Chapter 7

“Brett, we’re all good girls. We don’t go on dates with the intention of having sex just because it feels physically good, even if our emotions aren’t really on board. But that doesn’t mean we don’t wish for just the right boy, just the right situation, where sex would feel both physically and emotionally good, physically and emotionally fulfilling, with a really great guy that’ll be around for better or worse. A guy that was emotionally stable, emotionally available, and not afraid to be in love, and not afraid to tell us he is. A guy with enough experience, not necessarily sexual experience, with other girls to know what he wants, yet be willing to bend a bit to learn that the girl he thought wouldn’t be what he wants might actually be what he wants.

“Look over on the bed at our friends. Tell me what you see. No. Tell them what you see.”

He looked around the circle at each of us. When he got around to me, he looked only in my eyes, then continued to Meka on my left.

He said, “I see my best friends. I see the only set of people with whom I’ve developed comfort being around. I see friends that, even if I’m still a bit reticent, appreciate me being around, like me not only for who I am, but also for who I was, even when I found it difficult to talk to them, who helped me climb out of my shell and taught me what it was to have friends, really good friends.”

This whole thing had me somewhat in awe of Brit, the formerly quiet, slightly overweight, pretty girl that was somewhat like Heather before Heather was part of us, and somewhat like Brett, before the lunch table worked its magic. But she surprised me further, by putting her hand on the right side of his face and gently turned it to face her.

“Brett, I see some of the same things, as I had few friends before this fall, too. At least, I had no friends like this. Friends that I can stand in front of in only a sexy red camisole set and not be embarrassed or afraid. Friends with whom I can sleep in the same bed. Friends with whom, if we all wanted, could sleep in the same bed while wearing nothing. I see the best friends I can imagine, and I have a pretty good imagination. But I see one more thing. I see my co-dates ... on our first date with a really great guy that seems to have the potential to be The One. Yes, it’s somewhat unfortunate that the guy is singular, The One, not The Eight or The Nine. Or The Ten. But I also see a bunch of really good friends, good-enough friends that I’d not mind sharing The One with them, and each of them would not mind sharing The One with the rest of us. This has been the first date, the exploratory date to see if, perhaps, a second date might be worthwhile.” She turned back to him, gently turned his face to look at her, then said, “So far, that second date looks almost definite, despite that it might be a year or more in the making. That’s because the guy that might be The One, was a perfect gentleman on this, the first date. Oh, it got a bit intimate, but the guy didn’t take advantage of it. We girls discovered much positive about the guy, particularly his soft, gentle hands and his concern for our wellbeing, particularly our mental wellbeing.

“Now, Brett, look back at those girls who are my co-dates with the guy with whom we’ve had a great day. No one got mad. No one got even slightly annoyed. Do you see all those pretty girls who are my co-dates with the great guy about whom we want to know more? Now that you see them, imagine the bed being considerably larger. Also, and this is okay for now for this exercise, imagine them all naked. Imagine you and me naked. Imagine what it could be like if you were in love with all of them, and all of them were in love with you ... and each other. Imagine what it might be like with all ten of us in a huge bed, all naked, and all able and willing to make love with any of the others, or any number of the others.”