He gives her some space.

And so he did what he could. He watched some TV, played on his phone, and even started on some dinner for her.

'What the hell does she like?' He thought. '...sandwiches?' He shook his head. 'That doesn't show you give a shit. Make something fancy.'

He made some very shitty spaghetti.

"Fuck." He said aloud.

...He also decided to snoop in her overnight bag. 'Well, I don't think this is a violation of privacy. After all, she was going to use this stuff here, so...'

Inside he found:

• An oversized sweatshirt (of course)
• A bottle of shampoo
• A very suggestive thong
• Some lube
• A chocolate bar
• Some lipstick
• Hair ties
• Another thong (nice)
• A pair of athletic shorts
• Some socks
• A contacts case
• 10 XP
• A worn bronze sword (suitable for any beginning adventurer)
• 25 gold
• And a partridge in a pear tree

He packed it all up and zipped her bag. He sighed as he looked at how dark it was getting. Damned sun setting early in the winter. Maybe he should check on her.

He felt his phone go off in his pocket.

[New Text Message]
5:20 P.M.
From: Zoey

come cuddle with me please

Say no more. He sprung up off of his chair and felt his heart race as he approached his own door. He was undoubtedly nervous. He shook it off. 'C'mon, Tyler. She needs you.'

He opened the door and saw she did actually curl up inside of his bed. She looked up at him but said nothing before looking back over to the side.

He began to make his way to the bed.

"Naked, please." She said as she heard the covers ruffle. He then noticed her clothes on the floor. Her hair was also down, as noted by the hair tie.

"Zoe, you don't have to do anything."

"I don't mean like that. I just...I wanna feel you. I wanna feel your skin against mine. Sleeping on your side and smelling you made me miss you."

He did as she asked and stripped to his birthday suit and crawled in. Spooning her, he wrapped his arm around her and cupped her tightly with his body. He took in her scent and pressed his forehead to her neck, then kissed her. "How're you feeling?" He asked softly.

"Like I'm an idiot."

"Zoe, please."

He heard her sigh. "I'm a total fake, Tyler. I understand if you hate me for lying to you all this time about...my experience."

"Hey." He hugged her closer to him. "I don't give a shit about any of that."

"But I said-"

"I don't give a shit about what you made up. Do you love me?"

"I do." She said without hesitation.

"Then as long as you didn't make that up, I don't care. I don't care how many men you've been with, I don't care what you've done...Zoe, I don't care that you squirt. I only care that you love me and I make you happy."

"You sound like Tom."

"Sorry."

"I've never told him that. I lied to him, too about me in high school. I told him I had a lot of casual sex before settling down with him. Nope. I've only ever really slept with three guys. Devin, Tom...and you."

"I'm your third?"

"You're the only one who...gets me sexually. Devin ruined me, then Tom loved me...but you, Tyler. You get me. Every word, every time we embrace...I wish I could give you my virginity, Tyler. And I don't mean like, have sex with Tom and then give you seconds, I mean you. If I had met you first, I...I'd be a lot different."

"Different how?"

"Not so sexually repressed. Not such a liar in my sexual encounters. Not so insecure about everything I do in bed. Every time we touch I get anxious that you're going to say, 'just kidding!' and then leave me. That's why I tried to slut out so hard. I keep on thinking that maybe if I just go so hard and pretend like I'm so experienced and bad and can talk so raunchy, he can't leave me."

"Zoe, I don't care about any of that."

"I learned everything I know off of the internet. The internet and practice with a dildo. Footjobs, blowjobs...I put a lot of practice into pretending I'm a pro. I even learned dirty talk, not even through experience."

"Zoe, I don't care."

"You really promise?"

"I cross my heart."

She was silent.

"...Thank you."

He kissed her neck.

"Every piece of dirty talk I've ever told you though. I mean them. I want you to do bad things to me."

"I'll do them. And I'll do anything else. Any fetish, any kink. I'm not here to make fun of you, Zoey. I really, really love you. I don't mean that fake bullshit Devin probably said to you, or..." He hesitated hard, "Or even how hard Tom loves you. I love you."

