Normally she gamely went along with whatever Steven wanted, but this time she refused. She told him it was important to her to celebrate, and he should do it to make her happy. But Steven kept saying no and eventually after going around and around and not getting anywhere, she wondered if there was something else that was going on. Maybe he was upset over something completely unrelated but it was getting all mixed up in his head.

Anna, impressed by Lolly’s astute thinking on the matter, gestured for her to continue.

“Well, turns out I was right. There was something else going on, which was that Steven finally admitted he was fine with me wanting to wait to have sex until I was ready, but he was embarrassed to let his friends find out we hadn’t done it yet.”

“Why would his friends find out?” Anna asked.

“That’s what I said!” Lolly exclaimed. “So then he said if his friends found out he bought me jewelry for our anniversary when he wasn’t even getting laid he’d get tons of shit for it.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I have ever heard,” Anna said, and she meant it.

“That’s what I said! But then he said, ‘Now if we were celebrating our six-month screw-a-versary, that’s something I could get behind.’ He was joking, of course, you know in that way your brother jokes about everything. So without thinking, I asked him if I agreed to let him tell his friends we had sex on the night he asked me to be his girlfriend then could we celebrate it? And he said yes, and the rest is history.”

Anna was a little shocked over how utterly ridiculous the whole story was. “And it worked? I mean, was everything fine after that?”

“Yep. Steven had his friends thinking he was a stud. And I got taken to Per Se for our six-month screw-a-versary and the diamond studs from Tiffany’s that you picked out.”

Anna smiled at this because she had forgotten about going with Steven to pick out the earrings Lolly was pointing to in her ears. “Wow, and you really don’t care that people don’t think you’re a virgin?”

“Please, these days I’d be made fun of for wanting to wait. I mean, I know the truth, and who am I keeping my virginity for but me? I consider it one of the most mature relationship moments of my life. I found a compromise that Steven and I are happy with.” Lolly told Anna her mother always said the number-one reason she divorced Lolly’s father was because he wouldn’t compromise. So Lolly had it ingrained in her that she should steer clear of any man who couldn’t, because if that was the case, then the expectation would be that the woman always had to make all the sacrifices.