Robin des Bois ✓

four. How It All Begins

The Guide to Handling One Night Stands by Isis Greene.

Step one. Make sure to use protection. You really don't want to turn your one night stand experience partner into a baby daddy. Since men can't be trusted to remember to use a condom, always remind your one night stand that no glove equals no love.

"You have a condom, right?" I gasped between two passionate kisses as we stumbled down the hallway, toward a destination only Alexei knew of.

"I always have condoms, shh." Alexei pushed me against a door and his hands slipped underneath my top, which was way further than I'd ever let any other guy get in my entire lifetime. I was kind of sure that he would be disappointed when his hands would inevitably find the gaping nothingness that resided where most girls had nice curves, but he didn't complain. Instead, he slipped his hands under my bra and well... I momentarily forgot I wasn't all that endowed in the boobs department.

Step two. Stick to the basics. To avoid fatal injuries, don't overdo yourself, especially if both participants have ingested alcoholic beverages earlier that night.

I couldn't quite remember which one of us had the brilliant idea to take our make-out session into the shower.

It didn't really matter which one of us had that stroke of genius; what mattered was that we ended up in a shower cabin and that "slightly intoxicated" plus "slippery tiles" equals "disaster". I considered myself lucky to have escaped without a head injury and/or multiple broken bones.

Step three. Have fun!

After some time under the current of hot water, Alexei realized that this one night stand simply wouldn't happen in the shower. Instead, we took it to the adjacent bedroom, and things improved considerably –Alexei did know what he was doing, unlike me.

~♠~

I don't know what woke me up –I don't think it was anything specific. One moment I was plunged in a dreamless sleep and the next I was slowly blinking as I came to my senses.

The first thing that I registered was that I wasn't just tangled up with the sheets –I was tangled up with someone. The second thing that I registered was that I was in my birthday suit. Both facts left me rather confused, but my confusion quickly melted away, leaving a vague sense of panic in its wake. It took me a while to remember last night in its entirety, and once I did, I groaned quietly.

Trying to disentangle myself from Alexei was a long and arduous process, but I somehow managed it without waking him up.

I didn't want to confront him –leaving like this would be easier than having to face him after last night. Because there was one rule of all one night stands a girl should always remember: A one night stand is what you make of it, but for your partner, it's probably what its name suggests –a one night stand. Not the beginning of a Romeo-and-Juliet-esque romance. Not the beginning of a chick-flick-like adventure. It's just one night of harmless fun, for both participants.

And because of that, it was better to leave just like this; without awkward goodbyes or even some sort of hastily scribbled note with explanations as empty as what happened between us last night.

I slipped into the bathroom, where my clothes were scattered on the marble tiles along with his. Slipping into last night's outfit made me feel dirty and I ached to take a quick shower, but the fact that Alexei was just a wall away changed my mind. I could shower all I wanted once I was home.

I checked my cellphone, which was in the purse that had somehow ended up in the sink and cringed at the twenty four missed calls from both Tina's and Tyler's cellphones, along with the growingly angry text messages –which only came from Tina.