were doing it here instead of his place, you’d started staying at my brother’s.”

“Well, I definitely won’t be here when you two finally do it.  Though not gonna lie, I’d love to be a fly on that wall, you have to tell me EVERYTHING.”

“Um, we deserve a little privacy.  Is it bad I’m already imagining how great it’s gonna be?”

“Uh, no.  That means you’re actually wanting it, not feeling like you have to.  You’re becoming a normal, healthy, sexual woman.  It turns him on, so go with it.”

“I still want to wait a bit.  Things are so good right now, I don’t want to ruin it.”

“Or you embrace it and have mind blowing sex with a super hot guy…”

“Danielle, we’re not teenagers anymore…”

“No, we’re women in our prime and should be out getting some!”

“I’m sure you’re getting plenty for the both of us…”

“Yes ma’am…”

“...AND that’s enough of that.  He’s just so gentle, so great about all of this.  No other guys would’ve waited this long just for a kiss, let alone be ok with just kissing.”

“Oh, honey, there’s a LOT you can do while still clothed. I can leave out names but fill you in on different things to show him you’re interested…”

“He KNOWS I’m interested, that’s why we kissed.”

“I mean sexually. I swear, sometimes you can have your mind in the gutter, other times you can be so naïve.  I’ll totally help you with what to do, then just do it when you feel comfortable. Just giving you info without having to awkwardly search the internet.”

Deana sighed. “Fine, but remember, no names. That way I can imagine me and him, not you and whoever it was.”

The girls talked for a while, Deana turning several shades of red at how naive she has been. Her phone buzzed. 

Haven’t heard from you much today, hoping you’re ok. I know it’s almost bedtime, so I just wanted to say goodnight. ???? Miss you, can’t wait til Friday. 

“What’s Friday?” Danielle asked. 

“He’s coming for dinner and a movie, staying the night…”

“Ooooh,” Dani teased. 

Sorry, Danielle came by and we’ve been talking. Miss you too. Friday can’t come soon enough. 

Tell her I say hi, I’m sure you’re talking about me. 

Just how great you are ????????

Well, glad to hear there’s no complaints…

None so far, except my bed is cold and lonely without you…

Friday, babe, Friday

I’ll be dreaming of you

Sweet dreams. 

“Ugh, I may be sick…” Dani teased. “Seriously though, this is shaping up to be the healthiest relationship you’ve ever been in. I’m happy for you. Jonathan is too.  I better let you get to bed, but you know we had to talk about last night.”

“Talk to you later Dani,” Deana said, opening the door for her. She was alone again in her apartment. She got ready for bed, wishing her was there to snuggle up to. Deana knew that once work started back up, it would be a long time before they’d have a night together. She started to think she shouldn’t be too used to him staying over, just to be sad once he was gone. 

She shifted her focus to how happy he made her, and that feeling could carry her through any time away from him. Sleep came easier, and soon she was dreaming, a smile on her face.