How's our girl?

Zack had been playing games on his phone. He started cleaning but Sarah quickly stopped him. "When the week's over this place is gonna be spotless," she'd said cheerfully. She wanted to do every chore she'd held off on, knowing that she'd enjoy every minute of them.

For now, though, she was just laying on the couch with her hands folded over her stomach staring at the ceiling. She had a huge smile plastered across her face and had barely moved. Finally he looked over at her. "Thirty minutes is up. How you doing?"

She leapt off the couch and hugged him. Pulling back, she locked him in a passionate kiss. When it finally broke she grinned. "That was incredible! I've never enjoyed doing nothing so much!" Her giddiness was contagious and he smiled.

"So what was it like? Were you zoned out, or thinking? Was it like being asleep?"

She laughed. "It wasn't like any of those things! It's like getting a really good massage. I just relaxed and felt it. I felt all the goodness, the happiness, just welling up in me. God, I can't believe how good this all is."

Zack was at a loss for words. Every time he thought he was finally used to Sarah's newfound joy she surprised him again with her intensity. As if on cue, she spoke: "Let's do something I hate."

"We already did the fish thing." He didn't like where this was going.

"No, not that! Not just eating food I don't like, I wanna try something that normally drives me nuts. Stuff like getting stuck in traffic or stubbing my toe." She chuckled. "Not those specifically. God, it's hard for me to even think of stuff I don't like. It's like that whole side of my brain is shut down. What don't I like?"

He had a thought, but he hesitated to bring it up. After a moment of consideration, he said "You could always, um, shower with me."

She registered a look of shock, then a huge smile. "Yes! Yes yes yes! Zack, this is gonna be awesome!"

They discovered early on in the relationship that one of his favorite acts of intimacy was one she hated. He loved the idea of sharing a shower, of carefully and sensually cleaning one another, of closeness and steaminess and warmth. Sarah, on the other hand, felt sickeningly self-conscious and ****. The shower was her retreat, her place to be alone. To share that with another person was an act of profound psychological violation. They had tried it once and she had ended up in tears for hours.

Zack felt a little guilty even bringing it up. Sarah picked up on this. "Zack, please, please, please don't feel bad. I asked for things I hate! This is great, it's something I hate doing that you love. It's the perfect answer." She kissed him again, placing his hand on her cheek. "I love you and I can't wait to shower with you."