"Did she know you were a virgin?"

“Well, she asked and I told her I was after she caught us two days ago."

She looked back at me.

“So she knows you're not a virgin anymore?"

“Apparently.”

“Ohmigawd." She buried her face in her hands again.

"I told you, relax. I'm a guy, which means I can't get pregnant.

Mother's biggest worry is about me knocking YOU up, but you told her you're on the pill. Now if YOU had been a virgin and we came downstairs to find YOUR dad waiting for us, I would be shitting bricks."

She gave me a mournful look.

“I'm sorry for putting you through this,

Matty."

“I told you not to worry about it.“ I shifted the van into reverse.

“I promise I won't Love you any less."

Sam froze and went deathly quiet for a second. I only noticed because I was backing out of the garage and happened to look over at her while turning around to face the rear. And she was still looking at me silently when I stopped in the middle of the road and prepared to shift the van back into drive.

“What?" I asked, pausing with the van at a full stop.

“Do you Love me more for what we did?" she asked quietly.

I broke into a big smile. "Well... yeah, totally. I mean, I don't want you to think I've fallen head over heels in love with you or anything like that. The Rule clearly states I can't fall in love with any of you. But... yeah... Planned or not, what we shared was AMAZING. I'm never going to forget my first time. I'll never... EVER... forget the girl who made me feel so special. And even if your parents packed you up and dragged you back to Australia tomorrow, we would always have that connection."

Sam was suddenly out of her seat, having never actually buckled up in the first place. Her hands held my head as she kissed me with as much fierce passion as she'd started with when we first got into the house.

And then she broke away, saying, “Holy shit I want to fuck you again right now. But you'd better take me home before I get grounded and never get to see you again.”

I nodded, grinned, and shifted the van into gear.

I got Sam home before her parents returned from the wedding, and she gave me another fierce kiss in the van before running up to her front door. I waited on the curb to make sure she got inside safely, and then drove back home. Mother was still in the kitchen with her book and the glass of wine, but neither of us said a thing to each other as I headed upstairs to take a shower.

In the morning, however, Mother wanted to eat Sunday brunch together.

But instead of driving out to a nice restaurant, she'd ordered from her favorite place and had the food delivered. I knew then that we'd be having a conversation unsuitable for a public place.

At least she let me start eating before launching into the expected

Spanish Inquisition. But halfway through the meal, she asked out of the blue, "I know you've had the girls coming over nearly every afternoon, but for how Long has Sam been visiting you alone?”