Chapter 30: Something About Mary

July, 1986

Bob POV: (Continued)

I had to laugh when I saw the shrink-wrapped pallet sitting where our little table had been. Somebody had covered it with a large tarp to keep it as inconspicuous as possible. We’d only been here for a couple minutes when Linda, Mary, Jamie, Sarah, Joni and Sheila padded around the corner and enveloped us in hugs and passionate kisses.

They were all beautiful and nekkid! And like any red-blooded males would do, we were all gawking and grinning ... and getting raging boners! The ‘big heads’ might have been dog-tired but the ‘little heads’ weren’t hearing it.

I must be developing a foot fetish. I know I’m a bit of a perv, what with my predilection for licking and sucking pussy when it’s full of my cum. But, lately I’ve been getting turned on just looking at the naked feet of nearly every female of the species.

Especially the 6 sexy sets that were standing right in front of us now.

I glanced around, and I’m the only one not currently lusting for our girls’ milk filled titties or glistening pussies. NO, I’m absolutely captivated by their feet! Their cute little toes, their sexy little feet and the way they’re all barefoot right now is driving me wild with desire. Desire to playfully caress and suckle on them. I’m going to have to read up on giving both therapeutic and sensual foot massages. What better way of indulging my burgeoning fetish than to disguise it as a massage and have them beg me to play with all of their beautiful feet! Ahhh, the glory of it all...

But, enough of that ... for now.

I’m worried about Charlie. It’s like something ‘snapped’ inside him tonight. When he frantically told us to ‘blow up everything’, we knew something had happened. But, when Greg and I returned from ‘stashing’ our pallets of dough, Charlie was like a man possessed.

Where Dad, Rex and Jeremy were having fun, shooting grenades at the boats, when Charlie got there he was firing like a maniac! He was vehemently cursing every time he didn’t hit exactly what he was aiming at.

And, those grenade launchers definitely had a bit of a learning curve.

Charlie went through 3 clips like Grant took Richmond, before Rex suggested that Greg and I go and take out the planes.

When we got back here, he was cussing under his breath like he wanted to kill somebody.

I flashed him, “Hey, what’s wrong? Did I do something?”

He just sighed, almost in annoyance, “No, it’s not you ... or anybody here ... it’s just, FUCK!”

And that was it.

Greg heard it, too, and flashed that we needed to get together for a talk. Charlie looked to be almost in tears, giving both of us a tight hug. “I’ll be okay; I’m just messed up right now. Thanks for caring.”

Then the girls came out and I just hoped that Mary could get him soothed and calmed down. She was truly Charlie’s soulmate, and she always knows just what to say to put him back together again. Mary, in some ways, was really the leader of our Family. Oh, she’d be pissed at me if I ever said that, but it’s true. And it’s not like Mary has ever been a bitch about it, either. As a matter of fact, the word ‘bitch’ and ‘Mary’ are utterly incongruous. Never once, since I’ve known her, has she ever been ‘bitchy’ to anyone. Except maybe some asshole who threatened our Family or kids. THEN, she could instantly turn into the bitch from hell!

Mary IS fiercely protective of the whole clan. Just as much as Charlie.

And we all love her for it.

She makes love to all of us unlike any other girl on the planet. Even Rex and Jeremy have told me that making love to Mary was ‘different’.

Rex said that he’d never felt a deeper connection to anyone, even Joni, than he had with Mary. Mary shares her soul with everyone she loves. It’s almost an innocent ‘giving’ that shows you she’s vulnerable to being hurt if you were to betray her. I know I’m not saying it right, but, I hope you get the idea. Charlie is one lucky dude to have her as his soulmate! Because, of all of us, there’s no doubt she’s completely bonded, mind, body and soul, to him. That’s why it’s so incredible that Charlie shows no jealousy when she also loves each of us with nearly the same intensity. They both just seem to know there’s nobody in the universe who could ever come between them.

And ... I think her feet are just gorgeous! Aaargh! I’m so tired right now that I’m becoming obsessed. I think I need to get Linda into bed and nurse her feet, right after I drain her beautiful, milky titties!

Bye for now.

Mary POV:

My man is in emotional turmoil, unlike anything I’ve ever seen. He was yesterday, too, but a heart to heart talk with his dad and Rex and Greg seemed to fix that. It didn’t hurt that Marion and I had told him our feelings on the matter, either.

