David was cursed. No matter how many times he'd been painfully early to a party (waiting sometimes hours before the rest of the people arrived, fashionably late, fashionably tipsy), he always arrived at the exact time he was supposed to. Such was the case on this cold day in January, at precisely seven in the evening, as he knocked on the door of Allison and James's house. He rocked on his heels, watching the cars drive by, waiting for what felt like just a little too long before the door opened and Allison, smiling, invited him inside. As he walked past her and through the door, he noticed that she was breathing heavily.
"How's it going?" David asked, as he and Allison made their way back through the entryway, past the kitchen, and into the living room.
"Pretty good. James had to pick up some groceries for tonight, so he's not here yet. Sorry."
"Oh, no worries, I'm always early. I can come back later if you'd like." David offered this purely out of courtesy but was surprised when he thought he saw Allison sincerely consider it. She told him it was fine, though, and the two sat down on opposite ends of the sectional. A long pause followed before they made eye contact and Allison smiled jovially.
"So," David said, "What have you been up to?"
"Not much," said Allison quickly, "I got home from work and I guess I've just been chilling since then."
"Did you go running?" David knew she was trying to get into better shape. She had put on a few pounds after marrying the plump-would-be-an-understatement James. She was by no means out of shape though, at most putting on what you might call Freshman Fifteen on top of her generally average body. He had picked up from her heavy breathing and the time it took to answer the door that she'd probably just gotten back from running. Luckily he had gotten there after she returned, otherwise he would have been sitting in his car waiting, feeling more idiotic for his gift of arriving on time.
"No. Why?" This answer confused him. He brushed it off though, ignoring the piercing gaze he was receiving.
"How's work going?" Allison looked relieved at the change of subject and seemed to relax. As she leaned back, David had to take a second glance to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Allison was dressed in her normal low-key type of outfit, the kind she wore when there wasn't a lot of people coming over, as was the case tonight. She sported mismatched socks, tight fitting sweatpants, and a shirt she had probably gotten from loot crate. Out of the ordinary for her, though, was the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra. This was made plainly obvious by her hard nipples pushing against the cloth of her shirt, almost being put on display by the ray of sunlight shining in from the window behind her. As he looked up, though, he caught eyes with her and looked away.
As his cheeks reddened, he thought he detected the hint of a smirk on the face next to him that was blushing as well.
"You wanna watch How I Met Your Mother before he gets back? I just finished season 3 and--"
"No." Allison said with such force that David nearly jumped. He offered Orange is the New Black, but again Allison declined.
"Well then, what do you want to watch?" David was a little frustrated at this point.
"I don't really want to watch TV. Let's just...talk." She bit her lip as her brow furrowed.
"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" Various emotions were running through David at this point. Frustration, exasperation, concern, and curiosity all made their way into David's head. He was frustrated that Allison was being so difficult. He was exasperated; usually he found himself easy to hold a conversation with, being pretty adaptable, but it seemed like Allison was knocking down every idea he had. He also couldn't help but feel concerned that Allison was hiding something. Maybe she had an issue with David that she needed to resolve, perhaps an issue in her marriage. Most of all, though, David was curious. Circumstances added together with their current conversation. The whole thing reeked of an intimacy that he'd never experienced with her before.
Allison simply stared at him, considering. David could feel sweat collecting on his forehead as he stared at her face, taking cautious glimpses at her breasts, which he knew she noticed. He wondered if it had gotten hotter since he had gotten there. He thought maybe their AC had stopped working. He also was wondering when James would be back with groceries. What were they going to have to eat tonight? Were Allison's nipples getting harder? What beer was James picking up? Hopefully not hard cider.. David hated hard cider. Why was Allison breathing so hard? What did she say?
"What did you say?" David asked, noticing that Allison was now biting her nails.
"I said let's watch TV."
David was taken aback. He thought she had said that she didn't want to watch TV.
She continued, "There's one condition though. You can't judge me. You also can't say anything to anyone else."
"Wha--"
"Promise me." "Okay, I won't say anything." David's curiosity had skyrocketed. He was ripe with anticipation.
"And?"