“How are you liking your bubble bath?” Devlin asked as he walked into the bathroom.

I was still riding the high of my last final, but more exciting, I was on a high from the declaration that Devlin had just made back at the campus. He loved me! I felt light as a feather; it was the most amazing feeling in the world. It was even better than sex.

“I love it,” I said. “I’d love it better if you joined me though.”

Smiling, Devlin began stripping off his clothes and then he jumped in, sloshing water all over the floor. I screamed and laughed and threw a couple of bubbles his way. He pulled me onto his lap so that I was straddling him and he kissed me passionately with his hands on my hips.

I had been receiving quite the education where sex was concerned in the last few days. Devlin and I had sex every night, and sometimes two or three times a day. We were always busy, so sometimes they were just quickies squeezed in between small moments during the day. During weekends, when we had a little more free time, however, our lovemaking was slow and long and experimental. Devlin was a generous lover, and it was not unusual for me to have two and three orgasms in one day.

I was glad I had waited to have sex, however. I felt as though I had waited for Devlin all this time and the worth had been completely worth it. He had introduced me to my own body, and I finally felt confident and in control. Devlin made me feel more like a woman and less like the shy and uncertain girl I had been.

I could feel Devlin’s hand snaking up my back, and then I felt his fingers squeeze my tight nipple. It was just the right amount of pressure that turned me on and made me tingle.

“Thank you for coming today,” I said again, as he wiped away the soap on my chest and kissed my breasts.

“Don’t worry about it,” Devlin replied. “I liked it. I always wanted to see you in your element.”

“Funny you should say that,” I replied. “Because I’ve always wanted to see you in your element.”

Devlin frowned. “You see me in my element all the time when I paint,” he replied.

I smiled. “Ok, so maybe that’s not what I was talking about,” I admitted. “I guess I kind of wanted to see you in your fireman uniform. I’ve never actually seen you in action. I know it’s not your main passion but it is a noble profession and I have to admit I’ve had a few fireman dreams about you lately.”

Devlin looked a little embarrassed all of a sudden. He looked down, and for some reason, he kept avoiding my eyes.

“Devlin?” I asked.

“I have something to tell you,” he said.

I tensed a little. “What is it?” I asked.

“Uh… I quit today,” Devlin replied. “I’m done with the station.”

“Oh,” I said, taken by surprise. “I didn’t realize you were thinking of quitting so soon.”

“I kind of always had an end date in mind actually,” Devlin replied. “I probably should have mentioned it to you.”

“No, don’t worry,” I said. “This was completely your decision. But… what about work?”

“I’ve got this great job lined up for a local arts magazine,” Devlin explained. “In fact… your brother is the one that helped me get it.”

“Oh yeah,” I said. “That’s great.”

“Seth still doesn’t know about us… does he?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “And I’m starting to feel really guilty about it. He knows I’m kind of involved with my roommate though—”

“You told him?” Devlin asked.

“Well, yeah… and he wasn’t too pleased,” I admitted. “But that’s because he doesn’t know it’s you. If he helped you get a job that means he likes you. So maybe it’s time you met my family… as my boyfriend.”

I saw his eyes grow wide for a second and he gave me a tight smile that I found hard to decipher. “What’s wrong?”

“I… uh… don’t know if your brother is going to be too happy about me actually,” Devlin said.

I frowned. “Why not?”

“Well, because… I just know Seth and… I just think he’d be upset about us.”

I paused. “Oh,” I said, looking down.

“Hey,” Devlin said, pushing up my face to meet his eyes. “I really want to meet your mother, and I want Seth to know about us. I just think we should wait for a little. There are a few things I need to get sorted first.”

“Like what?” I asked curiously.

“Just life stuff.”

I smiled. “That’s not vague at all.”

“Just trust me, ok?” he asked.

I nodded. “I do trust you.”

“Good,” Devlin said, as he leaned up and kissed me again.

