She closed her front door behind them, and he tore off his shirt. "I'm so overheated right now, I'm about to be inappropriate, I'm sorry."
"Nothing I haven't seen before, you do you." She sat on the couch and tried to regulate her breathing. He took off his pants and shirt, leaving only his tank and boxer briefs. They sat on the couch and guzzled the last of her water and used the rest of her ice cubes.
He went over and splayed face up onto her bed, trying to stretch out and cool off from the walk. At one point she went and laid down beside him. She propped her head up with her hand and turned to face him.
She asked him to listen, because she wanted to be clear about her intent with their friendship. It stuck with her how much his ex had crapped all over his job, and she wanted him to know that his job situation was not anything to be ashamed about. His job paid well, they liked him, and he was on a path for advancement. That's more than almost anyone could ask in this day and age. It wasn't their parents generation anymore, where you got 7 job offers as soon as you graduated college, and you stayed there until your 50th where you got a gold watch and a pension. That time was over, but they were raised to believe it wasn't.
"You are not a project, you are a person. A person that I like for who they are. I just want you to be able to see you for who you are. You have a great job that pays well. You are also a loud annoying jackwad sometimes. But you can also be very nice and thoughtful and do the right thing. I don't want you to see an inflated version of yourself, I want you to see an accurate version of yourself. You've got plenty of shit to work on, and I'll call you out on it, but in the end it is up to you to work out. You've got to do you. No one can help you with that."
He was staring up at the ceiling during her monologue, and as she finished he nodded slightly and closed his eyes. She let him take in what she was telling him, and he turned to face her. They looked into each other's eyes, getting lost as they almost always did.
"What? I know you want to say something" he asked her.
"I was going to say that I could get--"
"--lost in your eyes?" he finished with a smirk.
"Yeah," she smiled back "but I didn't want to say that because then you'll just get a swelled head."
He gave her a genuine smile, and reached out and put his hand on the side of her face, and gently stroked her cheek. Then he leaned in and kissed her warmly. The warmness grew to passion, though their hands were still intertwined romantically.
Much like Goldilocks, their third sexual encounter was "just right." They experimented and pushed boundaries together, working as a team for the first time, instead of him taking the lead. It was nice, consensual, expressive experience. There were 2 new positions they tried out, and although they didn't work, it was fun to try.
It went so well, and was so beautiful, she almost never wanted to see him again. Just hold onto this as their last moment.
But she had already invited him to hang out and watch the fireworks for Independence Day a few days later.
Damn.
