"I'm scandalizing for two now, huh?" Kathy teased, before becoming serious again. "Though--I just wanna tell you how great a boyfriend I think you're being. As someone else who needs time to work up to things, I respect anyone who doesn't push me. Even if you had to learn it, the important thing is that you did."

She fell silent as the waiter delivered their shakes, and took up again once he was gone. "That's one of the reasons I do like Dante. And Ezra. They both were very clear that they wanted me, but neither of them have tried to pressure me into doing anything more than what I felt comfortable with. And they didn't treat me differently after I said no. I--I like saying no at first, I think. Because you find out a lot more about a person by how they handle your no than from how they handle a yes."