Britta was running late. She didn't even know how it happened, but she did manage to get her laundry and dishes done, and by the time she was out of the shower it was already 4:30. It was close to six when she eased her Pontiac into a spot someone was leaving just outside of Jeff's apartment. Still, she took a moment to look in the rear view mirror and lightly apply some Spiced Rose lipstick mostly to her bottom lip, smacking it around, trying to make it look not too obvious that she was wearing makeup.

Jeff answered almost immediately. "About time, Kevin Kline."

"Calm down," she cut in over him, as she pulled a bottle of Pinot Noir from her shoulder bag. " I brought wine."

"I thought we were gonna order Thai, I almost ordered without you, actually. I was giving you," and he looked at his watch, "eight more minutes." He took the wine and pointed it at her, "pineapple fried rice?"

"And spring rolls?" she only half-asked, throwing her bag on the end of the sofa before going to join him in the kitchen. "Want me to open this?"

"You can't drink wine with Thai food," he told her, as he handed back the bottle, and picked his cell phone off the counter to order.

"Sure you can, and you're talking to a bartender," she reminded him. "Jeff, you can't drink just Scotch your whole life. Expand your palette." With that, she successfully found the Rabbit in the back of his kitchen tchotchke drawer, which was surprisingly neat for a bachelor. Then again, she was sure he had someone come in and clean the place for him on a regular basis.

"I meant I'm sure I have beer in the fridge, and you're wrong- anything other than Scotch and I'm downgrading. Hi- yeah, I'd like to place an order for delivery..." His voice trailed off as Britta grabbed two wine glasses and headed back to the living room. She flipped on the TV and moved Jeff's laptop to the coffee table. "Twenty minutes," Jeff said, as he sat down beside her and grabbed a glass of wine. "What's with the shorts? Run out of clean clothes?" He was referring to the light green stripes on her shorts, which were much more feminine than her usual black or denim.

"Today was laundry day. No- I mean, I did laundry today. It's so hot out, I just grabbed these. I don't get how even with it being 90 degrees outside, I still have to run my clothes through the dryer three times. It sucks. That's the last time I do it until fall. Seriously."

"Well," he hesitated momentarily, but couldn't help himself. "Come over here and do it if you need it. I mean, it's free. You might as well?" He was so close to doing something nice for her, but didn't want it to come off weird, so he had to make it seem like he didn't care if she did or she didn't. Britta's eyebrows noticeably raised. It was an uncharacteristic gesture, and one that made sense, but she didn't want to seem over eager.

"It's not a big deal. And wouldn't that be weird, like, who does that, kids? Your neighbors would probably get suspicious- some strange woman coming in to do her laundry?"

His lawyer instinct to sell himself kicked in. "No way, it's fine. I'm paying for it, I don't even use it enough. Hang out here in the A/C while you're doing your laundry instead of sweating to death. It's not a big deal. Don't make your life harder Britta."

"Allright, thanks. I'll keep it in mind." They both knew he'd won. "How's the studying going?"

"Fine," he replied. "But I started before you got here, so can we start with Netflix and then study a little?"

"Yeah, I kinda need that," she admitted. He grabbed the Apple TV remote from the side table to his left.

The screen came up and Jeff pulled up his queue. "What the hell?!" She looked at him, puzzled. "I didn't add "Starship Troopers" or "Bedtime Stories" to my queue. This happens every week. Something's wrong with this, don't judge me!"

"It's fine," she laughed. She knew positively that was not Jeff's genre. "I just remembered- let's do Hulu instead. There's something I heard is really good."

"What?" he asked, cautiously, despite moving to switch applications.

"It's this show Key and Peele. It's like Saturday Night Live, or Dave Chapelle, and it's these two African-American guys who use sketch comedy to explore modern racial injustice." She was getting more excited as she was describing and remembering seeing the sketch her friend showed her.

"Ok, fine, yes, but I'm only on board because Troy was telling me about this last week and it sounded a lot funnier." Jeff smirked, and Britta kicked her shoes off, tucking her legs beneath her. The food arrived shortly thereafter, and two episodes turned into Britta rationalizing, "just one more, and then we'll take a study break." They did eventually, by which time they'd polished off the bottle, and Jeff was searching his kitchen for an appropriate refill. But after opening it, he filled their glasses, and retrieved his copy of As You Like It from his bedroom.

"Jeff?" Britta called after him.

He ducked his head out and threw the play at her, meaning for her to catch it. She missed, but quickly picked it up and regained her train of thought. "I'm cold," she whimpered.

"Oh, do you want me to turn the air off?" he wondered. It was getting chilly with the central air, but he had only just noticed. Britta must be freezing though, with her short shorts and thin t-shirt, and she was tiny.

"No…" He got exasperated with her for half a second…then "It feels good. Bring a blanket?"

"Yeah, sure." He turned back into the bedroom and pulled a soft gray fleece from the back of his armchair, and pulled it over the both of them when he got back to the couch. Britta snuggled in next to him, her left ear pressed to his chest, and Jeff's right arm wrapped around her. His fingers absentmindedly swept stray hairs from her ponytail back behind her ear over and over. They were both incredibly comfortable.