No, this is much worse and in some ways just compounded some of the things from yesterday. The difference now, though, is that he’s doubting himself. He feels like he’s unsure of himself, having been unaware of that damned Governors prior relationship with Rafael. I’m betting that if he’d known in advance, they would have done things much differently tonight. My man needs me and I’m NOT going to let him go through this alone.

I could never do that to him.

The problem is ... I’m just as conflicted as he is! About the SAME THINGS! I guess that’s one of the downfalls of being completely allied and aligned with my one true soulmate.

I know Charlie told you how we ‘ran into each other’, but, I need to tell you about why Charlie is my true soulmate.

I’m into fantasy.

My dad always read me stories. Bedtime and especially when we would just cuddle in his big recliner. I was always his ‘Princess’ and he told me stories of all kinds, especially ones where the girl was saved by handsome Heroes. What Dad never knew was, like with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, I fantasized about having seven guys all loving on me! By the time I had my first period, I was well into masturbating and fantasizing about how it would feel to be with a guy. Especially one with a big cock!

The problem was, at 14 and 15, guys were completely clueless. My best friend Jamie and I would always talk about how some of our other friends had let a guy ‘play’ with them, only to have the whole school know about it two days later! Ugh!

Anyway, one day we decided to make up a checklist of what we needed our ‘perfect boyfriend’ to be like. That way, we could start eliminating any boy who didn’t measure up.

And NO ... we weren’t talking about ‘equipment’ size!

Our first list was extensive and we both admitted, was probably going to be impossible to find.

But here it is: 1) He had to be cute. 2) He had to know how to talk to us about something more interesting than the weather. 3) On a date, he couldn’t be ‘grabby’ ... at least not until we let him! 4) When we DID let him get ‘touchy’ he HAD to be more interested in making us feel good, than just touching us to get us excited enough to play with HIM! 5) He had to take secrecy seriously. 6) He had to like kissing and cuddling AND had be good at both. 7) He HAD to treat us as ‘equals’ as far as making plans and doing things. We didn’t want some guy who tried to make us his ‘trophy’! We had over 20 such ‘conditions’ that we felt our ‘Dream Guy’ needed to possess.

We found that, as we started dating, most guys never made it past the third date, before having reached his limit of 3 rules being broken. Many times we overlooked rule 1 if we knew the guy to be interested in us and we felt he wasn’t likely to hit his limit before the third date.

By senior year in High School, both of us had just about given up on ever finding ‘Mr Right’. We’d also discovered that Jamie and I were in love. Starting Sophomore year, we started ‘experimenting’ giving each other orgasms. That turned into kissing and even rubbing our pussies together. We questioned whether or not we were turning into lesbians. When we talked about it, we both admitted that most of the time we were actually fantasizing about guys licking and fingering our pussies.

By midterm Senior year, we took a chance and went on dates where we were going to see if we couldn’t get laid. We even suspended our ‘rules’ and aimed for guys who were known to be ‘players’.

I discovered that reputation was much different from reality.

Richie had reportedly broken at least 5 cherries. I talked to two girls who he’d been out with and they both said he was shy and had never even felt them up! I giggled to myself and felt he might be worth a shot. Maybe he was the victim of malicious rumors.

I bumped into him after school one day and started a somewhat stilted conversation. Shy was an understatement as he took quite a while to get around to even asking me out on a date.

Finally, he asked if I’d like to go out with him to see a movie and then get some ice cream on Friday night. He said that a new ‘3-Plex’ had just opened in town and the three movies showing were, ‘Caddy Shack’, ‘The Shining’ and ‘The Blue Lagoon’.

I told him to pick, because I hadn’t seen any of them. He didn’t know it, but this was a test. Amazingly, he suggested ‘The Blue Lagoon’. I asked if he wouldn’t rather see ‘The Shining’ and he visibly cringed, “Oh, no, I’d have nightmares for a month! Wouldn’t you rather to see ‘Blue Lagoon’?”

I patted him on the cheek, “Nice choice. I’d love to!”

He picked me up and even came to the door to meet my parents. He was scoring points like crazy. At the theatre he gently took my hand and we walked in together. He aimed us toward the back, where there weren’t many people and I giggled, knowing why he did. It took him some time before he put his arm around my shoulders. He seemed heartbroken when I moved his arm off for a second. He didn’t notice that these seats had fold-up armrests. His look turned to joy when I lifted the armrest and put his arm back on my shoulders. He chuckled when I snuggled even closer so his arm could now drop down my side a little.

