I Like Your Shoes by FayeVance..,

That’s how he got me. With that line, “I like your shoes.”

I’m not usually one to give a crap about the opinions of others, especially when it comes to how I dress. But I loved those shoes. Black leather flats with metal studded straps over the toes. They were adorable and sexy and so fucking comfortable.

I’d met him, Jason, at a local meetup for those with an interest in philosophy. The area was quite conservative, and I hated it. This was a way to discuss and explore different ideas. I was new. Everyone else already knew one another.

He invited me for drinks at this little gastro pub. He was a bit older, and I think he was trying to seem “hip.” His hair was grown out a bit and he clearly worked out. Not too bulky, but he had a good definition. He made eye contact, he asked questions, he asked follow up questions, he seemed to genuinely care.

I was also leaving the area in a few weeks and bored out of my mind. Drinks were fun. And easy. He relaxed me while simultaneously exciting me. I hadn’t slept with anyone since my heart had been broken and all I wanted was easy.

He actually enjoyed my stories. It’d been a while since he’d had much adventure of his own. He’d gotten divorced and fallen into a depression. He’d slowly crawled his way out of it with the help of medication. Medication that also caused some trouble downstairs. His words, not mine. He said he hadn’t minded at the time. He’d dated for a bit, about six months ago. She’d been very aggressive with him, and he wasn’t ready for it yet. We didn’t talk about that over drinks. Not then.

After drinks he invited me back to his place. He had two rescue pugs and I nearly forgot I was an adult human as I squealed and played with these pups. He just watched me for a moment. And he let me be. That was something I really liked about him. I never felt as though I needed to be anyone or anything else. I could unabashedly be me.

We watched the final episode of Futurama. Well, final at the time. The one where Fry fucks up the time travel device and he and Leela spend a lifetime together with everything else frozen. We spent the better part of the evening discussing time travel and how really Fry and Leela were stuck in an infinite loop of re-experiencing that lifetime together. That didn’t sound so terrible to me. Lifetime after lifetime with someone you love where all you do is travel and fuck. I could get on board with that.

Neither of us made a move that night. I needed to get going anyways. I was running late for a favor I was supposed to be doing for someone. That bit isn’t important outside of me choosing me for a change. He asked to hang out again. Those were his words, “hang out again.”

“Sure,” I said. I’d had fun after all. I wasn’t sure he wanted anything other than someone to hang out with, but that was at least partially what I wanted too.

The next week we went on a sort of date. We went to a little pizza joint first. I wore those shoes we both admired. Then he gave me a blue marble. It had snowed recently, and the roads and trails were still a bit slushy. He knew what a fan of Carl Sagan’s I was, and he was going to show me his grave. It took a little finding, but we made it. You could see piles of blue marbles all around it. The snow had melted a bit, but they were still all frozen together. It was weirdly beautiful. Pristine white snow strewn with blue marbles in, on, and under the snow.

We went back to his place. He had a hot tub in a little closed off porch area. He told me he, as well as several others from the philosophy meetup, were nudists in their free time. He thought that was a bit of a joke and laughed to himself. They had nude dinners, game nights, and often would end up in the hot tub, drinking, relaxing. I’d never done anything like that, and I made him promise me he’d invite me to their next meetup. He laughed and agreed.

We ended up watching Jurassic Park, cuddled up together. His dogs curled up around me as I rested my head on his chest. He later told me he enjoyed that almost as much as anything. Just being together, comfortably, existing in happiness. The movie ended and I was getting ready to head home. I made him again promise to invite me next time for the nude festivities.

“Well, you could always try nude hot tubbing now? I won’t try anything, I swear. Not unless you want me to.” He winked at me, and I wrinkled my nose. I hate when people wink at me. I don’t know why; it just bothers me. “No pressure. I just thought I’d offer. Best to dip your toe in first and all that.”

“Hmmm. I don’t know. I mean, I want to, it’s just…”

“I’ll go in the house, and you can undress and hop in. Yell when you’re done, and I’ll come out and get in.”

I thought about it for maybe ten seconds before I started to get giddy about it. I love being in any body of water, and this was going to be a first for me. I was in my early 20’s and came from a very conservative background. I knew there was a freak inside of me, but letting that monster out was a slow process. One Jason was very happy to help with.

I quickly undressed and gingerly dipped into the hot tub. One thing I didn’t know about hot tubs and having rather large breasts. They float. I could feel my face turning crimson as I realized there was nothing to do. I held them down and called out to him. “As ready as I’ll ever be!” Maybe not the best choice of words. I closed my eyes when he opened the door. To this day I don’t know why. Not really. I’d made him promise to invite me to nude game night, but I was giving him this modicum of modesty as I held my buoyant breasts under water.

He chuckled when he saw me but said nothing. Maybe he was laughing at me holding my tits down. Maybe he was laughing at me closing my eyes. I’m not sure. I asked him what he was laughing at, and he said “nothing! You’re just adorable, that’s all.” I still like being called adorable. I guess I like to be adored.

He hadn’t turned the lights on, and it was mostly dark in this little enclosed patio room. He had some mood lighting so we could see one another, but just barely. Maybe it was a light in the hot tub. That detail escapes me.

He’d put some drinks on a little shelf near us. He grabbed one and tried to hand it to me. I realized I couldn’t hold both my breasts down and have a drink at the same time. “Oh, fuck it,” I said, letting them loose and taking the drink. He made a very pointed effort to not stare directly. Not right then, anyways.

We both loosened up and started telling one another stories. He’d driven across the country a few times and I was about to do it myself in another week or so. He told me he was going to get me a Maglite flashlight to keep in the car. I asked why and he told me a few stories that made me a bit nervous. “You’ll be fine, but better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.”

After a while our stories became more reflective. I found myself getting closer and closer to him. Drinks gone, hands free, one strong arm around me, just holding me, not brushing up against anything. I looked up at him as he looked down to me. He kissed me and I moaned into his mouth as I grabbed his leg, wanting to grab more, but hesitant. He moaned back as my fingers dug into him. He held onto the hot tub with his other arm as we kissed, not wanting to come off as too eager.