Jess and I had been in a relationship for a week. We’d seen each on every occasion her schedule would allow. Even though only seven days had passed, I was convinced the fear I’d struggled with regarding relationships wasn’t going to apply with Jess. I had an odd sense of comfort that she and I were going to make it to the bitter end.

If she could last the first thirty days, that is.

After making out on the couch for half an hour, she pushed herself away from me and stood.

“This is ridiculous,” she said. “We’re not in high school.”

“Twenty-two days to go.” I struggled not to smirk, but I didn’t succeed. At least not fully. “It allows us to be in the relationship for all the right reasons. Our decision isn’t influenced by sex. People have sex first, and then they’re staying together because they like to fuck. I think we should be together because we like each other. The fucking comes afterward. Fucking first is going about it backward.”

She gestured toward my crotch. “I wonder if that thing even works.”

I arched an argumentative eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“Your you-know-what. I bet it’s messed up. Broken. Noodley, or whatever.”

“There’s not a goddamned thing wrong with me,” I said matter-of-factly.

She looked me over. Then, she met my gaze. “Prove it.”

“Believe me, in twenty-two days you’ll be begging me to stop.”

“I doubt that,” she said snidely.

“You will. I can assure you.”

“Maybe you met your match,” she said.

“When?”

She gave me a look. “When you met me, silly.”

“Doubt it,” I said dryly.

She scrunched her nose and then looked away. “I don’t like this thirty-day crap.”

“Twenty-two.”

“Maybe if we didn’t see each other so much.” She sat at the edge of the couch and forced a sigh. “I think it would be easier. A lot easier.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “That wasn’t the deal we made.”

“That deal we made is ridiculous. Spend all day together and not bone? Who does that? I’ll tell you who. Sixteen-year-olds. Even the Amish kids up in Hutchison bone when their eighteen.”

I raised my chin slightly. “We’re doing it this way. It’s instrumental to the relationship’s survival. We’ll learn a lot about each other, and we’ll be in it for all the right reasons. You’ll fall in love with me, not my dick.”

“Erik Ead wouldn’t do it like this,” she snapped back. “He’d bend Kelli over the arm of the couch and give it to her like a boss.”

“I’ll give it to you like a boss. In twenty-two days.”

She laid her face against her palms. After screaming into her hands for a moment, she looked up. “Don’t you get blue balls?”

I let out a laugh. “That’s a lie.”

She squinted. “What is?”

“Blue balls,” I said. “It’s made up. Guys say that to get girls to give it up. It isn’t true.”

She cocked her head to the side. “Huh?”

I cupped my hands around my mouth and made a megaphone. “It isn’t true!”

“It builds up pressure,” she said. “It’s painful. If you don’t get a release, you’ve got to go to the hospital and have a nurse jack you off.”

I barked out a laugh. “Holy crap. You seriously believe that shit?”

“It’s true, isn’t it?”

“It’s a complete and utter lie,” I explained. “There’s no such thing as blue balls.”

She looked as if she’d bitten into a lemon. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Her gaze dropped to the floor. “That sucks.”

“Why, because you can’t use reverse blue-ball psychology to get me to give it up?”

“No.” She looked up. “Because I’ve been tricked a few times by the blue balls lie.”

“Well, now you know.”

She dragged her tongue along the edge of her upper lip. “Don’t you think it’d feel good though?”

“I’m sure it’d feel great.”

She looked at my crotch. “Get it out.”

“I’m not getting it out.”

She wagged her index finger toward my zipper. “Get it out.”

“I’m not--”

“You said no sex for thirty days, right?”

I nodded. “That is correct.”

“I want to suck your dick. Blowjobs aren’t sex.” She waved her hand toward my crotch. “Get it out.”

I gave argument, but not much. The thought of her proceeding with her proposal sounded like one hell of a good idea.

“That’s probably not a good idea,” I said, lying through my teeth the entire while.

She smiled. “Why not? You scared? Scared you’ll give in?”

I shook my head. “I’m too strong willed to give in.”

“Get it out then.” She nodded toward my stiffening dick. “Prove it.”

“I don’t think it’s a good--”

She started clucking like a chicken, flapping her arms as she did so.

There was a huge difference between being strong-willed and being afraid. I wasn’t afraid, that much I knew. I unbuckled my belt, unzipped my pants, and pulled it out.

“There,” I said. “Satisfied?”

“Holy crap.” She stared at it for a few seconds, and then looked up. “Twenty-two days, huh?”

I nodded “Yep.”

Wearing an ornery grin, she curled the tip of her index finger into her palm. “Come here.”

With her seated at the edge of the couch, I did as she asked. After gripping the shaft in her hand, she locked eyes with me. “Kelli Parks was a novice compared to me.”

“So you say,” I said. “That girl could swallow a baseball bat.”

Fifteen minutes later, I was convinced Jess was right. She could have held weekend seminars on how to perform oral sex to a man’s complete satisfaction. I’d always considered myself an authority on blowjobs. Truth be known, she may have taught me a thing or two about them that I didn’t realize.

My strong-willed nature crumbled. I was mere seconds from climax. With the end nearing, I closed my eyes and prepared for the fireworks that were sure to follow. She must have sensed it, because she stopped mid-stroke and pulled her mouth free.

“What are you doing?” I opened my eyes. “I was about to come.”

“I know.” She wiped her mouth on her arm. “I’m done.”

“Seriously?” I asked. “You’re going to stop right there?”

“I’m tired of doing that. It’s dumb.” She looked at me and smiled. “I want to bone.”

“Say again?”

“Fuck. Bone. Screw. Have sex.” She pointed at my rigid cock. “Put that.” She pointed between her legs. “In here.”

“I will,” I assured her. “In twenty-two days.”

She shot from her seat. Her eyes did little to hide the anger that was building inside of her. She folded her arms over her chest and let out breath. “You’re not going to do it?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

She cocked her hip. “Seriously?”

“Your little tricks won’t work with me, Jess.”

“You’ll let me give you a blowjob, but I can’t have any dick?” she seethed. “What kind of a crappy deal is that?”

I stuffed myself back into my pants and buckled my belt. “It was your idea, not mine.”

She grabbed her coat from the arm of the couch. “I’m leaving,” she huffed.

“Don’t leave mad.”

“I’m not mad,” she replied. “I’m horny. You’re not going to fix it. So, I’m going to take care of it myself.”

She put on her coat, turned toward the door, and then glanced over her shoulder. “And, you can’t watch.”