A.J. woke up from a dream about Jodi, expecting to see her in the bed across the room from him. When he didn’t see her there, he shot out of bed and found her in the bathroom, staring into the mirror.

“Jodi, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m just thinking.”

He pulled her into his arms, “Good morning, beautiful.”

“Morning.”

They walked out of the bathroom and A.J. ran a brush through his bright green hair and threw on some clothes. They went downstairs to the lobby to check the messages before going to breakfast.

Over the past week, they had become closer and were, technically, more than friends. They hadn’t slept together yet, but they did everything else a couple did. Neither of them were completely satisfied with the arrangement, but until Jodi was sure that she loved A.J., they were determined not to go all the way. A.J. was patient about waiting. Jodi however, was growing more impatient with each passing minute. As they ate breakfast, Jodi started thinking about what it would b like to make love to A.J. She felt a shiver run down her spine.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just a little cold,” she lied.

He shifted closer to her and put his arm around her, “Better?”

“Uh-huh.”

She ate the rest of her breakfast, not really tasting anything. All she could think about was A.J.

They went to the gym after they were done and Jodi tried to work out her sexual frustration on the treadmill, then on the weights. It didn’t work. She kept seeing A.J. as he worked out.

She spotted a punching bag in the corner and went to knock the hell out of it for a while.

A.J. watched her as she wailed on the defenseless bag. Man, I want her so bad; I can feel it in my fingers. He sat down on a weight bench ad started doing curls. When he put the weight down, he noticed that Jodi was standing in front of him.

She slowly moved towards him and straddled him. She brought her head down to his and as he pulled her closer, she felt his arousal against her.

She stood up and pulled him towards the sauna.

“We can’t do this Jodi.”

“Yes we can.”

“But-“

“A.J., make love to me.”

“We can’t do this is a sauna. I want to make love to you in a bed.”

“I’ll race you.”

They raced out of the gym and went upstairs to their room.

Why am I doing this? A.J. thought, She doesn’t love me.

Jodi walked up behind him and pushed him to the bed.

“I thought we said we wouldn’t do this until-“

“I love you.”

He looked up into her eyes and saw that she was telling the truth. He covered her mouth with his before saying, “I love you too.”

Chapter 18