"...would you love me even if we weren't cheating? If it all went away. If we broke up with Tom and Kaitlyn and ran away...Tyler, would you love me still? Or is that just what your cheating brain is telling you to say to keep me from breaking it off and staying with Tom?"

He hesitated.

"Don't answer." She said softly. "I don't even know the answer to that question myself. We're so fucked, Tyler. We're so, so fucked."

"I lied to Kaitlyn about today. I made her cry, I think. She thinks I'm obsessed with work and asked me why I was so interested now."

She scoffed. "I told Tom I was pregnant so I couldn't hang out with him all week. I was just trying to hide him from the truth...the ugly, heartbreaking truth. I'm cheating on him with a taken man. Just a friend from work. A friend who I've let violate me in so many ways."

"Fuck." He said.

"I know. We're terrible people."

"We are."

"Why do I love you?" She asked. "Is it just because this is so wrong, or do I really care about you? I want to get to the bottom of this -- if I broke up with Tom...could I stay with you? Could you stay with me if you broke up with Kaitlyn? Are our feelings for each other just bullshit our brains are telling us so we keep on fueling our sick, sick fetish?"

He hesitated again. "I'm afraid of the answer. I'm afraid to let go of you. I'm afraid of losing this moment, Zoey. If that's what love is, then no, my brain isn't tricking me. I genuinely love you, Zoey. I care about your feelings, your dreams, your past. If this is all my brain trying to convince myself to keep on pretend loving you just for that sweet, sweet explicit and wrong sex, then I'm going through a whole lot of mental loops to not actually love you."

She was silent, but then asked enthusiastically, "What do you love most about me?" She asked. "Um, asking for a friend."

He grinned. "You have this one singular mole on your left buttcheek--"

She kicked him, but laughed for the first time.

"That's what I love the most." He said, leaning up and playing with her hair. "Your laugh. Your smile. It's so intoxicating."

"Pfft. You're so soft." She said.

"I bet you're blushing."

"Am not."

"Are too," he said as he grabbed her shoulder and tried to turn her around, "lemme see that smile so I can pop a heart boner, slut."

She laughed as she fought back against him, but let him overtake her as she turned to face him. Her face was as red as a tomato. He kissed her nose. Even redder.

"What about me?" He asked, pressing his forehead to hers.

She thought for a moment.

"Everything."

He rolled his eyes.

"No, I mean it. Everything. You're like...my wet dream. When I was a kid, I always pictured my dream guy to be sweet, charming, kind, and funny. I always pictured him kinda broad -- not to lean, not too big, just...like you. I..." She leaned into his chest and rested her ear against his heart, listening to it beat. "I always pictured him making me feel safe."

He wrapped an arm around her.

"I always pictured him making me feel like I was at home. And you..." She looked up at him, her eyes still puffy from crying, "I'm in love with you. I'm in love with everything about you. It's not an insincere, cheating love, either. I realize that now. Tyler, if we broke up with Tom and Kaitlyn, I would, without a shadow of a doubt in my mind still love you."

"Even if I had a small penis?"

"You're the biggest I've ever had."

That made his confidence skyrocket. "Oh my."

"I probably shouldn't have told you that. Ugh." She buried her face in his chest.

"No no. I appreciate the compliment. You're definitely my favorite sex partner. I don't even think I can go back to normal sex with Kaitlyn, to be honest. It kinda scares me."

"Same. I've only slept with you once but I already know it's the best I've ever had."

"If we break up with them, can I still cum inside? That's not just, like, a cheating fetish thing...right?"

"Oh no. Um...you're also the first to really do that, too. Devin and Tom always used condoms. I was pretending to want it, but now that its happened, that's all I can think about when I remember us fucking."

"You just love bolstering my confidence, don't you? What else was I your first at?"

She grinned. "Fucking my butt."

"But we haven't--oh."

She wiggled an eyebrow.

"Nice."

"I brought lube in my overnight. I figured, well, if I couldn't give you my virginity in my mouth, feet, hands, or vagina...I could let the head of my ass' fan club violate me there, at the very least."

He shook his head. "Not tonight."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"It's getting awfully hot underneath these covers, Zoey..." He leaned into her. "I want this night to be about you." Even closer. "Give me those feet."