"I want him to talk to me," I finished, beginning to do arm curls, looking at Kelly out of the corner of my eye. "But I tried, again, to get him to tell me something. That night, after the, uh… you know."

Kelly brought the weight in front of her, grinning. "How do you like your new toy?"

she asked, grabbing another ten pound dumbbell and sitting next to me. Her thigh brushed up against mine as she balanced her arm against her leg, starting to do her own arm curl sets. She had a lot more muscle than I did, and could curl double the amount of weight.

"It's, uh… fun," I replied, feeling my face burning. I refused to look in the mirror, but I knew I was blushing. "Anyway, he still won't share anything with me. It's like the minute I start talking about it, he just clams up. I don't get it."

"But he's still making calls?" Kelly asked, stopping to look at me. I nodded. "Then maybe you should just keep listening. I mean, at least that way you'll know what he really wants…"

I sighed. "It just feels wrong."

Kelly smiled. "Sometimes when it feels wrong, it's really, really right." The pressure of her bare thigh against mine was increasing, rubbing against me.

"Maybe," I said, standing up and going to put my weights back.

Kelly put hers back below mine. "Just give him some time. Ease him into things.

Keep introducing something new every time you have sex."

"I am," I said, smiling. "He thinks I'm full of surprises, lately."

Kelly flicked her towel at me, grinning as she walked past. "You are."

* * * *

We went out that night, a Christmas party for his office. I usually hated these, with all the office girls crowding around John, making a fuss over him, jostling him under