Or should I say just enough to touch my boob if he wanted. I should mention, that I already had D-cups and the second the back of his hand ‘accidentally’ brushed my boob, he discovered my rock hard nipple. I wasn’t wearing a bra!

I was impressed when he didn’t immediately grab my tit. He did spend the whole second half of the movie having many ‘surreptitious’ encounters with the aforementioned boob, however. The back of his hand, the edge, some light fingers and even a quick cupping, but he DIDN’T grab. His ‘rep’ seemed even more far-fetched by the minute. I was slightly bummed, if not amused.

It got better when after the movie and ice cream, which he paid for, he casually asked if I wanted to go home, or ‘maybe somewhere more private’. I giggled, that maybe we could find somewhere more private. His eyes lit up. On the way to wherever he was headed (turned out to be the local Lovers Lane), I asked him, “Richie, you were very nice in the theater. I appreciate that you didn’t get all grabby. Your reputation had me concerned about that?”

He blushed, “I’ve heard some of the rumors ... they’re not all true.”

I squeezed his arm, “So you’ve never been with any of them? Word has it you’ve had sex with Julie, Anna, Phoebe, Jaqueline and Rhonda.”

He sighed sadly, “Only with Julie. I went out with the others, but, honest, I never got past 2^nd base!?”

I was curious, “What happened with the others, then?”

“I was too grabby!” He laughed, “They just assumed that’s all I wanted and blew me off after our first date.”

I knew Julie was the class nympho-pass around girl. She made it known she’d screw anybody that took her out.

I giggled, “You’re learning then. I know you wanted to grab my boob. It felt like you were teasing me.”

He gasped, “And you didn’t mind?”

I put my hand on his crotch and felt him getting hard, “If I’d known you’d keep your mouth shut and just asked, I would have let you ... as long as you kept it subtle!”

He had just pulled up to a secluded spot and put the car in park. Since it was December, it was too cold to shut the engine off for long. He skootched over and put his arms around me. “Really!? My buddy said you were like the class prude. I didn’t want you slapping me in the theater. You don’t seem that way to me ... now.”

“I’ve just been selective. Is that why you’ve never asked me out before?”

“Well, that and ... I always felt you were out of my league. You’re like the prettiest girl in the whole class!” He said as he slowly put his hand on my boob, looking in my eyes the whole time.

I took his hand off and he sighed, “Oh shit. I’m sorry, I should have asked first.”

I giggled, “No. I just don’t want to get handprints on my white blouse.” His eyes lit up as I unbuttoned my blouse down to the bottom two buttons and pulled it open, framing my tits for him. “Okay, you can resume ... if you want?”

He wasted no time and was now quite ‘grabby’! I grabbed his crotch and he moaned, almost like he was in pain. No wonder, really, he was wearing very tight jeans and his cock felt like it was going to tear his jeans open. When I put my lips to his, he demonstrated that when it came to kissing, the boy was clueless! When I pulled away, he asked, “What’s the matter?”

I sighed. How could I tell him that Jamie kissed a thousand times better!? “How many girls have you kissed?”

He stopped squeezing my boob, “Um, well, you’re only the second one. I take it I’m not doing something right?”

“Haven’t you ever heard of a French Kiss?”

He made a face like he’d just bitten into a lemon, ‘Eeew! You mean like swapping spit and putting my tongue in your mouth?!”

I was stunned. I just shook my head, “I take it that means getting you to lick my pussy is completely out of the question?”

“EEEEEWWWW! Jeez, that’s just GROSS! Hell no!”

And thus ended my ‘hot date’ with Richie. I didn’t really expect him to go down on me, but I certainly wasn’t going to let him fuck me without a proper kiss!

I buttoned up my blouse and he took me home without saying another word. Thankfully, Richie was so embarrassed, he didn’t tell anyone about our date or that conversation. It also temporarily ended my quest to get laid. I made up my mind that I needed to get kissed before I indulged another guy’s wish to play with my boobs.

Just before spring break, I made a startling discovery. Geeks knew and appreciated the finer points about sex far better than jocks!

