It was Tuesday night. Justin was lying on the couch staring up at the ceiling. Daphne was trying to write a paper, but she was distracted by Justin's periodic sighs. After spending nearly fifteen minutes writing and re-writing the same sentence, Daphne growled in frustration and slammed the drawer holding her keyboard closed. Then she cried, "What? What is going on with you?"

Justin didn't answer.

Daphne snapped, "Justin!"

Justin turned his head toward her slowly, as though waking from a dream. Then he said, "Huh?"

Daphne laughed. Having regained her patience, she said, in a softer voice, "Clearly you have something on your mind. You keep sighing loudly. So out with it."

Justin protested, "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine."

Daphne just stared at him blankly.

Justin smiled, but his smile didn't reach his eyes. "Really! I'm fine."

Daphne sighed. "Yeah right. Let's just deal with this, so I can get back to my paper. It's due tomorrow morning."

Justin frowned. He didn't really want to tell Daphne what was bothering him. It was embarrassing. But…he wasn't sure what to do. Maybe she could help. Finally, after a couple minutes of dead silence and Daphne's staring, he admitted, his voice barely rising above a whisper, "Nothing's happened between Brian and me."

Daphne asked incredulously, "Wait, you still haven't fucked?"

Justin let his head fall and replied gloomily, "No."

"That's not good. Not good at all."

Justin threw up his hands and exclaimed hotly, "You think I don't know that?"

Daphne furrowed her brow, thinking. She inquired, "What do you do when you're together if you don't fuck?"

"Talk. Eat. Work. Last night, we talked about work a little and then ordered Thai food and watched a couple of James Dean movies. East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause. Rebel Without a Cause was one of the weirdest movies I've ever seen. After it was over, Brian told me that one of the characters, Plato, who idolizes James Dean's character Jim, reminds him of his best friend Mikey. He talked about him for a while, but, then, Cynthia, his assistant, called about work. I must have fallen asleep waiting for him because I awoke the next morning in his bed, still dressed. It looked like he'd slept next to me, and I think I remember him holding me, though that might have been a dream. When I got up, I found a note. Here."

Justin handed her a small piece of paper, one that he'd been holding the whole time, though Daphne hadn't noticed it before. On it were the following words:

Sunshine,

I had to go in early. Help yourself to coffee and a shower.

Later.

B

Daphne smiled. "Sunshine?"

Justin laughed. "I don't know why he calls me that." Daphne couldn't help but smile, too. Justin's eyes were sparkling. Clearly he liked the pet name.

Justin smelled his wrist and sighed happily. "I used his shampoo and body wash in the shower. I smelled him on me all day…" Then he frowned. "I don't know what to do. You saw how I was dressed for our date and for my first day. I might as well have had a 'Fuck Me' sign on my forehead. And yesterday, on the train ride, he held me close. I could feel his erection. I know he wants me. I know he does. I don't understand why he keeps hesitating."

Daphne smiled a wicked smile. "Have you considered doing something a bit more extreme than donning tight clothes?"

Justin looked over at her curiously. "Like what?"

Daphne giggled and rubbed her hands together. "The next time you're at his loft, you could go to the bathroom, strip, and then emerge wearing only a smile and a hard on. Or you could corner him in his office, get him hard, and then drop to your knees. No man can refuse a blowjob. Certainly not a man like Brian, who exudes sex."

Justin blushed and shook his head. "No way! No way could I do that…" He smiled shyly. He wished he had the confidence, the guts, to do something so forward. But if Brian rejected him, he'd be crushed. Decimated.

Daphne prodded, "You know he wants you; you know he's a highly sexual being. All he needs is a nudge."

Justin sighed and furrowed his brow. Soon, he was deep in thought, pondering possible scenarios. Fortunately for Daphne, he did so in complete silence.

TBC…soon