We ended up having hot sex in the bathtub, and by the time we were done, the bathtub was practically empty because of all the water that we had displaced when we were fucking in there. Afterward, Devlin toweled me off and then I returned the favor. I slipped on a bathrobe while Devlin pulled on boxers and headed into the kitchen to check on the special celebratory meal he was making me.

When I went out to the kitchen, he had laid the table beautifully with candles and roses and wine. “Wow,” I said. “I’m feeling really spoiled.”

“That’s what I was going for,” Devlin admitted.

We were in the middle of dinner when Devlin reached out and took my hand. “You’ve changed my life, Zoey,” he said. “I never thought I’d ever be this happy. I kind of always thought I’d be the tortured artist without a home or a family.”

I squeezed his hand. “You have me now… and you always will,” I said. “But where your parents are concerned if you’re not ok with how things with them… then change it.”

“They don’t make it easy.”

I shrugged. “At least you’ll know you tried. Whatever happens… you’ll have me.”

Devlin smiled. “You know what… that actually does give me the courage I need to make the first move.”

After dinner, he was sitting thoughtfully at the dinner table when I took his hand. “Penny for your thoughts?” I asked.

He shook himself out of his reverie and gave me a small smile. “I was just… contemplating…”

“What were you contemplating?”

“I was contemplating… calling my mother,” Devlin admitted. “You know… making the first move.”

“I think that’s a great idea.”

“You do?”

“I do,” I said, stroking his arm to calm him down a little. I knew that just the thought of calling his mother had put him on edge. “They’re always going to be your parents, Devlin, and no matter what that’s never going to change. At least give it your best shot now so you don’t regret anything in the future.”

I looked at Zoey. “Do you regret not knowing your father?” he asked.

“When I was younger I did,” I nodded. “But he didn’t want to know me… so, in the end, I realized I was better off without him. But I have to admit if he showed up tomorrow and asked for a second chance… I would give him one.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes,” I nodded.

“But he… he basically abandoned you.”

“I know,” I nodded. “But every person has their story. People have their baggage, and sometimes their experiences and their lack of choice shapes the decisions they make. Which might end up being mistakes they realize later. I’ve always believed that everyone deserves a second chance.”

“You’re a better person than me though,” Devlin said. “You’re kind and compassionate and forgiving… it’s harder for me.”

“Don’t you want a relationship with your parents?” I asked.

“Well… I mean I do… but—”

“Then you’ve got to work for it,” I said. “Didn’t you tell me that it was your mother that called and asked you to come to the house to collect your old paintings?”

“I… yes.”

“Well don’t you think the timing’s a little odd?” I asked. “I mean… you’ve been living separately for years now. Why call you now about those paintings? Maybe that was your parents’ way of trying to make a connection with you. Maybe that was their way of inviting you back home.”

I saw Devlin’s eyes grow wide a little and I realized that he hadn’t thought of that before. He was so used to believing that his parents didn’t care about him that he hadn’t even considered the fact that they might also want to try to mend their relationship with him.

“I… will you excuse me for a moment?” Devlin asked.

“Of course,” I said, giving him a smile of encouragement and a kiss on the cheek before he went to his room and closed the door.

I cleared up the plates and then went to the living room. I reclined back on the sofa and decided to give Leah a call. We hadn’t spoken in quite a while, and I missed her.

“Well, well it’s been a while, old friend,” Leah said dramatically when she picked up.

“Ha, ha… it hasn’t been that long.”

“How’re things going with the new roommate?” Leah asked.

“With Devlin?” I asked. “Actually they’re going pretty great…”

“Ah-ha, have you slept with him yet?”

“What?” I gasped. “How did you know?”

“What!” Leah said. “Oh my God… did you?”

“Shit,” I said, realizing that she had just been making a joke.

Leah started laughing. “I can’t believe you finally lose your virginity and you don’t even mention it to me. So typical of you.”

“It’s embarrassing to talk about.”

