Meg

Alex lived in a two-story house in Melrose. The exterior was shabby, with an uncultivated garden running wild, although the lawn was neatly mown. Meg knocked on the door and Alex almost immediately opened it. She hadn't seen him since that dinner where they admitted his feelings earlier in the week; now, the sight of him sent butterflies through her stomach.

"Hey," he said, looking at the plate she held out. "What's this?"

"I made whoopie pies," she said, offering the plate. "And I remembered the shortening."

When she had made whoopie pies the first time, she had forgotten the shortening, and the cakes had been flat and dry. Alex had insisted they tasted good, but Meg liked to fix her mistakes.

Alex grinned and let her into the house. To one side was a small kitchen with a cluttered countertop. The other side was a living room, complete with a drum set in the corner and a bass and a guitar on stands.

"Can I have one now?" Alex asked, gesturing towards the whoopie pies.

"I didn't bring them for decoration," Meg said.

Alex grinned and took a whoopie pie from under the saran wrap. He bit into it, then closed his eyes in pleasure. "Okay, I have to admit, I forgot how good your baking was."

Meg smiled and sat on the couch. He joined her, putting one hand on her leg as he ate.

"You're easy to please," Meg said.

"Nothing wrong with that," Alex said, licking the last of the cake off his fingers. "I'm going to have to hide those from the guys. They're really going to like you if you keep bringing things over."

"I don't care if they like me," Meg said. "As long as you do, I'm happy."

"I like you very much," Alex said. He leaned in to give her a quick kiss, just long enough for her lips to crave more as he released her.

"Tell me what you've been up to the past few years," Meg said, leaning against him. They'd been texting through the week, but now that she was in his presence, she wanted to know everything about him that she'd missed out on.

"Well, you can probably guess I didn't go the college route," Alex said, chuckling. "I worked at McDonald's for a few years, but then a friend got me into DJing and I saved up enough to start my own business."

"Any girls I should be jealous of?"

"There were girls," Alex said. "But you don't need to be jealous."

"How many?" Meg asked.

"Aww, I'm not giving you that number."

Meg leaned against the arm of the couch to look at Alex better and nudged his leg with her toes. "That many?" she asked. "You probably don't know the number."

"I never bothered to count," Alex said. "How many boyfriends have you had?"

"Boyfriends? Two after you."

"Why'd you say that as a question?"

"I had flings," Meg said. "I kind of gave up on dating for a bit. Too much work. And the guys I met were never boyfriend material."

"Well, now I'm jealous," Alex said. "Having flings with guys when I could never even touch your boobs?"

Meg flushed and looked down. "My first boyfriend sexually assaulted me," she murmured.

"Oh. Shit. I'm sorry."

She looked up again, shaking it off. "It's fine. It's just - it wasn't anything you did. Part of me wanted to go further with you. But after that, a part of me closed off for a bit."

"I didn't know," Alex said. "God, I'm making an idiot of myself."

"It's okay," Meg said. "If you want, we can rewind to when you were telling me I'm an excellent baker and then you kissed me."

Alex nodded and leaned over her to kiss her lips. She rested her neck against the armrest and he leaned his body against hers.

His first kisses were gentle, but then his lips were firmer as he leaned in to her. As he kissed her, he touched her jawline, her neck, her waist. She wrapped one leg around him.

Meg knew he was thinking about what she had told him, and she wanted to show she wasn't the same Meg he had dated before. She took one of his hands and guided it under her shirt to the soft flesh of her breast. He hesitated, then grabbed on, exploring with his fingers.

The door to the house opened and Meg broke away from Alex with a start. Alex turned to look at Joel as he came in, not bothering to change his position.

"Aww man, that's why you have your own bedroom," Joel said. Meg blushed furiously.

Alex kissed Meg on the nose and sat back on his heels so she could sit up. "There're whoopie pies for you on the counter," Alex said.

"You made these?" Joel asked Meg.

She nodded, face red as she adjusted her shirt.

Joel grabbed one and immediately bit into it. Meg was rewarded with the glow on his face. Then Joel turned to Alex.

"Seriously man, I don't want to walk in on this shit."

"We're going upstairs," Alex said. "C'mon Meg."

There were three bedrooms upstairs. Alex turned to the door on the left and let her in, closing the door behind them. She sat on his bed and looked around. It was a typical boy's bedroom, rumpled bedspread, clothes falling out of the laundry basket. He had his own guitar in the corner of the room.

"Sorry about that," Alex said. "I didn't know he was coming home so soon."

"It's okay," Meg said. "We can rewind and have another do over, if you want."

Alex nodded and climbed on top of her again, kissing her collarbone, her neck, and then her lips again.

****

Meg was happier than she had been in a long time. Alex texted her every morning and night. They talked about simple things, like how her day was or what she made for dinner, but when she said these things to Alex, her whole day seemed to be made of important moments.

She had meant to see him the next weekend, but then her sister went into labor, and Meg spent the weekend in New Hampshire, meeting her new niece. In the evenings, while mother and baby slept, Meg went on walks around the block and called Alex, listening to his voice, eager to tell him everything.

Meg finally went to see Alex again on a Friday night right after work. She had a tupperware of brownies that she had baked the night before. She still wore her work clothes, black dress pants and a pale blue blouse.

"I missed you," he said as she came in the door. He pulled her into a kiss as soon as she came inside.

"I missed you too," she said when he had let her go. She kicked off her shoes and he took the tupperware from her hands.

"I thought you didn't bake on weekdays," he said.

