For a while, it was like falling without noticing the ground was gone.

The first time we had sex was on a Sunday. No preamble, no buildup you could point to, just a morning where the light came in wrong and we looked at each other across my kitchen and the air changed. He kissed me first. I pulled him closer. We didn’t make it past the hallway.

It was slow in a way that surprised me. Jordan had this way of paying attention, his hands unhurried, eyes open, like he was memorizing something. He touched me like I was worth the time, and I let him, which was its...