She was stunned by his question and she looked over at him for a minute without saying a word.

"Are you serious or are you messing with me right now? If so that's not funny."

He turned and looked at her with a straight face.

"Do I look like I'm joking around right now?"

She scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "But you said no way. You said you were afraid it would mess up our friendship and all that."

"I know what I said," he said, standing up and leaning his butt against the counter, running his hand through his hair before shoving his hands in his pockets.

"All I know is, the thought of you having sex for your first time with Zander doesn't sit right with me. I can't stand that guy and I don't trust him. I started thinking about all the reasons you gave for why it should be me and it started making sense."

"It did?" she asked, surprised to hear him say that.

"Yeah. You've known me for a long time and you trust me and you're comfortable around me. I've got a lot of experience so I can teach you what I know. You don't have to worry about me hurting you or breaking your heart because we both know we don't like each other as more than friends . We can agree right from the start that it's just sex, just the one time and nobody's going to catch feelings and nobody gets hurt. Then we'll go back to being just friends and act like nothing happened. Right?"

She let his words sink in and nodded. "Right."

He sat back down on the barstool beside her and exhaled deeply. "I just can't stand the thought of you having your first time with some random stranger you just met or some guy you barely know. What if they're too rough and they hurt you?"

"Yeah," she agreed, feeling a chill run down her spine from the thought of it. Suddenly the idea of doing it with a stranger sounded scary.

"I've been with a virgin before so I know what to expect and I can talk you through it. I promise I'll be really gentle and slow and we can take our time. We don't have to rush anything and I'll try not to hurt you. I want your first time to be a good experience Berk."

"Right," she nodded again. Hearing him say that calmed down her nerves about the whole thing.

"At least with me you know what you're getting. I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be your best friend no matter what happens. Nothing will ever change that," he said.

They sat there in silence for a second, both thinking really hard until she broke the silence. "Are we seriously thinking about doing this?"

He looked over at her, studying her face. "I don't know. Are we? You tell me."

"I don't know. I'm confused," she said honestly, resting her elbows on the counter and putting her chin in her hands. "I was so sure about it when I came to you with that idea. I just ....... it's you and me. It'll be so weird."

"Well if it's too weird because it's me, just visualize that you're having sex with someone else, someone you have a crush on maybe. I heard my old neighbor lady telling her best friend one time that she would picture her husband was Brad Pitt when they did it."

"Really?" Berkley laughed.

"Yeah," he said with a smile, looking down at his hands and exhaling.

Everything he was saying made a lot of sense. She looked over into his dark blue eyes and decided to take a leap of faith and do something crazy for once in her life.

"Ok."

"Ok?" he asked, looking surprised. "Like ok you agree not to have sex with Zander if we do this?"

She nodded and said, "Yeah. I agree not to have sex with Zander."

They both sat there in silence again for another minute thinking about what they just agreed to, both in disbelief. It hadn't really sunk in yet.

"When?" she finally asked. "When do you think we should do it?"

He thought about it for a minute and said, "I think we should do it tonight and get it over with so it's not hanging over our heads making an awkward tension between us. Don't you think?"

"Yeah," she nodded, looking down at her food, not even looking over at him.

"Ok," he said, letting out an exhale as he stood up. "I guess it's settled then. We'll do it tonight after dinner."

"Ok," she nodded, taking a deep breath in and letting it out before taking her plate over to the sink and washing it, trying to act like everything was normal and like she wasn't completely freaking out right now. She just agreed to have sex with her best friend tonight.

Now that she thought about it, this might just be the worst idea she ever came up with. So many things could go wrong. But she knew she was ready for that step and who better to share it with than her best friend that she's comfortable with and trusts?

Berkley took a bath and shaved her legs very carefully, using a foam that's supposed to make legs as soft as silk. Did Dean even care if her legs weren't soft though? she wondered. It's not like he was going to enjoy this. He was doing it out of duty as a best friend to prevent her from doing it with another guy that he can't stand. That's it.

