Pillow talk.

Satisfied that Joseph was finally content, Kat smiled. "It looks like my job here is done. Unless you need anything else from me, I'll take off and let you two have some privacy."

Beth looked to Joseph and he realized they were waiting on a response. "Uh, no. Thanks. That was, um, great." He was acutely aware of how lame he sounded, but it didn't bother Kat. She grinned and turned to leave. From the foyer she called out, "Let me know next time you wanna good lay!"

As soon as she was gone, Beth turned to him, beaming. "Now aren't you glad I texted her?"

Joseph was still pondering this. Beth took his silence as confirmation. She took his hand and led him into the bedroom. Before he spoke, she cut him off. "Now, I know how this works. You want to date me. You want us to form a real relationship, not just jump into a one-night stand." She pushed him gently down onto the bed and sat next to him. "But don't you wanna cuddle a little? Feel what it's like to be my boyfriend?" She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

Joseph couldn't argue with that. The two lay together. She turned her back to him and wrapped his arms around her midsection, brushing her hair away so it wouldn't get in his face. As they spooned, he idly traced circles on her taut midsection. She sighed contentedly and squeezed his hand.

His curiosity was overwhelming him, though. "So," he began awkwardly, "you're like, um, into me now?" He didn't know how else to phrase it.

Beth paused for so long he wasn't sure she heard him. Finally, she spoke softly. "Sort of. I just... I want you to be happy. To be content. I want you to get everything you need and want." She reached a hand back to stroke his neck.

"What does that mean, though? Are you saying you didn't want me to be happy before? Or do you like, have to do everything I say or something? And when did you decide all of this?"

She sighed. "It means what it sounds like it means. Nothing is more important to me than making you happy. Think about it like this. Suppose you're stranded on an island for years. Now, you've spent weeks building yourself a perfect shelter. It took a ton of effort and it's protected you from the wind and the rain and the heat and cold. You're really proud of it and it's the only thing that's kept you alive through some of the worst storms."

"Now suppose a ship comes by. You know you could alert them with a fire, but the only thing big enough to create that much smoke is the shelter. You would immediately burn the shelter, right? All of those hours and days spent working on it, all of the times it saved your life - that's nothing compared to the importance of getting off the island. If you could just get back to civilization, you wouldn't care what became of any of your tools or shelter or anything else."

She turned to look him in the eye. "That's how I feel about you. Of course I still have my own ambitions and needs and hopes and goals. I still want to write a novel and get a better job and work out more. But none of that matters at all compared to what you want. If I could make you just a tiny bit happier by giving up my writing ambitions, I would do it in a heartbeat. If cutting off contact with my loved ones benefited you in anyway I would do it tomorrow. Many things are important but nothing - nothing - is more important than you."

Joseph was stunned. His face must have betrayed his shock because Beth giggled a little. "You want me to be your girlfriend, so guess what? I'm your girlfriend." She booped him on the nose, then continued. "As for when, I'm not sure. It seemed to have happened at the restaurant last night. I have a theory, though. Did you happened to touch Kat last night? Like brush against her or something?"

He thought about it. "Maybe. Do you think it's like a touch thing?"

"I don't know. I wasn't really paying attention to it but it seems like I started feeling after I got up to go the bathroom. I think I brushed against you when I moved past your chair to get out. Did you touch anyone else last night?"

He thought for a second. "I think I touched James on the armrest. Other than that, maybe the waiter or the bartender? I'm not sure."

She stroked his hair. God, it felt good. "Well, we can test it more in the morning. And to answer your final question, I don't have to do everything you say. I don't have to do anything, I just want to. I want to do whatever it takes to make you happy."

A thought struck him. "What if it wears off? Will you be ok with this? Oh God, will Kat?"

She put a finger to his lips. "We'll worry about that if and when it happens. For now, just let me make you feel good. Come here."

She laid back and brought his head onto her chest. Her wonderfully soft, firm breasts made incredible pillows. She slowly stroked his arms and began humming softly. As the events of the day finally caught up to him, Joseph quickly fell into a deep slumber.