Her face cracked into a smile. She relaxed against me.

“Yes,” she said. It was possible my heart soared.

“Tacos?” I asked. She snuggled even closer.

“Tacos,” she agreed.

I ran my fingers through her hair.

“Perhaps not so boring, you and me,” I murmured.

“Maybe,” she said. But there was a smile in it.

“Although I do have to admit this wasn’t quite typical for my office hours.”

She muffled a half-laugh, half-hum into my shoulder.

The memory of today might actually prove to be a problem. I would have to work on not getting turned on every time I entered my office now. But that was a problem for Future Sam.

“Hey,” I said, some of her words from earlier poking through my post-orgasmic haze. “Hey. Didn’t you say you had brought a backup gift?”

She leaned away. “I did.”

“Can I have it?” I asked, feeling eager and happy in such a blissfully simple way. Like somehow, for some reason, Christmas had arrived early for me today, out of the blue: love and light and gratitude. And presents.

Lily cocked her head, considering. “Will you buy my tacos?”

“Of course.”

She grinned. “Okay. But don’t get too excited or anything.”

“Well, now I’m really excited.” I pumped my fist. “Back - up - gift! Back - up - gift!”

“Okay, okay.” She disentangled herself from me. “But, uh. Can I wash my hands first?”

“Yeah.” I smiled. “There’s a bathroom right across the hall.” I leaned over to unlock the door. I probably should have washed my hands too. But some perverse part of me wanted to keep Lily’s scent on me a little longer.

As I waited for her to come back, I stared at the walls of my tiny office, taking a deep breath. I swished my skirt a few times. It was nice.

I would need to wear it more, to figure out if I actually liked it or not. If it truly fit. But I was glad to have it as an option. Maybe some people were able to figure everything out on their own. But someone showing me different options had always been so helpful to me. Even if it took me a while to grab onto the things that made sense for me, that felt good, until they actually felt like my own.

They were small things, in the end. Pronouns were such tiny words. A dab of makeup, when I felt like it. A different piece of fabric.

But it was so nice. Having options.

When Lily came back, she walked immediately to her bag again without looking at me. She lifted something out and hid it behind her back.

“This might be dumb,” she said, biting her lip.

“Lily,” I said. “New rule. No more trashing your gifts before you give them to me, okay? It sort of dampens the whole experience a bit.”

“You’re right. You’re right. Okay.”