Still. She decided that she was going to prepare for this and look as nice as she could, as if she were sleeping with a guy she really had a crush on. She went back and forth on it before she finally decided to shave between her legs too.

When she got out she lathered her entire body from head to toe in a coconut scented lotion and sprayed on some perfume before rummaging in her suitcase and getting out what she was going to wear. She had borrowed the keys to Dean's car earlier and made a trip to the lingerie shop all by herself without telling him where she was going. She was a tomboy. She wasn't used to all this girly shit so she didn't really know what she was doing but for tonight she wasn't gonna be a tomboy.

She had tried on several things but finally decided on the one that was the most like something she would never pick. It was a sheer cherry red, lacy one piece that was so low cut that her D cup size boobs were completely on display and in danger of popping out and the back was a thong. Then she slipped on a pair of red high heels she had bought earlier too. When she looked in the mirror, she felt so sexy that she knew she had picked the right one. She wondered what Dean would think of it.

She left her long brown hair down and curled it and put on a bit of makeup, some mascara, lipstick and blush. She took one last look in the mirror and decided she looked sexy as hell and she was ready for him. She took a deep breath in and let it out, shaking the nerves from her hands before going out into the hallway and calling for him.

"Dean!" she yelled. "I'm ready!"

She started pacing back and forth wringing her hands as she heard footsteps. She panicked and kicked off the red high heels really fast and shoved them under the bed with her foot, deciding that was a bit too much. Then she looked up and Dean was standing in the doorway.

He looked at her and his eyes widened as he scanned her up and down, and she suddenly felt blushed with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. Is this weird? I thought it would be a good idea to wear something sexy to set the mood. Is this okay or should I put on something else?" She looked at the deer caught in headlights look on his face and said, "Oh my gosh. Me wearing this makes it weird doesn't it?" she asked, shaking like a leaf and feeling like an idiot.

"No," he shook his head. "Calm down Berk. You look really good. I was just surprised is all," he told her reassuringly, walking in and closing the door behind him.

"What about the lights? Should they be on or off? Will it be too weird if they're on and we can see each other's faces?" she asked. "Maybe we should have them off so we can picture that we're with somebody else like we talked about? Or should we light a candle? What about music? Should we turn on some music and if so what kind? I don't know if I have any sexy music on my playlist," she said, nervously grasping for her phone with a trembling hand.

Dean walked up and took her phone and tossed it on the chair and took her hands in his.

"Hey. Look at me," he said softly and she slowly raised her eyes and looked into his. "Take a deep breath in," he instructed. "Now let it out slowly, all the way out until you can't get any more air out of your lungs."

She did what he said and then he gave her a smile.

"Feel better now?" he asked.

"Yeah," she sighed. "Sorry I'm probably going a little overboard. I'm just really nervous. You know how I get."

"Yes I do," he laughed. "When you led the Prom Committee half of the team quit because you were such a perfectionist."

"Yeah but the Principal said we had the most amazing Prom he had seen in his 30 plus years. I'd say that's a win."

"Yeah it is, but this isn't like Prom Berk. You can't plan sex and overthink it to death. You just have to relax and let it happen naturally. For once in your life you need to let go and let someone else take charge. Think you can handle that?"

Her heart was racing and her hands were shaking as she stood there in front of her best friend and she took another deep breath and let it out.

"Yeah ...... but wait. Before I let you take over I have one last question. Do you think we should make a no kissing rule? Wouldn't it be too weird for us to kiss?"

Dean laughed and ran a hand through his hair.

"We can't have sex without kissing. That's part of it Berk and we're not doing it with the lights off either. I like to be able to see what I'm doing. Just close your eyes and picture I'm somebody else if it makes you feel better."

He reached for the bottom of his t-shirt and pulled it off over his head. She had seen him without his shirt a million times throughout their friendship and didn't think anything of it but with her standing in front of him in this sheer lingerie it was like she only now became aware of how rippled his six pack was and how strong his chest and arms looked for the first time. How had she never noticed before? Looking at his body made her feel a little flutter inside and it caught her off guard. Was Dean, her best friend, seriously making her insides flutter?