“No.Now get out. Go get ready for your workweek while I try to decompress from mine.” She added under her breath, “I wouldn’t be surprised if your dick falls off from overuse.”
He laughed as she pushed him out the door, always amused whenever innocent-looking Ann Weaver, second grade teacher, swore like a truck driver.
The rest of the night passed by in a blur. Work went smoothly the next day, and he and Ann met Monday night at a coffee shop for a walk around the neighborhood.
He loved that she liked to be physical both in bed and outside it. Walking, hiking, even biking, though she’d made it clear she didn’t particularly care for running, Ann enjoyed the outdoors, like him. He’d been with too many women who only wanted to watch movies or sit on the computer, Facebooking their way through life.
They took their coffees to go and bundled up as they walked under the fading twilight. He could see her clearly under the full moon, growing brighter as the clouds dispersed. Nearby, others walked along the sidewalks, enjoying the outside air as well.
“Good day?” she asked.
He wanted to hear that every day. He’d come home from work and see her waiting for him. In the kitchen, the living room, by the front door. She’d smile and welcome him home. They’d kiss, and she’d ask about his day, just like that. Then he’d ask about hers. They’d share stories and decide what to do for dinner.
The domestic scene would have bored him a few years ago, but lately he couldn’t think of anything but being closer to Ann.
“Hello? Earth to Jack?”
He hid a grin behind his coffee cup. “Yeah, I’m settling in at the college. How about you? Any more Grand Canyons to deal with?”
She laughed. “Not yet. Though I did interrupt a glue fight and had to send Mike and Toby to the principal. Those two have gotten pretty bad.”
After talking and walking some more, they fell into a nice, peaceful quiet. Birds still chirped, and the occasional bat swooped overhead, looking for insects to eat between the tall pines that surrounded them.
The neighborhood suited her. Him too.
“I was thinking,” Ann said quietly.
“Oh?” He wondered if she’d want to keep her house. Maybe they could move in together somewhere bigger? Though he planned on renting something small first, like the cottage he’d been inquiring about around the corner from her place, investing in property while in a buyer’s market made sense.
“We’re moving too fast.”
Something with a garden, because she liked to—“What?”
“It’s just… We’re spending all our time together, having a lot of sex,” she said in a lower voice, “and I’m afraid this is all too soon.”
“What’s too soon? The fact we like being together?”Fuck.He’d pushed too hard. But they had a good thing going. Was he wrong to want more?
“No. But being boyfriend and girlfriend… I just don’t know that I’m ready to commit to that. You’ve only been back two weeks. ”
“I know. But, Ann, we’ve known each other forever. Being back with you feels like I never left.”
“But youdidleave.” She gave him a hard glare. “There’s a lot of life that went on between then and now. I don’t think it’s wrong for me to want to take some time to think about it.”
Though hurt and annoyed, he forced himself to be cool. “I thought we liked hanging out together. Or was that just me?”
She blew out a breath. “No. I like being with you. But I’m used to being on my own or having girl time with Riley and Maya. Now there’s you, and—”
“And what? We’re having sex and it’s amazing. There’s a problem with that?”
She turned beet red. “Would youpleasekeep your voice down?”
“Sorry.” He wanted to punch something. “Is it the sex? Too kinky?” Had he misread the signals? Had he confused his pleasure for hers? At the thought, he felt sick.
“Would youshush?” She slapped a hand over his mouth and tugged him with her out of the path of an oncoming couple and their kids. “No. The sex is fine. Amazing. Orgasmic. Every time.” She frowned. “But that’s not normal. I mean, sure, it had been a while for me before you. But even then I never cameeverytime.” She huffed. “That’s not the point.”
Relieved he hadn’t screwed that up at least, he tried to hear her out. “So what, then?”
She looked around, then up at him. “I…we…”
