Having breakfast with Rose the next day was a bit odd - for both of us, I think. I didn't want to start kissing her every time I passed her in the hallway. It was also impractical to hold hands while cutting grapefruit, or making toast.
I settled for touching her: I rubbed her shoulder, softly, while she was sitting at the table, and I squeezed her hand when I passed her at the sink. Nothing too sexual - I was aiming for intimate, without being over-aggressive.
It seemed to work. Rose smiled at me several times, and touched my arm when she collected my plate. It was a Saturday: I went off to work, so we didn't walk together.
In hindsight, I'd been wondering if I had rushed things, with Barbara. Maybe we had gone to bed together too soon. There was no way I wanted to make the same mistake with Rose. I was going to give her all the time she needed.
I cheated a bit, too. I talked to our roommate.
- "Laurie, you know her better than I do." I said.
- "Says the guy who's had breakfast with her for the last hundred days straight."
- "Okay, you know her
differently.
I need some advice."
- "What kind of advice?"
- "I don't want to mess this up." I said.
- "Ooh - getting serious, are we?" said Laurie. But she could tell from my expression how much it meant to me. I explained what I was worried about.
"Go slow - just like you've been doing." she said. "Rose doesn't have a lot of experience with guys. And most of that has been negative. She gets hit on more than you'd think. With a chest like hers, she gets a lot of attention - from jerks who just want to grab her boobs."
"Then there's the ones who think that she's easy, because she's fat."
- "I don't think she's fat." I said.
- "Neither do I." said Laurie. "But she's still self-conscious about her size. You know that better than anybody. So go easy."
On Monday morning, as we walked together, I asked Rose out again. She looked ... relieved.
- "What's wrong?" I asked her.
- "Nothing. It's just ... you didn't say anything Saturday. Or yesterday."
- "I didn't want to embarrass you in front of Laurie and Rina. In case you were having second thoughts."
Now Rose just looked confused. "I'm not having second thoughts." she said. "Are you?"
I took her hand. "Friday night was wonderful. I couldn't imagine a better first date."
She squeezed my hand. "I feel the same."
- "Then you'll go out with me again?" I asked.
- "Of course I will, you dummy."
We went out three more times. Our second date was like the first, in the sense that it was just the two of us. I picked a quiet bar, that was even quieter on a Wednesday night. We talked, and laughed, and held hands.
When we got home, we repeated our kissing session in the hallway. Neither of us got too carried away, because Laurie was home. But we were both breathing heavily by the time we went to our own rooms.
I surprised Rose with our third date. I asked her to cook a dinner for four. Not Rina and Laurie, though - I asked our roommates to make themselves scarce, at least until midnight.
It was my Uncle Ray and his girlfriend, Karen that I invited. My first year of college was coming to an end, and I wanted to thank him for paying my tuition.
Rose did a wonderful job, in every possible respect. The meal was excellent, and she seemed to get along really well with Karen. But the highlight of the evening came early, when our guests first arrived.
Ray handed me a six-pack of Heineken, and I kissed Karen on the cheek. They had probably already met Rose, briefly, at our Halloween party, but I re-introduced them.
- "This is my girlfriend, Rose." I said.
Rose's smile lit up the room. If I had known that she would respond that way to hearing me tell people that she was my girlfriend, I would have taken out a full-page ad in the newspaper.
We had a very nice time. When Ray and Karen left, Rose and I sat in the living room. The moment we sat down on the couch, Rose was in my arms.
She kissed me, but then pulled back. "That was really sweet - telling your uncle and Karen that I'm your girlfriend. You really meant it?"
- "You know I did."
That was the right answer. Rose kissed me, even more intensely than she had before. The touch of her tongue on mine was beyond exciting.
This time, though, we went a step further. My hand crept up, from her waist to the side of her breast. It was just ... so big. I didn't cup, or fondle her; it would have taken two hands to do that. So I caressed the side of her boob, and then ran my hand across the front of her bra.
I didn't linger there too long. I remembered what Laurie had said. I did
not
want Rose to think for a second that I was only interested in her boobs. So I put my hand on her thigh. She had big, strong upper legs, though her calves and ankles were relatively slender.
As I've said before, Rose wasn't fat: she was just built like a brick shithouse, as Uncle Ray would have put it.
I rubbed her leg, until my hand strayed over her inner thigh, and then across the zipper of her jeans. Rose moaned.
I wasn't sure that I could stop at third base. And I wanted our first time to be special. I think that Rose was ready for more, but I pulled back.
- "Laurie'll be home in less than an hour." I said.
- "Oh." she said. "Umm, we could ..."
- "I want to make love with you, Rose." I said. "I want it to be special, for both of us. That means having the house to ourselves ... and all kinds of time."
- "That sounds ... wonderful."
- "Are you sure? I want you to have time to think about it, too. I don't want to rush you into anything."
Rose shook her head, and smiled at me. "You're not rushing me. I'm your girlfriend, aren't I?"
- "Yes, you are."
***
It cost me 20$ and a whole lot of aggravation to get Laurie and Rina to promise that they would go to the Lion and stay until closing.
- "Ooh! Is there gonna be some noise down at the other end of the house again?" asked Rina.
Laurie elbowed her. "Rein it in, Rina. This is Rose we're talking about."
- "Aww. But
this
is Joe. Can't we tease
him
a bit?"