Carl, my lab partner in ecology, finally worked up the nerve to ask me out on a date. We had a field trip on Saturday morning to go to the Volo Bog State Natural Area just east of McHenry, IL. Since I didn’t have a car he ‘volunteered’ to drive some of us and I was one of them. After our field trip, he asked if I wanted to go with him to get a burger for lunch. I was impressed that he just paid the bill and didn’t make a big deal about it. Afterwards, as he was taking me home, he stopped at a park. He asked me if he could kiss me. He was cute and looked like a puppy hoping to get petted.

I giggled and nodded, then moved into his arms. Oh. My. God. What a kiss! He gently worked his tongue between my eager lips and displayed a passion that belied his shy exterior. He didn’t take it as an invitation to grope me, but, rather just seemed to delight in the kiss. I was getting wet between my legs just wondering what his lips and tongue could do to my pussy. After almost half an hour, we broke our kiss. He grinned, “Wow! Mary, I’ve never, ever been kissed like that before! Would you like to be my girlfriend?”

I was trying to catch my breath, “Sure! Where did you learn to kiss like that?”

He blushed, “Well, honestly, I’ve only ever kissed like two other girls before ... and, they both stopped me before I could French Kiss them. I’ve read a lot of porn and always wanted to kiss like that. You just turned me on. Was it too much?”

“Oh no, it was great. I might have to let you to do it again before you take me home.”

And I did! He slowly built up the nerve to fondle my boobs and unlike Richie, seemed to be sensually playing with them as opposed to grabbing and squeezing like a maniac. He eventually put his mouth on my nipple and used his tongue to explore my right breast. After a few minutes, I giggled and reminded him that I had another boob that was feeling left out!

The boy was in 7^th heaven. He gasped when I asked him to take his pants down so I could take a turn. He really moaned when I started squeezing and gently stroking his rather nice sized cock. The boy had already given me two small but very nice orgasms just with his ministrations on my tit. I wanted to return the favor. He was REALLY shocked when, about the time he said he was cumming, I put my mouth on his cock and managed to swallow most of his load of hot, salty spunk. I was delirious and just did it. I discovered that cum tastes much like eating raw oysters! I was overcome with the desire to do it again!

Several years earlier, my parents and I had gone on a vacation to Florida. We stopped in a neighborhood Oyster Bar to get some lunch. Dad ordered a dozen ‘Oysters on the Half Shell’ and my mom and the four friends with us were ‘Eeewing’ over how they were gross.

Dad saw me eyeing them and said, “Oh, they’re not that bad ... I’ll bet even Mary likes them. Go ahead, sweetie, try one!”

The sight WAS gross, but, I’d do anything that Dad did. And it certainly appeared he really liked them. The first bite was like your first taste of ambrosia. I just had to try another. Dad suggested I put some Tabasco Sauce on the next one. I did and damn near set my mouth on fire. I discovered Tabasco RUINED the wonderful flavor! Dad and I polished off the first platter and set about devouring a second as our friends moaned in playful disgust. Mom huffed, “Paul, you’re corrupting your sweet daughter!”

Then Dad said something that I just realized was prophetic, “Maybe, but her future boyfriends are going to love it!”

Yeah, spouge tasted much like raw oysters! By the time Carl experienced his second blowjob, he was in love. We went out that night to the drive-in movie. We parked way in the back and I honestly don’t remember what was even playing. We were both so horny we were naked and in the backseat of his huge Buick Electra seconds after it was dark. The backseat was almost as big as the couch at home.

Carl said he wanted to taste me.

At first he was much too rough and I had to stop him. He asked me what was wrong and I told him I was very sensitive down there and he needed to be way more gentle. He apologized and admitted this was his first time. I kissed him and said he could try it again. He was almost too gentle, but, when I gently pulled his head down harder into my sopping pussy, he got the hint and SHEEZ ... gave me over 4 of the best orgasms of my life. Almost as good as Jamie. He produced a rubber and asked if I was ready to ‘do it’.

When I said yes, but that I was on the pill, he smiled wide, “Oh that’s great! I’m not sure I even know how to put this damned thing on.”

Carl was a virgin! He was checking off boxes on my checklist like crazy and didn’t even know it. As he slowly sank his cock into me, I was overcome with emotion and started whimpering.

He immediately stopped and pulled out, “I’m sorry, was I hurting you? Are you a virgin too?”

“Oh, no Carl, get back in there ... it felt great ... I’ve been dreaming about this day for two years! I just didn’t realize how good it would feel.”

