It started out as a typical Friday night after a show taping: having a few drinks with a friend to take the edge off of the work week. A friend that I have been pining for for the last couple of years. Lauren is just…absolutely perfect. There’s no other way to describe her, honestly. After a few drinks, I suggested that she and I go back to my place for a game of strip poker. I couldn’t believe I had the nerve to even ask her to do that with me. I was pleasantly surprised when she agreed. The game started off in my favor. I won the first two hands. which meant I got Lauren down to her lingerie. It was hard to keep my excitement contained because, gosh, did she look gorgeous. Especially with barely anything on. She won the next two hands and got me down to my boxers. I was nervous about being pretty much naked in front of her because, let’s face it, I’m not the most in-shape guy in the world. I’m not like Ryan Gosling or anything like that. I’m a doughy comedian. Simple as that. Since we took off our shoes when we got to my place, we were sitting across from each other in our underwear for the fifth hand of the game. I could feel myself getting hard while getting a look at Lauren after I dealt the cards. She was wearing this white bra with pink polka dots. It looked like something that she got at the girls section at Walmart, but she made it work. She also made my brain work overtime with my thoughts. I couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like to be with her.
"Ummmm….Jimmy?"
That broke my concentration. “What?”
"I’ve….I’ve been wanting to tell you something…"
"Oh? What’s that? What’s up, Lauren?" I asked.
"Well…I’ve been thinking this for a while now and it’s not just because we’re in our underwear…" she started. What could she possibly want to tell me? I thought. She took a deep breath and said it: "I really like you."
I looked up from behind my cards. I did not expect her to say that. She started tapping her perfectly manicured nails on the table and started to get flustered.
"I’m sorry," she said. "I don’t know what made me want to tell you that."
"No, no, it’s okay," I said, putting my cards down on the table. "Let’s talk about this."
"Okay," she said.
I couldn’t help but stare at her. I couldn’t believe what she said. How long has she felt like this? Why didn’t she tell me this before? Was she too shy to admit it? Was I with someone at the time that she started feeling like this for me?
"Well….do you want to say anything? Am I making a complete ass of myself over here Jimmy?"
I blinked. “Not at all,” I said without hesitation.
"Really?"
"Really. I’ve been wanting to say something about it to you, but I just didn’t have the nerve to say it."
She laughed to herself. “I think it’s okay to let anything out know, considering we’re sitting across from each other practically naked.”
She was right. “Alright…I really like you, too. I’ve been feeling like this for a while now,” I told her.
"…How long have you liked me?"
I took a deep breath. “Ohhh man…how long have we known each other now?”
"Ummmm…three years?"
I nodded my head. “Yeah, that’s about right.”
She smiled at me. “Yeah, me too. Why haven’t we done anything about it before?”
"I don’t know," I said, eyebrow raised. "Maybe we were just afraid of being rejected?"
"Yeah, I can understand that," she sighed. "I’ve been rejected plenty of times before. I should be used to it by now."
