It only took about ten minutes of tossing, turning, and berating myself before I made a decision. He'd said he didn't want things to be uncomfortable between us at work, but I knew that they would for me regardless of how I'd try to ignore these last couple days and move forward.

Since Ryan appeared to be a perfectly honest guy, I came to the conclusion that I should be honest too, and I might as well go for broke.

The bedroom doorknob banged against the wall, leaving a dent that would be a permanent reminder of this encounter. Whether I would view it with dread or delight, didn't deter me from marching into the living room.

Ryan's arm remained draped across his eyes, but I could tell he wasn't asleep.

I cleared my throat.

Seeming to move in slow motion, he lifted his bicep up and peered at me, albeit not cautiously. In fact, Ryan looked entirely unfazed by the commotion I had just made.

I said, "Here's the real deal."

His eyebrows raised and I hoped that meant he was intrigued by my reappearance and not annoyed by it. "I wasn't aware that anything going on between us earlier was fake."

Propped up on his elbows by then, a generous sliver of Ryan's exposed torso was visible where he'd unzipped the onesie. He did say he was too hot in it. I couldn't disagree with that at the moment.

But if he was going to take me seriously, then I needed to look him in the face when I said what I'd come in there to say. I sat on the coffee table, directly in front of him, and forced my gaze to meet his.

His brown eyes, darker than usual with pupils wide, were trying to capture all the light in the room, but captured all of the air from my lungs instead. They were equally distracting as any expanse of skin he could show off. My hands fidgeted with the end of my pajama shirt, and I looked down at them as I began.

"I know that this is going to make me sound a little bit like some of the kids we teach, but I have to be truthful with you, because from what I can tell, you've been nothing but genuine with me... And you didn't have to be so nice to the drunk woman who threw herself at you on Friday night, or render first aid to the hungover mess I was this morning, or comfort the total basket case I became just before during my panic attack... And the fact that all of those instances were from one person probably doesn't bode well for my chances..."

Ryan's legs swung off the cushions as he sat up, calling my attention back to his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but I held up one finger, and he closed it again. My voice sped up to a torrent, wanting to get out everything as quickly as possible before he got fed up with my rambling.

"I just needed to say that, I like you Ryan. As in, I like you romantically, not just as a friend. Despite sounding like one of our students saying 'I like you' the truth is, I'm not a teenager."

A small smirk passed across Ryan's lips, as brief as the blink of an eye. A slightly irritated huff erupted from me.

"Before I know it my eggs will be all dried up, which means I'm at an age where I'm looking for something more than just a fling. So even though I'm extremely attracted to you, to the point where I find your physical presence... I guess the best word would be stimulating... Well frankly, if you don't find me attractive, or don't think you could ever see me as more than a friend, or if you aren't ready to start anything more than a casual relationship, then I think we should just keep things between us as professional as possible. Simply put, we should be colleagues, and that's all."

The streetlights combined with the wooden blinds on my living room windows created lines of light and shadow across Ryan's face. I couldn't read any expression between them. He sat there silently.

I stood up. "I'm just gonna head back to my bedroom now."

Before I could run away, Ryan grabbed my hand. "Would it be okay if I joined you?"

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely certain."

Where before Ryan had been slow and silent, suddenly he was all movement and sound. He rose and gripped my hips, pulling me against him with a soft groan as he walked me backwards toward my bedroom like we were dance partners.

"I can't believe you didn't know I wanted you like this Vivian."

As he kissed me, and stopped to pull me even tighter against himself, I could feel that he did want me too. It satisfied me to think that my words alone had inspired such a reaction. Now I needed to see what my touch could do. I ran my hands up between the zipper of the fleece pajamas, along the the ridges of his abdomen. A slight snarl, and a trail of his kisses mixed with small bites along my neck was the result.

Spinning in a circle in the hallway, so that I pushed him forward now, we finally collided into the jamb of my bedroom door, and nearly tripped over one another to get to my bed, laughing between kisses. My buttons were completely undone and so was my self restraint. "Get that damn onesie off."

"Ladies first," he said, as he opened my shirt up and began to take one of my nipples into his mouth.

Wrapping my legs around his thighs, I gripped his hair, so sleek and soft. Scented with my shampoo, it made me feel like I'd briefly marked him as mine. I hoped that the smell of him would linger on my sheets all week.

Ryan rocked into my pelvis a few times, a coming attraction of the night ahead. My mind reeled just from what he was doing to my nipple and I was giddy thinking about what else his tongue could do.

"Ryan, please... please take off those pajamas!"

He sat up, kneeling between my legs. As he stripped off the top portion of the fleece, the sight was every bit as glorious as when he'd been in the towel earlier. Only this time I was bare on top too, and Ryan was looking at me with equal ardor.

His voice was gruff. "We need to get those bottoms off you."

He grabbed my right ankle, lifted it over his head, and brought my legs together on the opposite side. Then one of his large hands took both hems of the pants, and he yanked them off in one swift movement.

"I'd almost think you practiced that."

"I've only been undressing you with my eyes since... Well if I said September that would be unprofessional, so let's just say since yesterday... And when you shimmied those pants on underneath that towel..."

"You saw that?" I didn't have to feign shock.

"I got a nice little peek at this bottom of yours." He gave it a gentle swat.

"I thought you were asleep."

It crossed my mind that Ryan might not be as genuine as previously believed, but I was past the point of caring. He shrugged. There was no way I was stopping this, and we both knew it.

"You're still not naked," I whined.

Ryan looked down at himself with a smirk. As he slowly unzipped the onesie, his eyes came back up to mine.

The zipper sound stopped. He was completely bare. I broke eye contact first. My eyebrows and the corners of my mouth rose in unison.

"Worth the wait?" he asked, with a chuckle.

"We'll see." I sat up and brought my lips to his.

While one of my hands explored the parts newly revealed to me, Ryan's fingers were working their own reconnoiter between my legs. Our kisses became far more urgent and I pulled away, panting.

"Condom! I don't have any condoms! It's been months since I needed any." My voice rose an octave. "Please tell me you've got one."

Ryan smoothed my wild hair back from my face and gave me a peck on the lips. "Calm down. I'll be right back."

The pajamas still clung onto his shapely calves. He rolled from the bed and then pushed them down with his feet. I flopped onto my stomach and admired his toned backside as he stepped free of them. There were the dimples I'd imagined earlier, looking so much better in reality.

He returned to the bedroom mere milliseconds later with his jeans in one hand, the condom in the other, and a look of utter horror on his face. He dropped both pants and cellophane wrapper onto the floor.

"The condom was in my pocket. It's gone through the washer and dryer. It's no good!"