Old Enough

by Haley Jakobson

“Should we go over house rules?” “Oh! Yes. For sure,” I said, a little embarrassed that I hadn’t thought to ask what was and wasn’t okay first. Wes rolled over and we both sat up. “Great. Okay. So, uh, as you may have noticed, I wear a binder. Which I love! It makes me feel really good and masculine. I don’t like to take it off when I’m having sex, and if I do, that’s not a place I like to be touched.” “Got it. Makes sense.” “Okay, you go.” I go? Right. I have rules too. “Um, I like to talk. Not like, dirty talk. Although I like that! But I mean, if we can keep a conversation going, it helps me stay present. Not get in my head.” “I love that. Totally, can do.” “And, um, sometimes stuff flashes in my head, and I can’t really control that. And if it does, I think taking a break would be good. But it wouldn’t be because of you. I would just need to take a break.” “That also makes sense. Breaks are good.” Wes shot me some finger guns. “Your turn.” “Right.” They thought for a moment. “Oh, duh, okay. So with, uh, down-there stuff? I like the word ‘crotch,’ or ‘groin,’ but no specific genitalia talk, if that makes sense.” “I can do that.” “Any words you like? For your body?” I paused. I hadn’t really thought about what words I liked. I scanned through words I’d heard other people use to talk about my body in bed, or words from porn. “I like ‘pussy.’ I don’t like ‘cunt.’ ” “Perfect. ‘Pussy’ it is. Very into pussy.