Page 66 of All Our Almosts

“Yes, but they’re not in the fridge. I put them in a cup of water on the window.”

I looked to where she was giddily pointing. “So you did. Alright then, as you wish.”

Sophie squealed. “You are perfect! I’m going to put on pajamas while you cook, and then I’ll eat, and then I’m planning to pass out very full and very happy.”

She skipped into her room to change, leaving me to work. I started by chopping up the scallions, then put the water on the stove to boil before measuring out the flour. I pulled out my phone to Google which steps of the recipe I could plausibly skip to save time and get us both some carbs ASAP.

Minutes ticked by, and I was just placing the first pancake onto the pan when I heard a plaintive voice from the next room call, “Andy?”

“Yeah?”

“I think I need your help with this.”

“With what?” I turned the stove to its lowest setting and went to open Sophie’s door. Inside, she had taken off her shoes and tights but was still in her formal black dress. The zipper under one arm was undone, though it revealed nothing more than a tame sliver of skin.

“Okay, it’s not because I’m drunk, because I’m not that drunk, but I literally cannot get this dress off. It’s—” She fell into giggles as she tried to explain. “It’s super tight around the shoulders, and I can barely raise my arms in it, which would be fine except for I have to get it up over my head in order to take it off. And I still have the bandage on. And I can’t even, like, cross my…” She tried to pantomime crossing her arms to lift a garment over her head, but she gave up and fell further into hysterics. “Whatever, you get the point, I can’t get this off over my head by myself. It’s just too hard with an injured arm and a dress that’s too tight and okay, yes, I’m a little drunk! Sue me!”

At first, I was so entertained by her ranting and miming that I didn’t get it. “So what do you want me to do?”

“Can you please help me get this dress off? I literally can’t do it.”

Can you please help me get this dress off.

Help me get this dress off.

Dress off.

“Hello? Earth to Andy…” She snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Come on, slowpoke. It doesn’t have to be weird. You just have to lift from the bottom hem, and I can’t do it by myself.”

“Um. Alright. Yeah. Okay.”

I reached for the bottom of the dress, figuring I could get it over with quickly and then it wouldn’t be a big deal. I mean, we’d certainly been to the beach together before, and underwear was basically a bathing suit. Just a private bathing suit. A private, personal bathing suit that other people weren’t meant to see but I was about to see on her because she asked me to, and—

“Wait, hang on. I have to turn around first.” She rotated to give me her back.

“Does that… make it easier to… remove?” I asked articulately.

“Not really, I’m just not wearing a bra.”

I’m just not wearing a bra.

Not wearing a bra.

No bra.

“Okay, ready when you are,” she chirped. “This is as high as I can raise my arms so it’ll have to do.” The arms in question were barely three inches away from her ribcage, but I didn’t give a shit about that at a time like this. I funneled all of my focus into two things: keeping my breathing slow and calm, and keeping my dick under control.

I reached for the knee-length hem of Sophie’s dress, telling myself it really didn’t have to be a big deal. I really had been to the beach with her before. And it really was just a body. I’d seen women’s bodies. Several. Many, even. So this would all be fine. Nothing new.

Sophie, meanwhile, didn’t seem nearly as concerned. If anything, she was in a rush to get it over with.

“You can move faster. You’ve got to get it up to my shoulders before we even get to the hard part so just go for it.”

I told myself: yeah, this will be fine.

Then I calmly lifted the hem of her dress up, reaching the height of her chest before things started getting tricky.

“Hang on here,” Sophie said. “It’s like… caught on my boobs I think? I think I can just…” She started adjusting the material at the bust of her dress to inch it up. Standing behind her, there was nothing I could do to help. So I waited, holding her dress up and exposing her underwear and lower body which I was definitely not going to look at. Not. Even. A little.