Sean nodded. “Yeah.”
 
 “I would never have guessed,” I replied. “You always seemed so confident.”
 
 “Hard to win debates, or pump up a crowd, if you can’t project that,” he said.
 
 “That’s true.”
 
 “You don’t need to pretend around me,” I said.
 
 He smiled. “Thank you.”
 
 I thought back to the night before, and remembered how readily Sean had been willing to take a knot. Had it been because he wanted it, or was it because he’d tied his self-esteem to fuckability?
 
 A man as wonderful as him should never feel like their worth is in spreading their legs.
 
 “You’ve got a serious look on your face,” he said.
 
 “Just making a decision,” I replied.
 
 “About what?”
 
 I shook my head. “We’ll discuss it later, after dinner.”
 
 “Umm…”
 
 I smiled. “It’s nothing bad. I promise. It’s just not something to talk about over dinner. Ok?”
 
 He relaxed slightly. “Ok.”
 
 If Sean still wanted sex, then I would gladly take him to bed. But I never wanted him to feel obligated, and I needed to figure out a way to convince him of that.
 
 There would never be a day that I didn’t want him. But I wanted all of him, not just the part tied to physical pleasure.
 
 I wanted everything with him: a long future, a family, seeing him round with our children. But none of that mattered if I couldn’t make him see how incredible he was.