On Withholding Sex From Men

Photo Credit: Aiony Haust

I withheld sex from a man this week. To be honest, as a woman who likes sex, it’s something that I rarely do. But certain times call for certain measures.

I was lying topless in my jeans on the couch in Miguel’s apartment. It was a Monday. He had a nice enough place. His dog sat across from me in a small, bundled bed on the living room floor. There was a large TV and a box set of Catan sitting on the low table beneath it. We were on the 5^th floor. The apartment’s windows looked out over the gentle night sky and the lit football pitch of a park nearby.

This was the second time Miguel and I had ever met. I had left him a vulnerable voice note in Spanish that morning:

“I’m feeling kind of lonely these days. Any chance I could come over and we could cuddle?”