"I know. It's the same for me."

"Tell me where you live. I'll come to you. I need to be with you."

If I told him where I lived, he'd be here in minutes, and- "Not tonight."

He groaned in frustration, and as if in reflex, I grabbed my crotch.

Well, these were clean underwear.

"Come back," he begged, his voice sounding tortured. "Come back, so I can touch you and hold you. It wasn't enough."

"No, it wasn't," I agreed, sounding a bit breathless myself. "But I'm home now and showered and in bed-"

He moaned and then sucked in a sharp breath. "Showered and in bed? How fuckin' close do you live to me?"

I chuckled. "Uh, yeah...pretty close."

"How close?"

"Too close for my comfort," I joked.

"You're killin' me, Baby Girl. Tell me-"

"No. Not tonight."

"Why not?" he demanded.

"Because! If you come over here or I go over there, then I won't be able to just let you hold me and touch me!" I told him.

"You're all I can think about," he confessed. "I've got such a fuckin' ragin' hard-on that I had to lock myself in my room. I want to feel you so bad-"

I gasped, "Damn, Phil."

"I've waited too long for you. I ain't up to playin' games. I'm done with it. I don't think I can hold back from you, no matter how hard I try."

Seized by this openly frank energy pouring through the phone, I asked, "Are you...touching yourself?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Yes."

"That's good 'cause I've been jackin' off since I heard your sexy little voice through the phone."

Well...damn.

"Are you as wet for me as I'm hard for you?"

I slid my hand under my panties. "Yes."

He moaned, and I nearly came at the sound.

"Tell me why you waited for me," he demanded. "I need to know why you waited."

"I don't know," I whispered. "It's crazy. I just couldn't see myself committed to anyone else but you. For a long time, I couldn't even think of another man touching me. Not since...I think it was the moment you took my hand. That was it. I was yours."

He sucked in a ragged breath. "Baby Girrrl..."

"Why didn't you forget about me?" I asked.

"The minute I saw you that night, that was it. You were mine. And the moment I touched your hand...you stole my soul."

I bit my lip, his words and voice bringing me that much closer to orgasm, more than the rubbing of my fingers over my clit.

"You're The One. The only One. I couldn't forget you, no matter how hard I tried."

"Something like that..." I said, losing my voice by the end.

"You tried to forget, too?"

I swallowed thickly, trying to locate my lost voice. "Yes."

"How did that work out for you?"

"It didn't."

He grunted in agreement. "I want to do this right, Kenna."

"What exactly is this?"

"Everything."

"Ev-everything?"

"Yes."

I gasped and rubbed harder.

"Fuck, you keep making those sexy little noises, and I'm gonna fuckin' come-"

His voice pushed me right over the edge, and I bit my lip and moaned at the same time. I heard his phone drop-or got thrown-and his own muffled shout as if he'd shoved a pillow into his mouth. Then, the sound of his scrambling to find the phone came through.

"Kenna-" he gasped.

I could only pant in reply. "Y-yeah?"

"Fuck," he groaned.

"Phil?"

"Yeah, Baby Girl."

"I want to do this right, too."

Breathing heavily, he said, "You have to promise me that you'll tell me if I'm fuckin' it up. I-I don't want to mess this up. I ain't good at this shit."

Could've fooled me!

"I promise," I said, feeling the need to sort some shit out in my own head. "I'm going to go now-"

"No!"

"Yes. I-I need to go to-" Shit, my brain's fried. "I just need to get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Don't go, please! Baby Girl-"

"Good night, Phil."

"Kenna!"

"Good night," I repeated before hanging up.

Brilliant sunlight streamed into my room. My whole body felt light and carefree, and it took me a few seconds before I remembered why.

Phil!

It was ten a.m. I heard no one else moving around, so I quietly got up and headed for the back porch to do a rigorous round of sun salutations and soul-crushing yoga. I aimed to release some serious energy through twists, bends, and poses meant to leave me feeling calm and focused by the end. Phil had me so hot and bothered that I felt like I could jump out of my own skin, and I wanted to squash that feeling, so I could just hang out with him and be myself today.

Birds chirped as I rolled out my mom's bamboo yoga mat. I raised my arms and saluted the magnificent golden illuminator. Ninety minutes later, I was sweating my ass off in lotus pose, allowing myself to cool down.

"Morning, Sweet Pea! Want some coffee?"

"Yes, please."

"Sweet espresso?"

"Yeah, thanks."

My Muffin knows me so well, I thought with a smile.

"So...did you talk to him after we got home last night?" She came out on the porch with two espressos.

"Um, yeah, for a little bit," I replied as I stood up. I rolled up the mat and took a seat in my designated wrought iron chair.

"Did you guys discuss what you're doing today?"

"No." I felt my face go red.

Alys's eyebrows shot to her hairline. "What did you talk about?"

"Um..."

"Never mind. I think it's too early for me to know."

I heard my phone buzzing on the kitchen counter, and I hopped up. No, I'm not excited or anything.

Your Phil was calling me.

"It's him!" I cried.

"Well, answer it!" She laughed back.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Baby Girl."

"Hey," I replied, sounding a lot cooler than I felt.

"Wanna grab some grub?"

"Yeah, that sounds great. I just need to shower first. Gimme about half an hour?"

"Sure. I can come pick you up."

"I'll meet you at your place. Lili's still sleeping."

He sighed. "Yeah, all right."

"See you in a bit."

I wasn't ready for him to have full access just yet. I wasn't exactly sure why, but I felt I needed to get to know him a little more first. If he couldn't understand that, then that was his problem, not mine.

"He wants to go to lunch," I told Alys. I threw back my espresso.

"Will we see you at all the rest of the weekend?" she asked, smiling brightly.

I smiled back. "I don't know. Maybe."

"Call me, if anything."

"Will do."

I showered as quickly as possible, and I threw on some faded cutoff jean shorts, bra sans underwire, and a dark green tank top. I piled my hair on top of my head in a messy but hopefully cute knot, and I slipped flip-flops onto my feet. Grabbing my Burlap Beast, I found my favorite pair of Jackie O sunglasses and headed out the door.

This was who I was-the nearly flat-chested, makeup-free, comfort-loving dirty hippie. This was the me he'd need to see and accept.

As I drove Gretchen over to the Plantation House, those massive creatures that liked to make an appearance in my gut whenever Phil was involved started doing a riverdance, especially since we'd heard each other get off last night. I wished I wasn't so embarrassed about that. I loved hearing him get off. I wanted to be watching the next time he did.

What a skeevy fucking perv I am.