A step forward

After another round of laughing and gentle caressing on the dirt, we decided that the moment had lost its luster and things were getting pretty itchy and uncomfortable. Tidying ourselves up as the best we could, we went our separate ways - but not before Amy pulled me in for another scorching kiss. "Later," she smirked, before biting her lip, unable to manage her next word, before finally deciding on "...Ian." Then she pressed her fingers to her cheeks as another blush blossomed into being, before she headed home.

That night, I slept like a baby.

In the days that passed, Amy and I largely remained the same as ever, even as we tried to figure out how things stood between us. For the most part Amy was still pretty open about guys she considered hot and bed-worthy, and completely unapologetic about that fact. "You don't mind, do you?" she asked me once. It was after describing the chiseled body of one of her classmates in Judo, Miguel - followed by a detailed play-by-play of the steamy, sweaty sex fantasy she had of them in the sauna. I smiled and gave her an understanding hug.

"Amy, I've lived my fantasies with you and the other girls. Multiple times," I teased. "I'm not in much of a position to complain."

"Pfff," Amy snickered. "And how about you? Just so you know, you can still think about Corrine and Elizabeth and the others from time to time. That's not going to change overnight even if you want it to, right?"

I paused.

"...It's funny," I admitted. "But I haven't been thinking about it like I used to. I mean, I still get dreams, but... now they're usually about you. Just us."

"You idiot," murmured Amy, giving me a light nudge. "Are you trying to make me feel guilty?"

"No way." I held her wrist and squeezed it gently. "You're not going to change overnight. Even if I want you to."

She smiled at me, in a way that I could only describe as demure - another adjective that I never dreamed of associating with her - and then she quickly hugged me in the middle of the hallway. "Thanks," she whispered, before we went off in different directions to continue our school schedules.

All right, so maybe things had changed.