“Ohhh, cool, so I don’t have to be gentle like before?”

I giggled, “Um no ... just don’t use your fingers on me this hard though. Your cock is MEANT to be rough ... I think? Giggle.”

And he liked to drive me through the seat. I was in heaven and the only thing that would have been better would have been if he’d lasted longer. It was over after about 12 good thrusts. And this was the third time he’d cum today. At least he had a lot of ‘us’ on his cock and nearly jumped through the roof when I orally cleaned him up!

I discovered that a guy’s cock is VERY sensitive after cumming. Oopsie!

After apologizing for the brevity, it only took 15 minutes for him to want to do it again. The next time was much better and lasted nearly 10 minutes. I was delirious in the orgasms he was giving me. Just like the oysters, I was becoming addicted to the feeling of having a warm cock in my pussy. Many girls complained that their first times had been painful and unfulfilling. If Carl couldn’t have gotten it up again, I could understand the unfulfilling part. I was glad that Jamie and I had taken out each other’s hymens a few years ago. It made my first time just wonderful!

Anyway, we did it for a third time before the movie ended and we managed to get out of there before they locked us in. The next week was almost nonstop fucking, sucking, fondling and even cuddling. Carl was starting to feel like he might be ‘The One’. He was able to hold a decent conversation and treated me well. Unfortunately, and I’ve come to realize it was common, ALL he ever wanted to do was have sex! He lost all interest in doing ANYTHING else. He gradually began ‘unchecking’ many boxes on my list.

I knew I needed to take a break for a weekend. The IHSA (Illinois High School Association) State music competition was the Saturday after we went back to school. Jamie and I both played piano and had planned on trying a ‘four hand’ duet this year. We weren’t known around school for being in the band and just took lessons on Tuesday afternoons after school. We’d both been taking lessons since we were kids. We both had fun ‘playing’ together, too!

When I told Carl about it, he huffed, “Shit! I wish I knew you played! I’m playing a solo on my trombone and had to use Sylvia Potter as my accompanist. I would much rather have had you playing for me.”

I giggled, “If you’d have told me you played trombone, I would have LOVED playing with you!”

I knew he was in the band, but since we met, he’d never mentioned it ... Like I said, one-tracked-mind!

“Hey, what if I tell Sylvia I just don’t need her now!?”

What an insensitive bastard. I knew Sylvia and she was a good pianist. Probably better than me or Jamie. She WAS a tad homely, but under that was a very interesting girl.

I huffed, “What? How long have you two been practicing your solo?”

“Since we got back from winter break. She won’t mind ... probably.”

“Bullshit, she’s a very conscientious person. I’ll bet she’s been practicing on her own for hours and you just want to push her aside?”

“Yeah, but she’s not nearly as pretty as you and I just picked her because I was desperate.”

“Aaargh! Look, there ISN’T enough time for me to learn it and practice it with you before next Saturday. Besides, Jamie and I need to work on OUR duet. We didn’t get much practicing done last week, you know?”

He was chewing his lip, and I could tell wasn’t finished yet, “Hey! Why don’t you get Sylvia to play with Jamie and then you can play with me!? I’ll make it worth your while!” He licked his lips seductively.

I was getting pissed, “Well ... first, that’s NOT how I treat my friends. Jamie and I have been practicing this since before Thanksgiving. It’s NOT easy and it takes a LOT of work to get the timing right. You just DON’T wait until the last minute and dump on a friend like that. Maybe you should try going out with Sylvia? I’ll bet you’d be surprised at the result.”

“Ughhh! How could you say that!? Wouldn’t you like, be jealous?”

“Maybe a little. Honestly Carl, I need a break. All we ever do is fuck. I need more than that. I care about Jamie and I haven’t even talked to her for over a week.”

He was getting upset, “You care more about that little redheaded tramp than me!? I heard she fucks anything with a dick!”

SLAP! “You bastard! Fuck you, NOBOBY talks about my friend like that. I never want to see you again!”

And thus ended my first real ‘Love Affair’.

Jamie and I scored a First Place medal and it wasn’t till late last fall I discovered that HAD I gone to the Band event, I might have run into Charlie! He was there at that event and scored a First Place also. He said he did an ‘Acapella’ trumpet solo, since he couldn’t find an accompanist! Ohhh, what might have been! All those TOADS I had to kiss in college ... Aaargh!

