“Not so fast,” she said, putting her hand on my chest, not to push me away but to slow me down.

We’d been together for weeks. I thought it was time. She didn’t.

“It’s not about time,” she reminded me. “It’s about timing. You knew that from the start.”

I sighed and took a step back. “I’m sorry. It’s just…”

“We’ll know when it’s right. I promise.”

I met Monica at a party my friend threw. His girlfriend Sam set us up, but she came with a warning.

“She’s not the kind of girl who’s going to jump into bed with you,” she told me. “She’s gonna make you earn it.”

“I like a challenge,” I said a little too smugly.

“Don’t treat her like a conquest. She’s too smart for that.”

To be honest, the whole situation seemed like a pain in the ass, but I was going to the party anyway, so I figured I’d feel the situation out and decide if it was worth it or not.

Monica wasn’t just beautiful. She was cool, and funny, and as smart as Sam said she was. We got along great that night, and she gave me her number. I didn’t follow the three-day rule. I called her up the next day, and we went for coffee. Coffee became dinner, and dinner became the realization that Monica was worth the trouble.

“Sam said that you’re a bit of a player.”

“She did?”

“She did,” Monica replied, smiling.

“Well, I’m not sure if that’s true.”

“You’re not sure?” she asked playfully.

“Reputations aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be.”

Monica laughed. “You said that like you’ve had to say a dozen times before.”

“Touché. Sam told me you were smart.”

“What else did she tell you?”

“That you’re guarded and take your time.”

“And you’re ok with that?”

“A better question might be why Miss Play-It-Slow decided to meet with someone she thought was a player.”

Monica bit her lip, trying to hide her smile. “I thought you were cute. Like, really cute.”

That’s how it started, with everything out in the open. We both knew what we were dealing with. I was hoping she’d crack. She thought she could change me.

We saw each other almost every day after that, and when we didn’t, we made up for it with calls and texts.

I took it slow. A touch on the small of her back when we stepped into an elevator. Reaching for her hand when we crossed the street. Little things that built trust and got her comfortable with me. I wanted so much more from her right away, but I wasn’t going to fuck this one up.

One night after walking her home, she gave me a hug. When she pulled back, our eyes met. We were still close and holding each other. I leaned in for a kiss.

For a second, I thought that was going to be our first. But she lifted a finger and pressed it against my lips.

“Not yet.”

She pulled away and walked up the stairs to her building, but I caught her looking back at me. She wanted it too. I just hadn’t earned it yet. Our first kiss was still a week away.

I had her over at my place and cooked dinner. None of it was planned. Earlier in the day, we agreed to meet up around seven, with the idea of heading to a restaurant around eight. Somewhere along the way, we got lost in conversation, and it was too late to go anywhere. I made do with what I had in the fridge, which was next to nothing, but she saw the effort.

After we ate, I went to the living room and sat on the couch while Monica took a minute to reply to a work email in the other room.

When she joined me, she didn’t sit beside me. She climbed onto my lap and held my face in her hands. Neither one of us said a word. She just kissed me. It didn’t go any further than that, but it was a new floor for us. That’s how things went with Monica. She set the pace for everything.

A couple of weeks later, she had a work function to go to. We talked about me going with her, but in the end, she decided to go by herself.

“I’m not hiding you from anyone,” she said. “You’re going to be my excuse so I can leave early.”

She called me around ten o’clock, and I could tell that she’d had a few drinks.

“Babe, you awake?”

“Yeah, it’s only 10.”

“Good. I’m coming over.”

Monica always looked beautiful, but my jaw dropped when I opened the door and saw her standing there. Her hair was tied back, and she was wearing a black satin dress with heels.

“Holy shit.”

She smiled and stepped past me into my apartment. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to keep it together with her looking like this.

“C’mon, babe.”

She didn’t stop at my living room like she usually did. She kept going, right to my bedroom. Once I realized where she was headed, I practically ran after her.

Monica was waiting for me, standing at the foot of my bed. I took her in my arms and kissed her. After a few seconds, she pulled away.

She placed a hand on my shoulder and gently pushed down.

“On your knees.”

“What?”

A grin spread across her face, and she motioned with her head. “Get on your knees.”

I did.

Monica lifted the hem of her dress, exposing the stockings she was wearing, and the panties she wasn’t.

“You’ve been really good,” she said, sitting on the edge of my bed. She parted her legs and ran a finger along the inside of her thigh. “That’s earned you something.”

She spread her legs further apart and tapped her finger just above her pussy.

“Lick.”