They lay tangled in Dana’s sheets, her head tucked beneath Lind’s chin, their legs a loose knot under the covers. The afterglow wasn’t sharp or electric anymore—it had mellowed into warmth. A stillness. The kind of quiet that made Dana feel like maybe this could last.
Lind’s fingers traced lazy lines across her bare back. “You feel… open,” he said softly, almost like he hadn’t meant to say it out loud.
Dana lifted her head just enough to glance up at him. “Open?”
He nodded. “Like you’re not hiding anything. It’s rare. Most people, I don’t know… hold pieces of themselves back.”
Dana blinked, then settled against him again. “Maybe I did. For a while.” A pause. “But I got tired of pretending.”
He didn’t push. Just kept drawing those soft, aimless patterns on her skin. She let herself stay in that space a little longer—then added, “The first guy I slept with—I faked it. Just laid there and let him think he rocked my world.”
Lind’s hand stilled, but only for a beat. “Why?”
“Because I thought that’s what you did,” she said simply. “Smile, say thank you, pretend it meant something.”
She could feel his attention now—not his weight, not his warmth, but his focus. It made her want to keep going.
“There was one before college. Kyle.” Her voice dipped. “He was the first one who made me come.”
She paused. Let the words hang.
“By our fourth time, he looked at me like he’d conjured something he didn’t know how to send back. Like he’d opened a door he couldn’t close fast enough.”
Lind’s voice came low, steady. “That wasn’t about you. That was about him.”
Dana gave a small, dry laugh. “That’s what I told myself. But it kept happening. Guys liked how direct I was. How unashamed. Until they didn’t. Until it stopped being a turn-on and started feeling like a challenge.”
Lind didn’t speak. Just curled his arm a little tighter around her.
She tilted her head up again, met his eyes. “You really okay with that? With me?”
He leaned down, brushed a kiss against her temple. “I’m not just okay with it, Dana. I like that about you. I see you. All of you. And I’m still right here.”
Where to go next
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Extras – return to supplemental material
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