"I made an exception," she said. He took a brownie out of the container and popped it in his mouth.

"Mm," he said. He swallowed, then asked, "How's Danielle?"

"Really good. Everything went smoothly. And Sonya is so sweet."

"I didn't think you'd get all gooey eyed over a baby," Alex said, but he was smiling.

"What? She's my niece. Of course I'm going to think she's adorable."

"It's endearing," Alex assured her.

He placed the tupperware on the counter and then Meg wrapped her arms tightly around him. She wanted to hold him against her forever. He rested his chin on the top of her head.

"C'mon, let's go upstairs," he finally said.

They went to his bedroom, and they talked about Meg's niece for a time.

"Do you want kids?" Meg asked Alex.

"One day," he said. "You?"

She nodded. "Someday. I just wanted to make sure you were on the same page."

"I want anything you want, because I know if I'm with you, it'll work out," Alex said. Meg would have made fun of him for such a cheesy line, but the look in his eyes made her know that he really meant it, and he kissed her, his body turned to face hers, one hand touching her neck.

They slid down until they were laying flat, still facing each other. Alex touched her chest and a sound escaped Meg's throat in pleasure. He reached his hand up under her shirt, pushed the bra aside, and touched the flesh of her breast, rubbing his thumb in circles around her nipple until it hardened.

He slid his tongue in her mouth, and she reciprocated, tasting chocolate. She ran her hand down his neck, his torso. His hand continued to tug at her nipple, and it made her dizzy with excitement. She wrapped one leg around him and pulled her hips closer to him. She could feel he had hardened, but he wasn't assuming, possibly because in their history she had never let him go far with her, and possibly because he was thinking of her past and thought she needed to go slow.

She reached her hand down his leg to the bulge in his pants. Alex pulled back in surprise to look at Meg's face.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. As she looked into his clear green eyes, she undid his belt and unzipped his pants. Then she looked down to see what she was working with.

His penis was average size, veined and uncircumcised, although it was a little wider than others she'd seen. It twitched when she touched it, and she ran her hand up and down its length. It was very hard already, and it seemed to swell more in her hand.

She kissed him again and he fell into rhythm with her tongue.

He pulled off her shirt and bra, then buried his face between her breasts, kissing one and then the other. In between kisses, she pulled off his shirt as well.

His lips moved down to her belly button and then moved to her pants. She rolled onto her back and lifted her hips as he slid her jeans off her. He slid off her panties next, purple silk and already wet.

He kissed her down there, then put his finger inside of her. As he explored her skin and the secret tunnel she had inside of her, Meg's breath began to get ragged. He bent over her and his tongue flicked her clit playfully. He slid a second finger inside.

Before she knew it, she was climaxing. He kept his tongue going through the whole thing, and his second hand pressed on her belly as her back arched and she cried out.

He eased his speed as she came down, pulling his fingers from her as her body relaxed into the mattress. He kissed her face, cradling her cheek with one palm.

"You okay going farther?" he asked.

She nodded eagerly. He got off the bed to pull off his pants and slide a condom on. Then he climbed on top of her.

Alex eased his penis into her gently, starting with slow motions. She touched his chest, his back, her hands unsure where to go. Electricity hummed through her veins. She didn't want to go slow. She wanted all of him, all at once, but he was teasing, playful, giving her everything but.

He pulled her legs up so they rested on his shoulders and as she marveled about how good the slight angle change made her feel, he started pushing harder. She knew his roommates were home, so she clamped her own hand over her mouth to try to keep quiet, but Alex pulled her hand away.

"It's okay," he told her.

And then he moved faster again, one of his hands pinning both her hands above her head so she couldn't stop the moans that came from her as she came again, body tensing and sensory receptors erupting in glee.

She felt like jelly, her whole body paralyzed in pleasure. He kissed her lips, then pulled out of her. He slid next to her and rolled her on her side and moved behind her, spooning her. He lifted her top leg in the air to allow easier access, and he kept it raised as he pushed inside and began his rhythm again.

"You are so beautiful," he told her as he kissed her neck, her earlobe.

Her legs trembled as he kept up his rhythm. He wasn't going faster or deeper, but she was finding herself over the edge again, aroused by his steadiness, working her into a frenzy.

She turned her face into a pillow as she came again, her leg twitching in Alex's hand.

Alex pulled out again and sat up. He pulled her onto his lap so she faced him. She moved slowly against him and he kissed her deeply, wrapping his arms around her.

He pulled away to look into her eyes. One hand reached for her face, his fingers running along her jawbone, her collarbone. She was mesmerized by his eyes, his long lashes.

He pulled her off him and onto her back, and he climbed atop her again, pushing all the way inside her. He pulled her arms over her head again.

"I want to hear you again this time," he growled in her ear.

And then he pushed harder, working towards his own climax, his shaft pushing deep inside her, and he got his wish, she was crying out, her whole body was vibrating, twitching, clenching, arching, and she didn't care about the sound her throat made or the thumps of his bed as he shoved inside her; she was aware of nothing except the sensations he was planting inside her body.

With a final thrust, he came inside her. He threw his head back and gave a small grunt. Then he pulled out of her and laid down beside her.

"You all right?" he asked her, looking at her face, her dazed eyes.

"Better than all right," she murmured.

He kissed her cheek. She shivered a little without the friction to warm her, and he pulled a blanket over them. And then, in a sea of happiness, she fell asleep. Alex, wide awake, simply watched her, listening to the music of her breath.