The sun had set, and the only light in the room was coming from the television and a faint glow from the bedroom where Jeff had left on a bedside lamp. The freshly poured wine lay untouched. Britta began to fall asleep; she couldn't help herself. She hadn't been so happily relaxed in ages. It occurred to her that she should start to make her way home; it was only a ten minute drive back to her studio, but the longer she let herself fall in and out of sleep, the harder it was going to be to rouse herself. Her eyelids were heavy; she knew when she opened them that she had been out for at least a few minutes. She'd missed an entire sketch. She turned her neck turned upward to see if Jeff was sleeping, too, but he wasn't at all, though she thought his eyes looked tired. He was watching her. The television light illuminated his features. As if it were completely natural, he moved his lips down to meet hers, and his left hand moved to her right thigh. Britta was suddenly wide awake, or getting there. She moved her left arm out from under her and brought it up to Jeff's neck. Taking this as a sign, Jeff opened his mouth and met Britta's tongue. It was incredible that he recognized her taste after so long; he missed it. He swirled his tongue around hers, then alternated between deep kisses and sucking on her bottom lip, which he knew from experience she liked. Britta wanted their bodies closer. In two quick moves, she threw the blanket off, and positioned herself straddling Jeff's lap, her arms around his shoulders and fingers in his hair, which was already half sticking up. He immediately moved to gently lick and kiss the sensitive spot beneath her right ear, and she let out a soft "hmmmmmmm." She could feel herself getting wet, and it was clear Jeff would be ready for whatever happened next. She pulled her neck back so she could kiss him again. This time she moved her tongue gently around the front of Jeff's teeth, sucking on his upper lip. She could feel Jeff getting harder, and they were making each other more and more aroused. With his fingers on her back, he began gently moving her thumbs over the sides of her breasts. They couldn't stay on the couch all night. Reluctantly, Jeff pulled away and with his forehead on hers asked, "bedroom?"

"Yes," she agreed. "Just give me a minute." She wanted to collect herself in the bathroom. Britta knew if she stayed in the bedroom, they were headed for sex, and she still hadn't decided how she felt about picking it up so soon. Why was she not tired anymore? She peed, did a quick baby wipe wash, and improved brushing her teeth with some of Jeff's toothpaste and her finger. It's not like they hadn't done this before, and it's not like she didn't want an orgasm tonight. She knew Jeff would give her one. She looked at herself in the mirror and bit her lip. "No," she thought to herself, "don't give him the advantage…yet."

The bedroom was still dimly lit when Britta entered. Jeff was in dark blue boxers, and he greeted her with a kiss and one of his white t-shirts. "For sleeping? So you can be more comfortable."

"Thanks," she said, taking the t-shirt, and throwing it over the armchair to free up her hands. Jeff had had a great body while they were sleeping together before, and now it was incredible. She never had thought of herself as someone who would be attracted to guys with muscles, and the idea of how physically strong he was now was similarly a new turn-on. Britta turned and removed her t-shirt. Jeff was behind her; he moved in to take it and press a slow, warm kiss to the back of her neck. The shirt was lost to the floor as he kept kissing her and moved his hands to cup her breasts. Britta could feel the bulge of his erection against her lower back, and she could feel her own body responding, demanding to be touched. She turned around and their mouths met. Jeff unhooked her bra as she stepped on the fabric around her own toes in a struggle to remove her socks. They grasped on to each other and fell into bed, still kissing. Jeff unbuttoned Britta's shorts, and shimmied them down her legs, noticing her dark green toe nail polish. "You like everything dark?"

"You have to talk so much?" she teased back.

He stopped for a moment and gazed up at her. "You're really beautiful." And he took her right ankle in his hand and kissed it, then kissed up her calf, her knee, her inner thigh, and stopped at her black thong. He placed his middle and index fingers under the fabric and looked up at her, questioning.

"Not tonight," she told him. "Not yet." With that, Britta gripped him by his right shoulder and pulled him up to her mouth, giving him firm kisses he eagerly reciprocated. Memories of the dozens of satisfying nights they'd spent together came flooding back to Britta. Jeff was surprisingly attentive, and always made sure she came. More importantly for her, they fit together so well. They had great sex and they knew it.

Britta reached down and cupped him over his boxer shorts, while Jeff took her nipple into his mouth. She was going to have to throw this thong out. The more he sucked, the more she was getting soaked. She put more pressure on him, moving her up and down, and heard Jeff moan, "Britta." She was usually louder than he was in bed, and she loved hearing him lose control and making noises. It was a huge turn-on for both of them to make the other scream. Jeff moved his attentions to her other nipple, nosing it, licking circles around it, sucking it, while gently tweaking the other between two fingers. Britta wasn't sure how much more she could take without having him inside her. She hadn't even brought extra protection, though she was sure Jeff had some in his bedside table. That's where they used to keep a generous stash. Finally, she reached her limit of teasing, and with some gentle goading, flipped them so Jeff was now on the bottom, on his side of the bed. She settled herself between his legs and slipped her index finger beneath the waistband of his boxers, pulling back to reveal his erection. She released him with her other hand, gripping him firmly and licking a circle around the tip before using both hands to get the boxers off. Britta wasn't going to sleep with him tonight, but as she wordlessly took him into her mouth, made a mental note to stop at Walgreens the next day for a box of Trojans. She had a feeling she and Jeff would be busy the rest of the summer falling into old habits.