College was even worse in some ways than High school. College guys were more experienced and also MUCH bigger assholes. I managed to get laid a lot, but, nobody ever got past the third date before failing my ‘checklist’ tests. By Senior year, I’d sworn off trying and even stopped taking the pill. Jamie had a little better luck, or maybe just more determination, so she stayed on the pill. ‘Just in case’.

Then ... late Senior year I ‘ran into’ Charlie!

When I first noticed him looking around the cafeteria for a table, I almost didn’t give him a second look. He wasn’t particularly good looking and the pocket protector he wore just screamed GEEK. Then I remembered Carl and decided to give him another look. Even though Carl and I ended badly, I’d learned that geeks were the best lovers. When he saw me and smiled, I smiled back.

There was something about his eyes.

I began moving closer and he was moving closer to me. He never stopped looking into my eyes. He hadn’t even glanced at my boobs! When we were only 10 feet away from each other, my heart was racing. The man was looking into my SOUL ... but, more than that, it seemed like he was longing for me to look into HIS. I was nearly into a dream state when we crashed our trays together and our lunches hit the floor.

I was mortified! My clumsy, non-observant dreaming had caused it. I fell to my knees, trying to pick up the mess when I heard him apologizing and berating himself. When our eyes met again, I was lost. No, more like consumed! I didn’t even know what to say, and just tried to make the best of it. When he insisted that he buy me a new lunch, I didn’t want to make any more of a scene than we already had, so I just agreed, but made him promise to eat with me. His sweet chuckle and self-deprecating jokes were the cutest thing I’d ever heard.

He’d already checked the first box on my checklist, BIG TIME. Cute ... he was definitely cute. But, then something happened that was magical.

I’d just grabbed a cheeseburger on my first trip through the cafeteria line. I suddenly realized I’d much rather have had a Caesar Salad. I was shocked, when he held up a cheeseburger and scrunched up his face, as if he somehow doubted that I wanted that anymore. I shook my head, and without a second thought, he held up a Caesar Salad! My mouth flew open and I nodded excitedly.

Okay, maybe he just got lucky, but, it’s like he was reading my mind. During lunch, he never brought up our accident and we talked about everything. I did catch him momentarily checking out my boobs, but, when he noticed that I caught him, he blushed so cutely, I just giggled. We talked about school, what classes we’d had in common, our families, friends and just everything. Not once did he talk about the weather!

Check box #2 ... he was on a roll!

We became so absorbed in our conversation, we almost missed our next class. There was a sense of panic and I realized we hadn’t set up any kind of a date or way of getting in touch with each other. Charlie handled that by inviting me to have dinner with him, saying he’d pick me up at 6. He then turned and headed out of the cafeteria. I was just thinking that he didn’t know where I lived. He suddenly turned and looked at me, blushing furiously. I just knew what he was going to ask and told him my dorm number and that I really loved Chinese food! He even asked if I still wanted to go out with a putz like him.

He just maxed out the cuteness meter when I said that he was the cutest putz I’d ever met and he just blushed and smiled! Then we both hurried off so we wouldn’t be late for our next classes.

After hustling to class, I was relieved that it was just a lecture. This was business law and I’d already read the whole book. A nice side effect of ending my quest to get laid. My brain was just whirling. I sat way in the back so I could contemplate everything without disrupting the lecture.

I simply couldn’t stop thinking about Charlie.

I analyzed our whole conversation, only to realize he’d never done a single thing that could be taken as crude or hitting on me. He almost never took his eyes off of mine except to subtly try to catch a glimpse of my boobs a couple of times. I would have been disappointed if he hadn’t! He never stared. It’s like he respected me too much to do that. He came across as a ‘genuine’ kind of guy. No false bravado or boorishness whatsoever. A breath of fresh air from all of the guys I’d dated over the previous 4 years.

It was also like he’d opened up his soul to me. I couldn’t get over the way he knew I didn’t want another cheeseburger, then automatically grabbed what I was hoping for! I closed my eyes and had the strangest daydream. It’s like I could just feel he was stressing about having come across as a putz and feared I’d reject him. I was nearly in tears as I pleaded with him to breathe. I said it to myself a couple times and tried to somehow tell him I wasn’t going to judge him like that. I swear it felt like he smiled and thanked me!