She stuck her tongue out in response, the moment light and teasing.

Fresh from the shower, Dylan was greeted by her embrace, her kiss.

“New toothpaste," she whispered against his lips. “Can you tell?"

Clad in just his bathrobe, his presence was undeniable.

He enveloped her carefully, as though she were porcelain. Her slender frame seemed so delicate in his embrace. Dipping his head, he met her lips once more, a kiss deepening before he murmured, “I can taste the difference now."

A shy warmth colored her cheeks.

In those days, their coexistence was tender, marked by kisses and nothing else.

An innocence preserved, his touch never ventured beyond.

Once, after a night steeped in social revelry, Dylan returned, a little worse for wear. Olivia, alone with the glow of the television, had let the hours slip into morning. In the dimness, Dylan's return was a series of urgent whispers and fervent kisses.

His hands wandered, a desperate warmth in the dark, but they held fast to a promise made.

“We'll wait," he'd said, a vow for their wedding night.

Olivia mused over his restraint, feigning a purity she knew was tender but strained. Still, she would not press him. Their time would come. She treasured what they shared, the quiet depth of it.

Soon they would travel to meet his parents, their future a canvas waiting to be filled.

By autumn, they would call each other home.

Her touch lingered on his neck, tracing the lines of strength that she found so dear.

His laughter was soft in the shadowed room. "You're bold," he teased, affection coloring his voice.

Olivia chuckled softly, her embrace around Dylan betraying a hint of shyness.

He desired her more intensely, sweeping her up and over the couch's arm to close the distance between their lips. Each kiss held the sweetness of patience, a testament to their promise to wait.

He teased her with a gesture, a mimicry that left her flushed and breathless.

Yet she met his gaze, her own eyes alight with that shared, unspoken yearning.

The kisses lingered, deep and deliberate.

In the heat of the moment, Dylan's resolve wavered. A pause loomed, but the shrill of the phone pierced the silence. A voice from the past spoke of reunions and unfinished tales.

“Olivia, you bowed out early. There's so much you missed."

Hints of old gossip followed. “Sharon's apparently found solace with Raphael."