Jeff woke first the next morning. He propped himself on his right side and watched Britta sleeping. Her brow was furrowed and she had a little frown on her face, but he thought she looked adorable, like she was working really hard at sleeping. It only then hit him what had happened the night before. He gently kissed her forehead and she mumbled in her sleep, burrowing more deeply into the sheets. He did have a very comfortable bed. Jeff decided to make coffee. Christ, it was almost noon. It made sense- they'd been drinking…and they were up pretty late. He opened his dresser drawer as quietly as possible to grab a clean pair of boxer shorts, running sweats and t-shirt. He figured he'd shower and dress later. En route to the kitchen he brushed his teeth and refused to look at himself in the mirror. He wasn't ashamed of what had happened; he didn't want to ruin it. The smell of brewing coffee and the loss of the warm body in bed next to her had woken Britta up. She took time to stretch out.

"Hey, sleepy." Jeff greeted her. He poured her a cup, and reached into the fridge for milk for her.

"Hey you, too." She eagerly took the cup and inhaled deeply. "My face kinda hurts. I forgot about beard burn."

He smiled though he tried to look offended, "Hey, I condition this. This is premium beard oil; that's why it smells so good, too." She was glad he was smiling. There was a brief silence. "Hungry?"

"Yes, actually. Do you have any food?"

"I don't know," he admitted, opening the fridge. "Yogurt? Eggs? Omelette? I have cheese."

"Do you have toast?"

He looked again to check, then glanced at the counter top. "No, sorry. I have to go grocery shopping. We can order something? It's kinda late."

"Oh," she hadn't realized. "Do you have plans?"

"No, just, we could order a pizza instead. Lunch food. Brunch?" He is uncharacteristically non-assertive. "Wow, we didn't study at all yesterday, did we?"

"I would not call that studying," Britta joked back.

Jeff got more serious. He moved closer. "Do you want to study again sometime?"

"I like being your study partner," Britta continued the analogy.

"Well, good," he said, slightly relieved. "Besides, I think I owe you some notes…or something."

"I know you're good for it."

"Tomorrow night?"

She couldn't. "I'm working. I don't have off until next Monday….during the day?"

"This weekend? I'll text you." She could sense Jeff had something more to say, but she didn't push him. She added milk to her coffee. She was looking for a spoon when he asked, "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Haha. That's how it goes. First you fuck me and now you need a favor?"

She was kidding, but Jeff moved beside her and whispered seductively in her ear, "First you have to let me fuck you."

"Is that your favor?" she whispered back.

"No, it's worse. My Mom wants to have dinner with me and I can't go by myself. I think she's bringing a date. It's gonna be a trainwreck. I thought you'd like to watch."

"Oh, yeah," she replied, enthusiastically. "Of course. Not that it's gonna be a trainwreck, but I'm happy to go and support you."

"She may," and he decided to get it all out at once, "think we're dating. Or, she thinks we've been dating a long time."

"What?" Britta couldn't help her reaction. "How long?"

"Don't worry," he jested. "She'll know."

"How long?" Britta repeated.

"Sort-of…" and he trailed off. He never really stopped to calculate. "Since the start of our second year? Whenever we started really," he stopped and gestured having sex, "for the first time. But after Paintball. What's that? Two-ish years?" Britta shook her head. Not that she disagreed, but that she was disbelieving what she was hearing. "Happy anniversary, honey." He said it as a joke, but he was hoping it hadn't crossed a line with her. She was always adamant about valuing honesty.

"Does your Mom even know you're not a lawyer anymore?" she asked.

"Well, yeah. I had to replace one band-aid with another. That's when I got a 'steady girlfriend.'"

"That was not what I was expecting!"

"But you'll do it?" he asked, hopeful.

"We don't have any kids, do we?"

"No, and she won't shut up about it."

"Fine, I'll do it. I want to meet Jeff Winger's Mom. When is this happening?" She was never going to pass up that possibility.

"Next Monday- is that okay?" She nodded in response. "You're the best."

"I know. I should get going. I need to get home and shower and stuff…"

"Are you sure?" he asked. "No eggs?"

"No eggs, I'll pick up a bag..something. I have food at home. Let me just grab my stuff." She wanted to keep things from being awkward this morning. They could face each other when she felt more put together. "Okay, I'm going. " Jeff met her at the door.

"Last night was nice. Hanging out and everything. "

"Yeah," she agreed. "I'll see you soon."

"See you soon." He leaned and kissed her goodbye.