“Why?” Leah asked. “I told you about my first time.”

“We were teenagers,” I said.

“So?”

“I’m an adult… it’s different.”

“Forget that,” Leah said impatiently. “Tell me… how did it happen? When did it happen? How was it? I have so many questions.”

I laughed and checked to see if Devlin was coming out soon. “It was… amazing.”

“How did this even happen?” Leah asked. “I mean… I knew you were attracted to the guy, but I also thought you wanted to avoid complicating things.”

“I did,” I sighed. “But he was hot, and I was weak. It’s weird though… we have so much in common, and we get along so well. It’s made me think…”

“What?”

“I don’t know… I guess I’ve been fantasizing about china patterns and things.”

“You want to marry him?” Leah asked incredulously.

“Not right away,” I said. “Not immediately obviously… I mean Seth and mom haven’t even met him yet. Well, Seth’s met him, but he just doesn’t know that he’s my roommate.”

“Umm, what?”

“Seth doesn’t know that I met Devlin at the fire station,” I explained. “He has no idea that my new roommate is actually his colleague. Well, Devlin’s not technically his colleague anymore. He quit today.”

“He’s not a firefighter anymore?”

“Nope.”

“Why did he quit?”

“Well, he wants to transition into the art world and being a firefighter doesn’t give him much time to focus on his work,” I said, realizing how proud of him I was.

“But… how did you even manage to keep this from Seth? Didn’t you visit the station?”

“Not really,” I said. “I mean I dropped off those cupcakes for mom, which is when I met Devlin but I rarely go around the station. I don’t want to get in their way. Plus I just don’t have the time. Between school and my part-time job, things get a little crazy.”

“I can imagine,” Leah nodded. “But why haven’t you told Seth yet?”

“Well at first it was because I just didn’t want him to freak out on me,” I said. “I wanted to figure out how I felt about Devlin without everyone’s else opinions clouding my judgment. Now I actually want to tell everyone and Devlin’s nervous. He thinks that Seth won’t approve of us being together.”

“That’s odd.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah… I mean if they’ve worked together and they’re friends… why would Seth have a problem with it?”

“He wouldn’t,” I agreed. “It’s probably just Devlin overthinking… he tends to do that sometimes.”

“Now I really want to meet him.”

“You will,” I said, just as Devlin came back to the living room. “Ah, Leah… can we finish talking later? I’ve got to get back to my celebration.”

“What are you celebrating?” Leah asked.

“Oh… the ends of finals.”

“Fuck, already?”

“Yup.”

“Nice,” Leah said. “Congrats, hon.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I promise we’ll talk soon.”

“Of course.”

After I’d hung up with Leah, I settled in on Devlin’s shoulder. “How did the call go with your mother?” I asked.

Devlin sighed. “I couldn’t talk to her.”

“You didn’t call?” I asked, sitting up and looking at him.

Devlin hung his head low. “No, I called,” he admitted. “I just… heard her voice and then hung up.”

I smiled sympathetically and pulled him towards me. I kissed his head gently and rubbed his shoulders. “It’s ok,” I said bracingly. “You can try again later when you’re readier.”

“I’m a coward.”

“You’re not a coward,” I said. “You just need some time.”

“Can you call her for me?” Devlin asked jokingly.

I laughed. “If I could, I would.”

Devlin chuckled for a moment, and then he pulled the robe down around my shoulders. “Hey,” I said.

“Come on,” he said, kissing my neck. “I need a distraction and luckily for me… you are very, very distracting.”

I smiled, realizing that he was already hard. “I thought you’d be tired after that performance in the tub.”

“Please… I’m never too tired to have sex with you,” Devlin replied. “And anyway we’re supposed to be celebrating. Your finals are done… soon you’ll have officially graduated, and then your life begins.”

I lay back on the sofa as Devlin pushed open my robe and pulled off his boxers. “My life has already begun,” I whispered into his ear as he pushed himself inside me.