Page 67 of Love Lessons: Expanded Edition

And that led to the other part of it. The things they were doing together weren’t even that kinky. His presence was total Dom, but the stuff they were doing was pretty much what vanilla people did when they thought they were walking on the wild side.

So why the fuck was she so nervous now?

Maybe because sometimes he made it feel like it really was about her. It seemed impossible that this awesome guy who made her muffins and knew all the right ways to touch her, who seemed to see through all of her pretenses and spoke to her in ASL which made it so easy to share everything, could actually be interested in her.

Just imagining the possibility brought a storm of butterflies to her stomach.

A bright light flickered twice from the bulb over her bedroom door. He was here.

She looked herself over again in the mirror, putting on a confident, seductive smile that she didn’t quite feel. She knew from experience, though, that fake it till you make it worked. If she decided to look unfazed and sexy, she could make herself feel that way, too.

With that thought in mind, she buzzed the door, feeling the soft folds of her dress brushing her thighs as she let her hips give in to a natural sway.

She’d thought about putting on something sexier, but she’d learned that it would only mean sitting around in her lingerie while they ate dinner and chatted. Though that definitely pulled at some fantasies, too.

A few moments later, Dustin arrived. He smiled when he saw her, giving her first a kiss on the lips and then a kiss on the forehead. It made her feel all shivery inside.

You look gorgeous today,he signed once he’d released her.

She couldn’t help but appreciate that his face always held that same glow of delight whenever he saw her, whether she was Lena or Landon, or even in her frumpier work clothes.

It helped that she clearly wasn’t the first person he’d met who identified under the trans umbrella, so she didn’t have to go through the exhausting explanations. Dustin had asked her a few questions about her experiences when they came up in conversation, but it always felt like they were about her, not her gender identity. Things like how her parents felt about it or whether she was out at school. He was just kind of awesome that way.

I brought over Thai food,he mentioned, gesturing toward the white plastic bag in his other hand. Yeah, doubly awesome. Shall we go eat?

Now that he was here, she could feel all of the stress draining out of her. When he was looking at her like that, like he’d been waiting all week just to have dinner with her, it was like everything was going to be alright.

Dustin just had that magic around him.

She walked toward the kitchen and grabbed plates and forks. She assumed that he’d unpack the food, so she felt herself blushing when she turned around to find him watching her. Was he actually that interested in her? With her narrow hips and straight waist in her clingy dress? She didn’t often feel insecure about her body, but sometimes it caught up with her.

I’m a lucky man,he signed with no pretense. It was almost like it wasn’t a compliment, just a simple statement of fact.

Wow. Just wow. If this was what it was like having a boyfriend, maybe she ought to consider it. She had so many things to think about, so many fears, but maybe just for tonight, she could say fuck it to all of them and just enjoy it.

She brought the plates to the table and he brushed a kiss to her shoulder before pulling out her chair. Because he was basically the perfect boyfriend.

Then he asked about the budget she was putting together for the committee she was on and her progress on the bullshit with the Deaf ed program at school. No, now he was the perfect boyfriend.

God, she was going to be fucked when he left. Or could she…? No, that was getting ahead of things.

She concentrated instead on the delicious smells of the food, which he was placing on her plate without asking for her input. Was it weird that she liked that? Not that it was a weird thing for people to like, but was it a weird thing for her to like?

It felt kind of good right now. Like he was taking care of her, maybe, a little bit. Like he was real.

So, he said casually when they had their plates filled and their feet tangled together under the table, tell me about age play.

She blinked. That was a big jump from what she’d just been thinking about. And she wasn’t buying his casual affect at all. There was a chance he’d just read about it and wanted to know a few facts, but she was pretty sure he was thinking about it a bit more personally. It made sense to ask her, since these were supposed to be lessons. A way to test things out.

She certainly knew enough to orient newcomers, but it wasn’t something she’d tried herself. She wasn’t quite sure why not, since she liked hanging out with the littles at Escape. Pups, too. They were always so relaxed and cute, and when they did public scenes with their caregivers it was hot.

She knew that diapers and bottles weren’t for her, so if that was what Dustin wanted to try it would be a definite no. Could she see herself as a preschooler? Maybe… but it sounded kind of boring. She’d rather play with circuit boards than blocks if she wanted to relax.

On the other hand, she’d liked it when he put food on her plate, so this couldn’t be too different. For a quick scene… sure. She could try out being a toddler. It seemed relatively harmless. For more? Well, it probably wasn’t her jam.

It figured that the one decent guy she’d met in ages would be into something that didn’t work for her.

So she managed to pull off a smirk, moving back into the role of educator. Been reading a lot?