Practice makes perfect

You had been speaking with Grace throughout your workout but it had only been about the exercise itself, the conversation not drifting very far from what you were doing at the time. Now that you were resting however, you had the perfect idea of what to talk about next.

“Hey I really appreciate you doing this” you started, genuinely happy that she had taken the time to help you.

“Oh you don’t have to thank me. If you need help just ask me anytime” Grace replied, saying that line that was perfect for you to jump off from.

“I don’t want to take advantage of you saying that but I do actually have something I want to ask you” you said, nervously placing your hands together on your lap.

In your head, you were planning on acting nervous and a bit skittish but now that you had to follow through with what you were about to say, you no longer needed to act, just finding the situation more nerve-wracking than you actually thought it would be as Grace waited for you to continue.

“The thing is, with Emma being my first girlfriend I have no idea if I’m doing any of the right things you know? And she’s probably the same right but there's just some things that I want to make sure I’m doing properly or there might be a time where the both of us regret it ten years down the line” you explained, hoping she would ask for specifics so you wouldn’t have to say it first.

“You’re thinking about ten years from now?” Grace asked, trying to hide a smile while you realised what you had admitted.

“Well…yeah. I can’t exactly say I’m treating our relationship lightly when I’m talking to you can I?” You joked back, trying to brush off your embarrassment but making Grace’s smile widen in the process.

This wasn’t the mood you were going for when you started this but now that she seemed a bit more relaxed, you decided to get to the crux of your plan.

“But you get what I’m saying right? If at some point down the line, Emma thinks that she's missing out on something by being with me then…” you continued, getting interrupted before you could carry on.

“Oh Emma wouldn’t do that. She's the type to never have that thought cross her mind” Grace said, cutting you off and giving you a look of sympathy at your dilemma.

“Still, now that I’ve thought about it, I can’t really get it out of my head. And that's kind of why I’m mentioning this now. I was hoping you could just see if I’m doing well at some things or if you think I need to improve” you suggested, waiting for Grace to say anything in response.

“...What sort of things are you talking about here?” Grace asked, not sounding fully confident about where you were taking this topic.

“Well I mean… we have already done some of it to be honest. The texts we have been sending were gonna be one of my suggestions. I wouldn’t call it flirting but it hasn’t been exactly innocent either” you replied, seeing Grace without a slightly guilty expression as you carried on.

“But that's fine. It’s harmless and the both of us have been enjoying it so why not do it. Plus I really do think it's helping me be more confident when I try to be a bit more forward with Emma when I know that you haven’t found anything I’ve said to be too offensive or anything like that” you said, trying to relieve her guilt.

“As long as you don’t start asking to get topless photos of my daughter…” Grace mumbled, loud enough that it was clear she wanted you to hear.

“We aren’t at that stage yet but if or when we are it would be really helpful if I had had some practice with you on how to make her feel as loved or as beautiful as she could be right?” you asked, getting a **** nod from Grace who couldn’t help but admit she’d want Emma to feel happy.

“For the texting, I was hoping we could actually go a bit further and be a bit flirtier or just be a bit more forward. I mean some of the times you have sent me photos I’ve wanted to say some more explicit things but I wasn’t sure if it was taking things too far” you admitted.

“Like what?” Grace asked, perking up and looking curious as to what you would say next.

“Just stuff like what I would do if you were actually in the room next to me when you sent the photo or asking what you would let me do to you… stuff that didn’t seem appropriate but would be normal between two people dating. Exactly what I was hoping to get practice on” you replied, trying to use her kink to your advantage.

Grace seemed to get as embarrassed as you were earlier but given that she wasn’t angry with you at the mere mention of your suggestion, you took that as a good sign for the moment and decided to press on.

“And the other main thing I wanted to practice was… well… there's no good way to try and phrase this so I’ll just come out and say it. I think I need to work on my kissing, '' you admitted, getting a startled look from Grace.

“Really? Emma told me that…” Grace said on a reflex, quickly cutting herself off before she said anything else.

You wanted to let out a smirk now that you knew Emma had been talking you up to her mother, trying to improve your image in any way she could. This was the first time you had heard of Emma helping with your other subjects when you hadn’t specifically planned anything between you but having her independent help was unlikely to do any harm, except in cases exactly like this where you wanted to downplay yourself.

“I’m not gonna ask what Emma has told you but I do think she will be a bit biased. Plus with what I was saying before, maybe I am a bad kisser and it's just that Emma doesn’t know the difference? You're kind of the only one I can go to with this at the moment and even if there was someone else, I don’t think that would be fair to Emma'' you replied, not asking Grace to clarify what she and Emma had discussed, making her lower her guard slightly.

“And you think Emma wouldn’t mind you kissing me instead? Grace asked, making it hard to resist telling her Emma had suggested you do this in the first place.

“I think it's a lot better than picking someone at random. The only other people would be my family but that's… not a conversation for today” you said, trying to phrase it without outright lying to Grace.

She didn’t seem to notice anything strange with your wording but she still looked unsure about the whole thing. From her expression, you could tell that the kissing was a step too far for her currently, given that all of your interactions had basically been through text or just her teasing you by wearing less, nothing that had been intimate enough to involve physical contact.

Part of you wanted to backtrack so that you could more easily get her to agree to the more flirty sexting but given that she hadn’t refused your suggestion yet, you were considering adding to your argument a little more.